PK is TWO!

This month we celebrated PK's 2nd birthday! We had a small party with family, and had a party with several of PK's favorite things. I can't believe he's two already! Whoa. Let's see if we survive until his third birthday... I'm already questioning that :)

Here are some pictures from his party:

Showing off his birthday shirt- which I appliqued. 

Surprisingly easy! 

Our present to PK!

Which he loved <3 p="p">

His birthday cupcakes. 

Which he loved <3 p="p">

A few days later and he still is playing with his train- success! 

New birthday jammies!

Heading to the pool- he LOVES towers! 

{That's how he says towels)

Trying to help :) 

Now some pictures from a failed attempt at getting any decent pictures of him... it will have to suffice for now :) 

Okay, that last one I like :) 

More about PK and his life: 

He talks! So well! I am so surprised... okay, not. Being home with me all day, he's just trying to get a word in with me :) He says sooo many words! I wanted to right them all down, but there's just too many.  He's very talkative!

He reads the scriptures. Most nights he'll read a scripture for us (where we'll let him repeat all the words). He'll even say Resurrection- it sounds pretty similar actually. 

He prays! He'll repeat all the words we say, and will add in his own people/things to bless. 

Some of his favorites: 

1. swimming
2. coloring
3. reading books/magazines
4. sweeping
5. cereal, pizza, peaches
6. going for walks/getting the mail
7. trucks, cars,bikes, planes, trains
8. the refrigerator
9. the color orange {oh-winge}
10. Choo Choo show {thomas}

---We've started letting him watch TV- up until now he hasn't cared about it, and I wanted to wait until he was 2 to introduce him to the TV. I've heard so many different reports about TV being harmful for children before 2- which I don't know if it's true or not- but I knew he would watch TV for the rest of his life, so I hoped to hold off on it as long as possible.

I'm pretty much done with morning sickness- but mornings that I wasn't feeling well- he was allowed to watch 15 minutes of TV. Now that we're back to normal, he's still allowed 15 minutes of a show, but only after his nap- so usually around 4PM, and only if the day has gone well. Then, he's allowed to watch TV with Daddy on Saturday mornings while I sleep :) 

---Other things... he plays well by himself now. After some concerted effort on my part, he'll now play in his room by himself. It took awhile for him to stay in there after I left, but now he's fine. He'll also play in  our fenced in backyard by himself- which he does while I'm getting dinner ready. 

---He loves music and we're excited to get him enrolled in Kindermusik! I'm not exactly sure what we'll be doing, but I wanted to get him exposed to music early on. 

---He and I are starting "learning time". I don't really know what to call it. It's just time set aside every morning where we go to the kitchen table and learn. We've starting with colors, letters, and numbers. I'm trying to remember that he is only 2... most of my education focussed on older elementary... so I'm having to reign myself in :) Either way it's been A LOT of fun, and I have been really surprised with how well he does. It's teaching him to sit still and focus, which is paying off in a lot of ways. 

---Which leads me to the next thing... sacrament meeting.

Our goals for sacrament are this: Have him be reverent so that he can feel the spirit {and so we can too!} and so he's not distracting others. Sounds nice, right? haha
Every family home evening for the past few months we've been practicing being reverent and whispering. He's definitely learning- but we have a long way to go. On Sunday, he only had to be taken out one for screaming one time (we're used to like 8 so this was awesome!), and he was reverent for the 20 minutes are so until the sacrament was done being blessed and passed- this was a new record! Usually we're fighting with him after 5 minutes. It will be a long time before I can be fully at ease during sacrament- maybe when all my kids are grown- but for now, baby steps. 

PK has brought us so much happiness. He has the personality of about 5 kids, and the energy of about 10. I love getting to be his momma- he has taught me so much about myself, about who I am and about who I want to be. We're so proud of you, PK. You're gonna be a great big brother :)

Happy Monday!

Upcoming Adventures

We have a few more updates on our move. 

I don't even know where to start. We have had blessings poured out to us in ways that we weren't even expecting. First off, Jed got a job! YAY! This is the biggest weight off our shoulders. 

We could have found a decent apartment anywhere, we already knew what school he'd be going to, but we hit a several dead ends in the job department. Then, using LinkedIn, he found an Army Research Lab that was looking for Mechanical Engineer Graduate students to do research. Jed will work 20 hours a week and will receive a monthly stipend to pay our bills.  But the biggest blessing of all, is that the Lab does a tuition waiver with the university- and will pay for Jed's schooling!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I haven't sat down to figure out exactly what that will end up coming to- but just knowing that we won't have to take out student loans for his graduate work is the best. thing. ever! Jed's hard work is continuing to pay off- I'm just so proud of that kid. 

Okay, then just today we got approved for housing! We'll be moving in to a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath town house! We're excited for the community that we'll be living in- it has a club house, outdoor pool, several parks--including one foot steps from our backyard! We were hoping to get a 3 bedroom (seeing as that is what we already have) but there is a long wait list for that- we plan to move into one next year sometime. 

