Carving a pumpkin with Daddy...

Scraping the pumpkin.
Alyssa all grossed out by the slimy texture.
10/28/06

Alyssa with her hand in the pumpkin. Alyssa also helped Mommy pick out all the good seed to bake in the oven.

Halloween Carnival...

Our little bee with Daddy!!!
Alyssa throwing bean bags.
10/28/06

Alyssa putting candy into her Halloween bag.

Our third visit to the pumpkin patch...

Alyssa playing with the intertube.
Daddy and Alyssa in the hay maze.
10/28/06

Mommy and Alyssa on the intertube.

Daddy made it home!!!

10/27/06

Bill made it home yesterday evening the 26th. Alyssa wasn't to sure of him at first, but the next morning she didn't want him to leave her side. She sure missed her Daddy.

Carving Pumpkins...

The final product.
Alyssa with all the pumpkins.

Left to right Mommy's, Uncle Pete's, Alyssa's and Auntie KoKo's.

10/22/06

The three of us had fun carving pumpkins. Alyssa didn't want to help us out very much. She got grossed out by the slimy texture, so she just hung out with NaNa.

Alyssa and Auntie KoKo...

10/15/06

Here is Alyssa digging everything out of Auntie's purse. Including all of Auntie's money and credit cards, she is very smart I trained her myself!!!

Alyssa...

10/15/06

Here is Alyssa carrying around Auntie KoKo's Coke. She licked all over the top of the can then gave it to Auntie. Thank goodness Alyssa doesn't care for any kind of pop. She gets grossed out from it and spits it out.

This picture is just too cute...

10/14/06

I don't normally let Alyssa sleep with any stuffed animals. I made an exception this time and once she was sleeping I took it from her. I just couldn't resist getting a picture of her with her bear from PaPa and NaNa Gruenes. She normally just sleeps with her baby doll and her two blankets.

Alyssa's new winter jacket...

10/11/06

Here is Alyssa in her new winter jacket, it also came with snowpants. It is a little to big, but perfect to fit her all winter long, I hope!!! I can't believe that she is already moving on to size 24 months. I remember when I said that she would never fit into size 18 months, now she is growing out of them. That was looking at a size 18 months when she didn't even fit in preemie clothes yet, it is just crazy how fast they grow.

Coloring...

10/10/06

Here is Alyssa coloring up on the counter top. She has been favoring her left hand with coloring and eating. Now today she started feeding herself with her right hand instead of her left, so I'm not sure which hand she is going to use. She is not suppose to favor a hand quite yet anyway, so she is still trying both of them out.

Back to the Pumpkin Patch with Mommy...

This pumpkin was as big as Alyssa!!!
Alyssa in the corn maze. She was not very excited about this, every time the wind blew and the corn stalk made noise she got upset. I ended up carrying her through the whole thing.
10/7/06
Alyssa on her first hay ride!!! She had a blast looking at the horses, the fields and having the wind blow through her hair. As soon as the tractor started up she sat right down with me and thought it was just the greatest thing!!!

Playing in the sink...

10/6/06

Here is Alyssa playing in the sink after washing her hands. Another thing that I forgot to tell everyone is that Alyssa no long uses her binky (pacifier). I decided that now that she is a year and a half that it is time to get rid of it. So, I just took all of them and put them away, it has now been over a week and she doesn't seem to miss it. She only used it at bedtime and naptime anyway.

Ladybugs

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos 10/06/06Alyssa spent the afternoon collecting ladybugs in her hand. They were all dead of course once she picked them up, but she had a great time doing it. I also forgot to tell all of you that Alyssa peed in her potty chair the last two nights after her bath. I was so excited, so we are going to try work with that a little more after naps and get her more use to it. At least I now know that she has an interest in the potty chair.

The Pumpkin Patch...

10/5/06

Nichole and I brought Alyssa to a pumpkin patch. She had a blast running around the farm. She went through a hay maze, rolled in the hay and helped pick out our pumpkins. I think we will go back on Saturday sometime for a hay ride, since it is suppose to be in the low 80's.

I forgot to mention that Alyssa had her 18 month well-baby check-up on the 3rd of October. She weighed 23.8 lbs. with her pj's on and measured 31 inches long. She is now close to the 50th percentile for both her weight and height and her head is still in the 90th percentile as usual. They were surprise that she had gained so much weight in the past three months, now she doesn't need to be seen until she is two.

Playing in the dog's water...

10/01/06

Alyssa just loves water. Any chance she gets she will play in any water and, yes, that does include the toilet water also. She has done that twice so far. I try to tell her that it is dirty water, but she just doesn't understand. All she knows is that it is water and she loves water.

Our little bunny...

9/29/06

I just love this picture. It reminds me of a picture of me that is in my babybook. If I find it I will have to scan it and post it with this picture.

Alyssa playing in the leaves...

9/28/06

Here is Alyssa getting buried in the leaves by Ann. Alyssa wasn't to sure about crawling in the leaves until Ann started to throw leaves on her then she just loved it!!!

Alyssa and Mommy in the leaves!!!

9/28/06

Our neighbors blew all the leaves into one big pile for Alyssa to play in. We have the best neighbors they have been mowing our lawn and raking our leaves for us while Bill has been gone and we didn't even ask them too. Ann and Jerod even watched Alyssa for me while I was at a meeting one evening. I try to repay them by making them goodies.

