In-Law Love

Does this make you as happy as it makes me?

On Easter Sunday all of us went in to be presented by Michelle and Olivia in primary!

I was scrolling through some things on our computer this evening and came across this lovely picture. 

I truly have the best in-laws! Not only are they fun, talented, and a good-looking bunch but they are so supportive and loving! I feel blessed!

Love you Sundwalls!

New Tricks

Afton has changed so much in the last week I wanted to document a few things she has learned.

She has picked up signing like crazy! She signs and says at the same time "Thank You." She signs "more" (correctly now), she will occasionally sign "please" when prompted, she signs "hungry" or "eat" and "all done" (which aren't new). And she signs "milk" still as well but I think she usually just means "drink."  I am sure she would pick up more if I was more consistent about doing them.

She can point to her nose when you ask "where is Afton's nose?" She also points to mouth sometimes when asked.

She started making a duck noise when she sees a picture of a duck which sounds like "guack."

She LOVES her monkey Aunt Amy Jo gave to her for her birthday. She will pick it up and hug it for quite a while.

She says "love you" a lot! One time last week I said something to her like "Afton, you drive me crazy!" (after she wouldn't eat any of the food I put in front of her) and she responded "love you!" She is getting a little sassy personality.

She is particular about which book she wants to read or which foods she wants to eat. She will point and say "da" over and over until I stumble upon the right thing. When it is not what she wants she shakes her head "no" but when I get the right thing she does this little affirmative sound and bounces her whole upper body up and down. Sometimes she also just smiles and giggles when I find the right food.

She has said "cheese" and "cheerios" pretty well for a while now (pretty much just the "ch" sound). But she recently picked up on "cracker" which sounds like "caca." She also will repeat most one or two syllable words when she is in the mood.

She makes the sound "mama" a lot but when I ask her if she is referring to me she usually stops. Of course she says "dada" all the time when she sees pictures of Pete or if she hears me talking to him or about him. The last couple of days Pete has been out of town and she will pick up the phone and say "dada" and then have a long babble conversation on the phone.

In desperation one day waiting for 11:00 to come so I could put her down for a nap I turned on "Old McDonald Baby Einstein" on YouTube and she sat on my lap for 25 minutes dancing, singing, and shouting along! Pete wanted to see it so he put it on again the next day while I was at dance and said she did the same thing.

It is so fun to watch Afton learn so quickly and discover so much! She is one happy, funny girl!

She thinks I am funny...we'll see how long that lasts.

Easter night after a fun day with family!

She prefers the whole banana now. Banana slices are for babies!

This picture cracks me up! (This is a happy face) at the park one day. HA!

Bragging Rights

Pete was officially awarded "Four-Year Valedictorian for the College of Humanities & Social Sciences" at UVU on Tuesday night. We knew he received the award a couple months ago but on Tuesday there was a special recognition dinner for award winners and he was presented with a certificate.

I couldn't be more proud of his hard work. He is a wonderful, dedicated student; a caring person; and an involved, loving father. What a man!

He will speak at Graduation on May 2! In preparation for his speech he has been looking for inspiration from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98nNpzE6gIs

Aftonisms

Loves to play on the piano and anything that she knows is primarily used for adults (computer mouse,  electrical cords, mom & dad's bottom dresser drawers, etc.)

Has had a really hard time sleeping the last week! She has been waking up between 4:00-6:00 and is ready to be up for the day. Then she is ready for a nap by 10:00 but will only take one nap a day for 45 min-1 hr (if I'm lucky) and so we are all going crazy by the evening. Sometimes she will sleep if I hold her but the second I set her down she is awake and cranky! So it has been hard to get much done but I am trying to enjoy it because I know it won't last forever.

Eating crackers before bed and looking crazy as usual.

Afton is CONSTANTLY pointing to things and saying in her high-pitched voice "da!" EVERYTHING is "da." Although she is getting better at many of her words she still prefers to call everything da.

She is getting a little bigger and so I have been able to break out some of her bigger summer clothes in this warm weather. This cute outfit was from Grandma Rita!

Typical face these days. Life is just so surprising!

Is getting pretty good at drinking from her own cup although she still dumps it all down the front of herself about half the time. Pictured above: Grandma Rita was nice enough to share her smoothie with Afton and she couldn't get enough. Don't share your food with this girl unless you're willing to give it all!

 Afton is really sweet and more cuddly lately. She will just come up to you and bury her head in your shoulder and give loves. It's the best! 

Tired Eyes after naps are my favorite!!

Not pictured: She is walking really well with hardly any support but just isn't ready to take that leap of doing it all on her own. She can stand for quite a while on her own and is getting good at sitting down when she wants (instead of falling). But she is just taking her sweet time. 

Things she says lately include "mama" (occasionally, and never on command), "hot," "cheese," and "cheerios" (just the "ch" sound), "uh oh," "thank you," "love you," "Afton," and her all time favorite: "dada!" 

She also signs "hungry," and "please" which are new!

Family Pictures 2014

I wanted to take some family pictures around the time Afton turned one since we don't really have a professional family picture. I knew my Sister-in-law would do a great job and she would  be moving sometime this summer so we jumped on a free Saturday in March to have the pictures taken. I love how they turned out. It is fun to have this time of our life captured.

On the day of the pictures Afton was happy but not especially smiley. However, Marianne still got some great shots! We let her play with things (seen above) and tried throwing her in the air in between shots. Whatever works!

We like to call this Afton's dictator picture.