12 Weeks Old!

Alice is 12 weeks old now and has a number of new 'tricks'!

Jameson and I enjoy giving her baths together and she seems to like them. This is her first 'bubble bath' in the sink at Grandpa & Grandma Roose's.



She has always loved laying on this ladybug and starring at the toys but now she is actually grabing ahold of them and starting to play with them. It's very fun to watch her. When she gets tired and can't get a hold of them, however, she gets frusterated.



I've started putting her in this 'johnny jumper' and she seems to like being able to change her scenery by turning around.


She continues to make new noises all the time and loves listening to music. She got a bunch of cd's from my mom and grandma that we've been listening to a lot!

Merry Christmas!

We hope you had a good Christmas and enjoyed time with family and friends. We sent out Christmas cards for the first time this year since we had a lot of exciting events to include in a letter. Here's our Christmas card picture.

Alice has an adorable smile; unfortunately we couldn't get it in a picture with both of us.

We enjoyed being able to spend time with family and see some old friends the past few weeks. This started the Sunday before Christmas. My college roommate Cassy and her husband Justin were back from Colorado so they, along with our other friends Lindsey & Derek & their 6 month old Isabella, Gwyn & Jake, and Loren came over for lunch and an afternoon of catching up.

We went to my parents Wednesday night and thankfully the temperature remained above freezing so we only encountered rain and not ice on the way. Thursday (Christmas Eve) my grandma came over for awhile in the afternoon, we went to my brother's church for 5:00 service, and then enjoyed our annual Christmas Eve evening of Rook and shrimp. We closed the day by going to First Pres for their 11:00 candlelight service. Alice stayed asleep through the wonderful organ playing, multiple choirs, hand bells, and violin playing and even went to bed without crying when we got home. :)

Here's Alice in her Christmas dress.

Christmas day (Friday) we opened gifts with my family and had our usual breakfast casserole in the morning and then went to my grandma's in the afternoon for the rest of the day.

Here's Alice opening her first Christmas presents with Grandma T Chrismtas morning.

Saturday morning 3 of my high school friends came over to my parents house to visit and see Alice again. Michelle announced that she's expecting in July!

Saturday evening we came back to Cedar Falls and went to our church Sunday morning. Late Sunday afternoon we headed to Jameson's parents for family supper and gift opening (before Jen left for camp Monday morning).

Here's Alice opening her present from her cousins, Timothy and Arie (with daddy's help).

While we were at the farm, Jameson helped his dad take down an old shed.






We enjoyed getting to spend a lot of time with our nephews, Timothy and Arie. It's so fun to see them growing up. Tuesday night we went to Jordan and Joy's for supper and visiting. We always look forward to time with them! Jameson got quite a workout from the boys. Here he is being their 'horse'.


We got back to Cedar Falls Wednesday evening. Thursday (New Year's Eve) we went down to Cedar Rapids in the morning to pick up a ping pong table (Jameson's Christmas present). Thursday evening we went to Beck's with Scott and Lia to watch the Iowa State bowl game and then to the Cheatham's to play games and celebrate the New Year.

It was a great (and busy) Christmas! Thankfully we have a few days at home now to relax before Jameson has to go back to work.

Baptism

Alice was baptized Dec. 13. We meet with our pastor prior to her being baptized to be reminded of what the signifance of this sacrement and go over our vows. I found baptism to have a much greater and deeper meaning when having my own child baptized!
Alice did great all day, except during pictures after the service which we woke her up for.

Jameson's Aunt Judy made this beautiful dress for Alice.

Jameson's parents, grandma, brother Austin, and Jordan's family came up on Saturday and spent the day with us. We celebrated Lydia's first birthday as well. Saturday afternoon we got to enjoyed a lot of piano playing and hymn singing with Jameson's grandma (while Jordan's family was swimming at the hotel).


My parents, brother, and grandma came up Sunday morning and then stayed for the afternoon.


Alice and her 2 grandmas.

Our friends Loren, Scott, and Lia also came to here baptism. It was nice to have so many people sharing in this memorable day with us.

My mom made this beautiful cake to have as part of our weekly fellowship lunch at church after her baptism.

Facial Expressions

Alice is now making all kinds of facial expressions. I got a few good ones and sent them to Jameson to let him know what his little girl was up to while he was at work.
Smiles! :)

Frusterated?

Her tongue, which is frequently sticking out or moving all around.

And of course, a big yawn!