Oh gosh guys, we are getting so excited for the move- especially now that we have somewhere to move to! We keep pinching ourselves to make sure this is all real- and I hope I didn't jinx everything by posting it all on here. Either way, we know that Heavenly Father is mindful of us and our needs, and we are grateful for His help and guidance in all of our decision making. 

Here's to things going smoothly, this nasty sore throat to go away ASAP, and for us to stay on top of packing/cleaning so that this move does not turn into a nightmare. 

{Is that even possible?}

The Results are In!

And we're headed to.... Illinois! 

Go Fighting Illini! Woot Woot!

I'm so proud of Jedediah for all his hard work- throughout his entire life- in order to get us here. He has made great sacrificies for me- even before we met. I could go on and on about how awesome I think he is- but most people reading this agrees- he's a pretty cool cat. 

Anyways- to the Midwest we go! 

Our tenative plans are to move to Illinois mid July (appox. the 14th). My family has their reunion (held only every 3 years) that same week- so my brother from Washington is also headed to Illinois. We are going to rent a small trailer and hitch it up to their van. I'm so grateful for this! Even using a company like ABF which we've heard is one of the cheaper moving companies (aside from renting a truck) is still around $1200. We'll be saving nearly $1000 by renting the trailer. Thanks BRO! {Not to mention it will be nice to caravan with them!}

Then we'll stay with my Grandmother until we move in to Champaign {hopefully August 1st but no later than August 20th}

We are hoping to move in to a complex called Winfield village. My sister and her family lived there when they were also going to the U of I, and Jed and I have since fallen in love with it.

 {Cross your fingers! We are in Round 2 of the application process} 

We also haven't secured a job for Jedediah while we're there- but he does have several leads and is hoping that something will come together- and soon- ideally something with some sort of tuition reimbursement.  

If we don't move to Winfield Village- we don't have a back up planned. If it doesn't work out (which sounds like it will) but if it doesn't- we'll just search online (Craigslist etc) to find something last minute. 

I really hope it doesn't come to this- I'm not one to do things last minute- but I'm trying to "go with the flow."

When we get settled- I'll start looking for a college or university for me to attend. I really, really want to finish my degree. I have sorely missed school and am looking forward to going back as soon as possible. I haven't begun to look at any schooling options because there are so many other things to focus on. But as soon as we get there- Jed starts school, then I will try and figure something out. 

Our plan is also to switch PK to a toddler bed and potty train him when we move (not during the move {I'm not that crazy!} but when we get there.) He has shown signs of potty training- but I don't even want to think about it more until he's 2 (he'll turn 2 in August.) 

We'll be at the University of Illinois for 6 years. WOW. That seems like a really long time. PK will be getting baptized when Jed is done there. crazy. 

As of right now- I'm feeling pretty good. We really don't have all that much settled- we basically know that Jed is attending the University of Illinois for the Fall 2012- but we don't know all the ins and outs of getting there, where we'll live, what we'll do for income, how we'll pay for the schooling, if I'll go to school and where etc. etc. etc.....

But surprisingly I feel fine. We have been praying about this decision of almost a year now. It's a BIG decision. There were a lot of choices to make- and still are. I am so grateful for personal revelation. I'm grateful for a husband who doesn't rush me and allows me all the time I need to process each step. I'm grateful for an all-knowing Heavenly Father who at times gives us glimpses of the future. He lets us have an opinion in the matter, and just asks us to trust His decision. 

And trust we will. 

18 Months: PK Post

This kid is 1.5 years old!! Whoa. 

I love how much his personality has come out. He is a happy kid. 

Crazy, sure. 

But he is pretty happy. 

His laugh is soo cute. 

He has the BAHAHA laugh- 

then he has the 

"I'm laughing cuz you're laughing" laugh

and then he has the 

"lame joke, Mom" laugh. 

And it keeps me laughing. 

His 18 month stats are: 

Height: 33 1/4 inches- 82nd percentile

Weight: 23.7 lbs-25th percentile

Head: 48.5 cm-82nd percentile

So basically he is long and skinny with a big head. 

Sound like anyone else you know? 

hmmm interesting. 

He is very social. Like SUPER social. 

He loves being with people. Any person. 

In church- he will go up to anybody and want to be held or get in their bag. 

No social boundaries. 

During story hour at the library- he has tried to sit on the storyteller's lap.

{Terrifies ME!}

He LOVES to be outside!

 We recently went for a nature walk with his next door neighbor/BFF

and his Mommy (who is my next door neighbor/BFF) 

and we had a blast.
PK makes everything so much more interesting!

Who would have thought that picking up sticks/leaves/rocks 

would be the best afternoon ever? 

PK loves: 

reading

(with or without Momma)

to DANCE

stack blocks

milk

water

crawling into bed in the AM

playing with Daddy

climbing 

(obviously related)

strawberries

anything that rolls

chap-stick

giving kisses, knuckles, high-fives

bath time

cheese

the piano

church nursery

my Hospital jug

Momma <3

PK can't stand:

being alone

snuggling

sudden noises

 getting his noise wiped

plums

juice

 getting buckled in the car

missing family/friends that are too far away!!