Alyssa's new haircut

9/27/06

Here is Alyssa after her second haircut. Isn't she just adorable!!!

Alyssa also went with me to my doctor's appointment today. She was very good, which really surprised me. Tana (my doctor) checked my stitch that was put in during my surgery two weeks ago and said that everything looked good. Baby's heart rate was in the 170's today and Baby was very active. My second ultrasound is scheduled for October 31st, I am just hoping that Bill will be home by then. Bill is scheduled to be home some time around October 26th. Less than a month to go!!!

Look at me...

9/24/06

Here is our little cutie pie all ready for church. I just love this outfit and the shoes too.

Alyssa you are just too cute.

Climbing on the table

9/22/06

Now that Alyssa has figured out climbing, she will climb on anything, including the kitchen table. The first time she climbed up on the table I went out of the room for a minute and came back and she was on the kitchen table. She has no fears, which isn't always a good thing.

New PJ's

9/20/06
Here is Alyssa in her new pj's from NaNa M. They are just a little to big, but will fit her very soon. Alyssa just loves her footie pj's and never wants to take them off.

Reading a book...

9/19/06

Alyssa's favorite thing to do is read books, she is either reading to me or I am reading to her. It is unreal how quickly she learns. There are new words everyday. She is now signing several words such as "bath", "more", "baby", "book", "milk", "all done", etc. We are working on new words to sign everyday. She is so smart!!!

Eating with a fork

9/18/06

Alyssa loves using spoons and forks now. I usually let her use her own that way she doesn't hurt herself or anyone else. She does seem to favor her left hand so far, so she may take after PaPa Moteberg.

Alyssa and PaPa Gruenes

9/12/06

Here is Alyssa with a flower behind her ear. She was picking flowers with Grandma and Grandpa before they went back to Melrose. We just wanted to thank them again for coming to our house and helping us out the past couple of days.

Alyssa praying at the table...

9/11/06

Here is Alyssa praying at the table before supper. Today was the first time that she ever actually put her hands together to pray. It was so cute that I just had to get a picture. Usually she just laughs while we pray, but this time she laughed and prayed right along with us.

I had my surgery this morning, Mary and I were there by 7:30 am. I went in for the spinal sometime around 9:00 am and they were done with the cerclag and I was in recovery by 9:45 am. It is a simple procedure, but there is always the risk that the amniotic sac could break or the risk of infection. Everything seems to have gone okay. Mary, Mom, Nichole, and Dad came to visit me, which really helped pass the time. Especially since I had to wait for feeling to come back into my legs. I'm not quite sure, but I think I walked out of the hospital some time around 12:30.

Alyssa's Big Girl bed

9/10/06

Here is Alyssa crawling off her big girl bed. Grandma and Grandpa Gruenes came to stay with Alyssa and I for a couple of days. So, I decided to make up her bed with the new bedspread and sheets that I had picked up. Alyssa and I roomed together for two nights.

The newest additon to the Gruenes side!!!

Here is our newest nephew Eli with his proud sister Anna and brother Jonah. Elijah Patrick was born on September 7th, 2006 weighing 9lbs. 4 oz. and measuring 22 3/4 inches long. He is just adorable!!!

That still makes Alyssa the youngest girl on the Gruenes side.

I'm gonna get you!!!

9/8/06

Just look at that grin!!!

Playing with her dollhouse...

9/8/06

Here is Alyssa playing with her dollhouse. She has just recently took an interest in it.

And as you can see she is in need of a haircut. Help Kaylie!!!

Reading...

9/4/06

Here is Alyssa reading a book. Whenever Alyssa has a chance she is either reading a book to herself or having me read one to her. She just loves books!!!

Peek I see you!!!

9/2/06

Alyssa loves to stand at the door when someone leaves. She keeps yelling "bye bye" until the person is out of her sight.

First Ultrasound

8/29/06

My first ultrasound turned out to be a vaginal ultrasound to check on my cervix before my surgery. I was able to get a couple of pictures for everyone to see, but our detailed ultrasound is still to come!!! I can't wait. The top left picture is the best one. Enjoy!!!

Looking a little sleepy...

8/27/06

Alyssa looks a little sleepy in this picture. This was taken right before we left for church. Her allergies started flaring up this weekend, so she probably didn't feel the best either.

Helping Mom out...

8/24/06

Here is Alyssa helping me vacuum the living room and stairs. She just loves the vacuum cleaner and is always wanting to turn it on and off.

How big is Alyssa?

8/22/06

Whenever you ask Alyssa how big she is this is what she does. She is just too cute. Alyssa has also started climbing up on big people chairs now. They are all a challenge to her, but she is going to be able to do it or she gets very upset.

Just look at Alyssa...

8/20/06

Mom, Alyssa and I went over to LouAnn's house for a few minutes today for Alec's birthday party. Well, Mom gave Alyssa a taste of a chocolate mint stick before we left. Then I gave her one in the wrapper to hold until we got back to Mom's house to keep her happy. She was quiet the whole way back and when we got there I realized that Alyssa had chewed a hole in the wrap and had chocolate all over the place. It was very cute and Alyssa just sat back like she didn't do anything at all.

Our garage sale...

Alyssa helping Auntie with the money.

Alyssa and Tristan reading a book.

8/18/06

Alyssa, NaNa and Auntie hanging out at the garage sale.