Gideon's Baptism and Family Pictures

Last weekend was a busy weekend for our family. On Saturday we went to an open house and Gideon's 1st birthday. On Sunday we attended Gideon's baptism. It was a busy weekend for Gideon too. The baptism was a very nice affair however Mom almost missed it. Earlier before the service started we got to the church early to drop Alyce off at the nursery so she could get use to it and the caretakers before we had to leave her. We thought that after 20 minutes or so she seemed well enough to leave alone. We had Luke with us in the sanctuary and he was more than content sleeping throughout the entire service.


Right before the baptism was about t0 start the nursery attendant found us and told us that Alyce's wheels had fallen off. The wheels term is one we use when she just loses control starts crying and needs a Mom or Dad to get her back to normal and put the wheels back on. So Mom leaves the service with Luke to take care of Alyce because I needed to stay and video the ceremony. I thought Mom had missed the ceremony but thankfully they watched and heard it through a window in the cry room. Mom stayed with Alyce the rest of the service and appears to have had a good time doing it. Later on even Gideon decided to join in on the fun in the nursery.



After the service everyone was visiting outside the sanctuary and the weather was really nice. Since the family was well dressed and color coordinated we decided to get a family picture taken with the church's grounds being the backdrop. Of course our usually smiling cheerful 2 year old wouldn't smile for the camera but that is the way things are sometimes.

Alyce is 2!

Two years ago on this very day Alyce joined the world. Mom went into labor around 2:00 a.m. and Alyce was born just before noon on October 27 2006. Our lives from that point on have never been the same.

To celebrate this occasion we threw a party for our little girl. We invited all types of friends and family. Grandma, Grams & Grandpa, Gi Gi, Jeff & Liz, Trent Lisa & Shelby, Josh Tammy & Gideon, Aunt Jean, Aunt Sue, and Mommy's brother Scott were all in attendance. The party had already started when Alyce woke up from her nap and she was greeted by a room full of people. She handled the commotion well by snuggling next to Gi Gi until the cobwebs went away. Next Lisa got to hold Alyce on her hip while Shelby did some entertaining.

For dinner we had hot dogs and Grandma's Award Winning Chili. They must have been a big hit as there were only two hot dogs and half a bowl of chili left at the end of the night.

After dinner we opened presents and there were a lot of presents to be opened. Alyce received everything from wooden trains, clothes, push toys, crayons, kitchen supplies, and a new baby doll. The biggest present for Alyce was an appearance by her friend Gideon or Gid Gid as Alyce calls him. Alyce opened up a few presents but became frustrated when she couldn't get into any of the hermetically sealed packages.


The last major event of the night was the birthday cake. Looking at the video below it is obvious Alyce didn't really know what was going on other than the fact she new it was about her. Next year she won't need us to blow out her candle like we did this year. She was a big fan of the cake and ice cream. She ate almost all of it by herself; sharp contrast to last year where she didn't even take a bite.


Happy Birthday Big Girl!

Enjoy some of the pictures from the party.

Labor Day Weekend Part 1

This past weekend we celebrated Labor Day along with a three day weekend. We did so much we need another weekend to recuperate from the weekend. On Friday we had our friends Josh, Tammy, and Gideon over. It had been a long time since we had last seen Gideon and he has grown like a weed. Alyce as always was interested in the "baby" as she likes to call him. Alyce even wanted to feed Gideon even though he wasn't hungry at the time.

Saturday our busiest day of the weekend we had two parties to go to. Earlier in the day we ventured to my cousin Ben's house for the 1st birthday party of their son Rex. We don't have any updated pictures of him, but if you check back to a July 4th post you can see a picture of him there. At the party Alyce took ownership of a toy and held onto it almost the entire time. This toy was a Clifford the Big Red Dog riding toy. It is basically a big plastic Clifford with wheels. 80% of the time we were there Alyce was on Clifford. The most notable experience was that while Rex was opening his presents Alyce fell off Clifford over the handlebars and onto her chin. Naturally Alyce burst into tears and Mom picker her up and brought her into another room to calm her down. Alyce would have none of this she wiggled out of Mom's arms, went back into the main room, and got back onto Clifford while still crying. After a few minutes her cry's moved to wimpers and eventually was fine.

After Rex's party we had another party to attend. At this point it was around 5:00 p.m. and and Alyce hadn't had a nap that day and we didn't have the energy to watch a fussy baby the whole night. So Grams and Grandpa took our tired baby for the night while Mom and I had fun like adults! Of course we spent the whole night talking to people about our children.

More Independence Day Madness

As mentioned in an earlier post the family had an Independence day party to attend on Friday night. This party was being thrown by our friends Josh, Tammy, and their son Gideon. A lot of the other attendees were old friends of mine from a previous job. We did show up a bit late to the party as Alyce got to her nap late and thus slept in a bit longer. It was to our benefit though because we kept Alyce up past 10:00 (bedtime is usually 8:00) for the second night in a row. Throughout the entire party Alyce was a perfect angel. She stayed in the back yard and sat in our laps during the fireworks display. This fireworks display while not a professional show like last night was a lot closer and louder to Alyce. Surprisingly Alyce wasn't scared of the noise or the flashes.


The big entertainment for Alyce and Mom at the party was baby Gideon. Gideon is four weeks old and Alyce was allowed closer to him. Alyce was quite interested in the "baby" as she kept saying "baby", pointed, and smiled at Gideon. I believe there is a picture floating around of Alyce holding Gideon, but I do not have it. Alyce didn't have any problems with Mom holding Gideon, however she did have a problem with me doing the same. She wanted to get into my lap any time I was holding Gideon. It will be interesting to see how she reacts whenever she gets a brother or a sister.

Ready for Summer

Yesterday Mom went shopping with our friend Tammy and her son Gideon to the mall. There was much shopping success as Mom got Alyce lots of summer outfits and a few spring ones for next year. The above picture is my favorite out of the bunch. The matching hair clip finishes the whole outfit. Enjoy a better picture of her haircut as well.