Albert Family Pictures

While we were in California, we took family pictures on my side of the family. 

We just HAD to since we were all together (for the first time in a long time) during the holidays.

Location: Hart Park in Bakersfield

Here are a few of our favorites:

From left to right

Carlie, Tyler, Austin, Dad, Mom, Kelsey, Courtney, Aubre, Jovi, and Jake

The women. Gorgeous!

The men. Studly!

Special thanks to Jen Wolff Photography

Ten month stats

Jovi is ten months old! 

Holy cow, where does time go, besides out the window?!?! I feel like it just flies right on by!!! We're hittin double digits here folks. DOUBLE DIGITS! I'm no fan. She looks HUGE these days.
Here's what she's been up to:

- She has 8 teeth (4 on top and 4 on bottom), and has 2 more coming in, so pretty soon she'll have 10 total! She'll be ready for a steak and potatoes tomorrow!
- Holds her own bottle now. Sometimes. Only when she wants to :)
- She went to her first amusement park (Knott's Berry Farm), and loved it! She went on her first ride too! Don't worry- It was just the little gold mining ride and Jake held her the whole time. She loved it though, and didn't get scared when it'd get noisy/dark. She also experienced her first show (Snoopy on Ice), while we were there, and she loved that as well!
- She eats baby food three times a day now (both veggies and fruit), and takes EVERYTHING like a champ, still!
- Will "sing" when you sing.
- Loves "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," and does the hand motions when it comes to the "out came the sun" part.
- Tries to climb out of the bathtub during her splash time. She doesn't actually want to get OUT of the tub per say, she just wants to climb out because hey- she can, so why not?!?!
- Claps. That's right. This is not the same baby we had when we left for California. We came back w/a completely different girl.
- Has so much more hair now! I was looking back at photos from November & she has like triple the amount.
- Speaking of hair, her's is curly! Just a few curls on top, but it's enough to swoon me!
- Loves to snuggle w/her stuffed animals (Dumbo and Snoop Dawg). They sleep in her crib even.
- Has learned to fall asleep on mom & dad while being bottle fed. She used to do this as an infant, but became SUPER independent and would only go to sleep if she was alone in her crib. But Nana and grandpa liked to snuggle here on our CA trip, so she got kinda used to that, and is okay w/us doing it now too. Don't get me wrong- She'll still lay down in her crib alone, but when needed (or wanted), she'll snuggle and go to sleep on you, while being bottle fed & rocked to sleep. I'm loving it!
- Will walk w/her new walking toy. In fact, she like runs w/it. I fear she'll just let go & take off running one day. Not walking.
- Loves to sit & "read" her books she got for Christmas. I'm so glad I ordered those for her!
- She feeds herself her own puffs now! AH I witnessed it today, on more than one occasion & it was sooooo exciting watching those motor skills come to life.
- She sleeps w/a humidifier in her room & it's amazing! I recommend one for everyone! 
- Will give you loves if you really deserve it & if she's really in the mood. And, her idea of "loves" (lemme just tell ya), is simply her just putting her forehead on yours, and sitting still for a minute. And that's it. 
- And lastly, she claps when she gets really excited to see a familiar face during FaceTime. She'll even throw in a cheesy grin w/it occasionally. 

Christmas in Cali

We made a last minute decision to go to California for Christmas.

And boy was it a hectic one.

We did all our last minute Christmas shopping in about two days.

Did some maintenance on the car (oil change, tire rotation, etc.).

And then we hit the road.

We left on Friday, December 19th mid afternoon and got to my parent's around 2am.

Jovi did great (as usual), and was SO excited to see my mom when we got there.

Photo taken on my iPhone 

Saturday, December 20th Jake caught up on sleep and I ran some last minute errands/Christmas shopping.

We also went to my parent's ward Christmas party later that evening.

It was so fun running into old friends!

Sunday, December 21st, we went to church at my parent's ward and had Sunday dinner w/the fam afterwards.