----------------

 

We love you, PK!

You have brought so much joy into our lives. 

Looking forward to watching you spread your wings. 

XOXO,

Momma and Daddy 

And..... They're In!

All of our graduate applications are IN! 

{"Our" referring to the combined effort- but Jed will be the graduate student}

So- in *NO* particular order: 

University of Illinois- Urbana/Champaign, Illinois

 

 

Purdue University- West Lafayette, Indiana

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts

University of Wisconsin- Madison, Wisconsin

University of Utah- Salt Lake City, Utah

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

We are more than overjoyed to be done with the application process- but now we are just WAITING. We don't expect to hear anything back until March/April so now we just have 3 months of anxiety. We are very pleased with the schools we have applied to- would be happy with any of them- but if it wasn't obvious enough- this list is in our preferred order. 

Firstly, we just want to go to graduate school- wherever they will accept us. Then of course we have to consider the price of the university, as well as consider the school's engineering rank.  Location of course is also important- though it will be difficult to leave everything in Provo. Most importantly, we will go wherever the Lord wants us to be- wherever and whenever we are needed.

Looking forward to some big changes for our family in 2012!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas all! 

We are spending time with family up in Washington. 

It's so nice to continue traditions as a family. 

I'm pretty sure my family has the best Christmas traditions. 

{But I'm sure that everyone thinks that} 

But really, my family's the best! 

I hope you enjoy this season- and take a quiet moment to soak it all in, it always goes by way too fast!

Merry Christmas, from the Alvey's! 

November (ish)

Sooner rather than later I will be writing 2012- as will you. Are you ready? 

I am SOOO not. I can't believe time goes this fast- is it just a married thing? 

I don't remember it being like this- but man, I feel old. 

Speaking of old-- we had a birthday around here! 

{I'll get to that in a bit} 

I feel like I should be singing this blog- just a quick flash of a picture with a witty comment on what was happening- followed by "and a partridge in a pear tree." I don't know why. 

Maybe it's because I have vowed to listen to Christmas music as often as I can. I mean- I only listen to it after Thanksgiving- which only happens once a year. 

Bad Idea. 

I have 10 or so songs stuck in my head because they are just cycled through on the Christmas station. It is fun to watch PK dance- he'll bend his knees and bounce up and down- and then twirl in a circle until he falls down. {Look on my Facebook page for a video coming soon!} 

Anyways- whether I am ready or not- the end of the year is coming. Which means parties, a trip, service, and continued festive spirit. I love Christmas with my little family. We're reading scriptures focused on Christlike attributes and have special activities that help us live those attributes. It really is a fun and meaningful way to spend the Christmas season. We've also started our service tree and are filling it up with tags of acts of service our family has been able to do this month. I can't wait for our kiddos to get older and to have discussions about the Savior during this month. I hope you and your family enjoy this Christmas season! I think it's becoming my favorite :) 

So here is a quick montage of our November: 

 We went to the Gateway mall in SLC for the tree lighting ceremony.

 PK trying on a funny hat and gloves I picked out for him.

 For Thanksgiving we stayed home and shared dinner with our great friends Lillie and Long and Lillie's family. We had a blast with their family and really enjoyed cooking part of the meal! (Including a TURKEY! giblets and all)

 

 And Pk NOT understanding that some days it's TOO cold outside for a walk. 

We've started to become mall walkers- it's great!

 We headed down to St. George for a quick visit for baby Brooklyn's baby blessing. It was so fun to spend time with family- but stinky that we were quadrupley+ booked that weekend and only got to stay for less than 24 hrs.

 Remember the birthday I mentioned? Yup- Jedediah turned 25!! OH- wow. We spend the day with family and traveling home- but I threw him a surprise birthday party a few days before. It was EPIC. I can't believe he's 25 but I'm so proud of everything he's done in that time- he's a great guy let

me tell ya.

We drove 4 hours each way to St. George (okay 3.5 there and 5.5 back) We were almost home and he was screaming at the top of his lungs and I had to go potty so we made a quick stop. When I got back I was surprised at who was driving the car! What a cute guy :) 

We had a great month and this month we have tons to look forward to. We have applications submitted and will continue a few more submissions and then play the A.W.E.S.O.M.E waiting game to find out where we're headed. We're excited for a change next year- but it's going to be an emotional move for all of us. {Oh gosh. I can't start getting emotional now!} 

Have a GREAT December guys! 

Love, the Provo Alvey's.    

P.S. I forgot about Black Friday!! IT was AMAZING! I look forward to it all year- and after having a very tight couple of weeks after the last 2 years of Black Friday shopping- we planned ahead. We saved money every month so that when November rolled around I had a nice little nest egg to shop with. Remember a few months back when I posted about a very "lofty" goal I had and how I needed a new bra-zier- badly!? Well- I finally did it! Lifted to new heights and no terrible poking wires- it is a MIRACLE! {Did I mention I got them for $15- regularly $70 during Black Friday. That my friends- is the reason I get up early and deal with the crowds. I am one of "those people" and I'm proud of it baby! Did you score any steals?