The fam, meaning everyone but my brother & his wife, and my sister.

Monday, December 22nd, Jake and I headed up to Kernville to spend the evening and a few nights there.

Jovi had a lot of fun w/her cousin (Ryder), who is 3 months younger.

Photo taken on my iPhone

Tuesday, December 23rd, I caught up on sleep, while Jake went fishing w/his dad & brother.

His Aunt Bonnie & Uncle Dan (and their daughter-in-law, Tracey, and her two kids Martin & Allison), came over later that evening for dinner. 

It was nice to sit & visit w/them during the busy time of the year.

Wednesday, December 24th, we celebrated Christmas Eve at Aunt Bonnie's w/all the other cousins & Jovi got to see everyone again!

It was so much fun getting everyone together, and seeing Jovi open her first Christmas present. 

We then went back to Jake's parents & did Christmas there w/them and his immediate family.

Later that evening, we headed back down to my parents for the remainder of the holidays. 

Thursday, December 25th, CHRISTMAS DAY!!! The biggest day yet! (Other than getting married & having Jovi, of course).

I guess Santa thought she deserved a good first Christmas.

In her stocking she got her own Disney princess chapstick (since she's obsessed w/my Burts Bees), a pink sparkly ball, rubber duckies, measuring cups, and a pink tutu.

She was pretty excited, as you can tell:

She went for the chapstick right away. Great thinkin, Santa!

NOISE MAKERS! That's what those are. Not measuring cups.

Bath toys, anyone?

First present from mom & dad: Foam letters & numbers. We believe in education. 

After we finished opening @ my parent's, we headed to my grandma's house, to open w/my mom's side of the family.

Jovi had to get a picture w/her aunties, since they gave her that ADORABLE Minnie Mouse outfit.

And yes, she she wore that on Christmas day :)

Four generation picture:

My mom's mom, my mom, Jovi, and meeeee

Jovi also got to meet Gabbie (Great Auntie Kel) for the first time!

Friday, December 26th, we headed back to my parent's and got ready for a busy weekend.

Saturday, December 27th, we went to Glendora to celebrate Christmas w/my dad's side of the family. They always get together the Saturday AFTER Christmas.

It was nice for everyone to meet Jovi for the first time :)

She met my Uncle Steve & Aunt Leslie, and my dad's mom over the summer, but other than that- That's it, so there was a lot for her to see. 

Sunday, December 28th, we all went to church together as a family and celebrated my younger brother's Eagle Court of Honor later that night.

We're so proud of you, Austin! Another eagle in the family. YEAH!

Monday, December 29th, we all went to Knott's MERRY Farm as a family, and the grandmas came along.

It was SO much fun and we had beautiful weather all day! (63)

It didn't get chilly until the sun went down.

We enjoyed watching Jovi's reactions, as this was her first amusement park, as was mine.

Oh, and we got photo bombed. Bah!

Left to right. Top to bottom:

Jake, Tyler (my brother), Carlie (his wife), Courtney (my sister), and my dad.

Me, Austin (my youngest brother), Grandma Bailey (dad's mom), G'ma Smith (mom's mom), Kelsey (my sister), and my mom.

Tuesday, December 30th, we took family pictures w/the whole fam since we were all together.

Jake and I went out to dinner later that night. BJs is a must hit when in CA

Wednesday, December 31st New Year's Eve we left California.

We originally weren't planning on leaving until the following day (New Year's Day), but since Jovi was teething really bad & not feeling well, and I caught some sort of sinus infection, Jake and I both decided to just leave and drive home that day. 

We left around 12 noon and got home around 1am.

It was a crazy couple of weeks in California. Not a dull moment & full of traveling.

We definitely took advantage of the cheap gas prices!

Nine month stats

Jovi is nine months old!

She turned nine months old almost a whole 30 days ago (BAH! Latest post ever!!!!), so on Saturday (12/13). I'm slacking more & more!!! I blame this last post on the holidays, and pregnancy. Let's see what other excuses I can come up w/next time. HA!

Here's what our little big lady has been up to:

- She pulls herself up on EVERYTHING & uses her kitchen high chair as a walker. Yeah- She pulls it & walks w/it around the kitchen.

- Growls at people… I'm not sure how I feel about this one, as it's not quite socially acceptable. Then again, she's a baby & can get away w/most things adults can't. And really, it's more of like a cat hiss than a growl. It's pretty cute, I must say.

- We like to play this fun game w/her, where we take her pacifier out of her mouth, and put it in ours. She thinks it's HILARIOUS!…. Let me clarify…. We don't put the part that goes in her mouth, in our mouth. We put the handle part in our mouth. Yeah :) She thinks it's SUPER funny though, and will take it out and put it in her own, after she jibber jabbers (almost like she's scolding us for doing something so ridiculous). 

- Loves to see the baby in the mirror. Not "The Man In The Mirror." I often take her in the guest bath (her bathroom), to see "THE BABY!" and she gets so excited seeing her reflection. I'm not sure when she'll finally realize it's her she's seeing, but it's pretty cute to see her reaction at "another baby;" Especially since we'll be having another one this year. It makes me feel good that she gets excited over other little people & isn't afraid.

- Pulls herself up on the oven handle in the kitchen, just so she can see the other baby (or herself) in the reflection. She then bangs on the glass, to tell the other baby hi. I like to think she's telling the "other baby" hi anyhow.

- Is very active in the bathtub now…. Don't get me wrong- She's always been a kicker and a screamer in the water, but now that she can crawl, she crawls in the tub and is IMPOSSIBLE to contain. IMPOSSIBLE I tell ya! She goes nuts. I miss the days when she would just lay there & get excited over the simple things (her kicking the water & splashing). Now, I love to see her move around 'n all, but it was just SO CUTE to see her get so excited over her just moving water w/her legs kicking hahaha Now she's a wild indian in the water & we love it just the same. 

- She now eats Stage 2 for the baby foods, which means the serving sizes are bigger, and a thicker consistency. She still eats everything like a champ & isn't so bothered w/the thicker consistencies anymore. (Remember how she hated her thick rick cereal, so we had to start making it thinner, so she wouldn't gag? Yeah, she got over that & is fine now).

- Has stopped doing spitty bubbles as often and will instead wiggle her tongue back & forth between the two sides of her mouth. It's the cutest noise really! (She still does spitty bubbles, just not AS often. It's more of a couple days a week type thing).

- Will copy you, or try. 

- Is a handful to put to bed, or down for a nap sometimes, but that's really just depending on her energy level. Most days/nights, it's still real easy for me; Especially if I recognize she's tired early on & act upon it, but if I wait too long, and try to put her down when she's OVERLY tired, it aint pretty. And I say it like it's this huge ordeal. It really isn't, compared to SOME stories I've heard w/kids going down for nap/bed time, but for our sweet little Jovi it's a huge ordeal. Getting up and leaving her room over & over 5 or 6 times is NOT something we do regularly. It's not out of the norm for me to just lay her down, walk away, and know she's zonked for the night/hour. Sometimes she has a hard time when Jake puts her down, though. And I think that's just because she likes to play w/him, and he's more of the "fun" parent.

- Goes from toy to toy to toy.

- Is a very very busy bee and goes up down, up down, on any and everything. For no reason at all really. 

- Has two teeth (bottom center) and is SO close to cutting those top two front choppers. They're right there. So close!

- When she gets really excited, she jibber jabbers to herself, in a whisper. I think that's because we would do that to her when we'd get really excited about something w/her. 

- And weighs 19.69 pounds (56th percentile), is 28 inches long (52nd percentile), and has a head that is in the 96th percentile (46 1/2 cm). Her doctor said she's a beautiful girl, is doing great and to keep doing what we're doing.