Sweany Kids

Our new addition!

2011-04-30T21:44:00.010-05:00

On April 15th Daddy and Mommy drove 3 1/2 hours and pick up our new 8 week old Boxer puppy to surprise Alaina and Jason at daycare. She's a dark brindle (looks like she's black and white) and she's the sweetest little girl! Alaina is in ABSOLUTE HEAVEN and Jason is really starting to getting comfortable with her. He LOVES her when she's sleeping, because she won't make any sudden moves! ;) We named her Bella Sweany! Hope that you enjoy some of our priceless photos of her!

Our new little baby on the way home with Daddy and Mommy! Alaina picked out her, "Bling"! She picked a pink rhinestone dog tag and a pink collar with rhinstones on the back! ;)
Bella wouldn't stop kissing her big sister all evening long! Alaina LOVED it!!

Such a little sweetie!
Alaina wanted to make sure that she had toys to play with when she woke up! ;)

One of the HILARIOUS sleeping positions that we've captured on camera of Bella sleeping! She fell asleep with a piece of notebook paper in her mouth!

1st haircut!

2011-03-19T21:03:00.004-05:00

We took Jason and this week to get their haircuts. It was Jason's first haircut and it was so hard to believe that he's already getting a haircut! I took them to Salon Pearl in Lawrence, KS where my hairdresser works. Courtney did an amazing job! She was so sweet and patient, because J-man was a wiggle worm!

So happy! At first he did very well, but...

Then he decided that it wasn't fun anymore and everytime Courtney would grab a patch of hair he'd get his hand away from Daddy or Mommy and try to swat Courtney's hand.

Courtney and her "Genius wisdom," gave Jason one of her combs and he decided that Daddy needed his hair combed. The only problem was he missed Daddy's hair and ended up combing his eyes!

Then it was the "Big Girls," turn! She loves to get her haircut, so that she can look at herself in Courtney's big, tall mirror!

Courtney was doing a few touch ups on J's hair and when we all turned around Alaina was in her own little world, taking her time, combing her hair nice and slow just admiring the job that Courtney did. She's such a little DIVA!

Yeah Jason!!!

2011-03-11T20:58:00.004-06:00

My baby boy is walking! The best way to get him to take a lot of steps is to put him in nothing, but his diaper! With clothes on he'll take about 5 steps with nothing but his diaper on he'll take 15 steps.

Go J-man Go! His smile couldn't get any BIGGER!!

Here he is clapping and cheering (yelling) for himself!

Steady, Steady! So exciting and fun to watch!

There he is with clothes on!

Losing our balance, but trying to really hard to stay standing! After the picture was taken he fell down! My little boy is growing way too fast!

It's been awhile!

2011-03-07T21:58:00.004-06:00

I realized today that it's been a long time since I've updated the blog with some new pics. I thought that I'd start with Alaina and then sometime soon (hopefully tomorrow) I'll be able to upload new pictures of Jason.

Alaina showing off her new "White puppy" that she got for Christmas from Santa!

Dancing with her puppy!

My beautiful baby girl posing (in her ADORABLE KU cheerleading outfit) with her White Puppy! She's growing so fast!

Tribute to the best dog ever!

2011-02-04T20:05:00.007-06:00

Bailey fought a good fight, but sadly lost the battle to Lymphoma. When the big snow storm came in this week Dan and I noticed that she was starting to go down hill. She was only eating table scraps to get through my snow days and then this morning before we took her in she wasn't eating at all. When we took her to the vet today to be put to sleep he checked her over and it turns out that she had tumors all over her body. The tumors had basically spread through all of her lymph nodes. Dan and I knew right then and there that we had made the right decision.

Bailey touched so many hearts! The whole vet office was devastated by this and they were all AMAZING!! The Dr. told us that he'd never seen Bailey with sad eyes and he was right they were sad. We had a wonderful last day with her yesterday! She played with all of us and gave us so many kisses. It was her way of telling me that she was ready to go. Dan and I feel so selfish, because we didn't want to let her go, but we know that we needed to.

Dan and I have turned around and looked for her many times tonight. Everything in the house reminds us of her. We miss her greeting by the door, her tail that wagged so hard it shook her butt, how she'd turn her head back and forth when we talked to her, her head butting the bathroom door to see what you were doing in the bathtroom, her chasing Alaina and Jason up and down the hallway and most of all tucking each kid into bed at night. She was such a HUGE part of our daily/nightly routines. I only hope that she knows how much we loved her and how happy she made us. She gave us so much love and wonderful memories to treasure forever.

Alaina is asking us a lot of questions and the first thing that she said when we picked her up tonight she said, "Daddy, open up the back of the car I want to see Bailey!" So hard!

With us having notice of her illness we were able to capture some adorable pictures of her with the kids before her last day at the Sweany house. Enjoy!

Bailey always let Alaina give her hugs like this!

My beautiful baby!

Bailey always let Alaina snuggle with her on the couch even if she didn't want to.

Bailey with her last toy that Papa and Mema got her.

Bailey playing with one of her last toys that we bought her!

Bailey going in for kisses!

After we told Alaina that she was sick she went to her room and got her doctor kit and said, "Bailey hold still I'll make you feel better sweetheart!" Bailey stood there like, "Yes, Alaina if anyone can make me better it's you!"

My two precious baby girls!

I'm afraid that he's too young to remember how much she loved him and how much he loved her. The other day when I was letting her in from going to the bathroom he smiled so big and said, "Bah, Bah," like he was saying her name.

So precious!

Bailey giving kisses to Jason while we were trying to get a family photo! ;)

Our last family photo together!

Jason and Bailey playing tug of war over a plate!

So exciting!

2011-01-11T21:36:00.006-06:00

This is a video of Jason walking with his walking toy all by himself. He was so happy and proud of himself, but he was too busy concentrating on walking that he didn't holler or talk to me. He was so worn out tonight from all of his hardwork! He's growing way too fast and I know that walking is just right around the corner. I've had an AMAZING last two days off (due to snow days) with my beautiful children and it will be hard to leave them tomorrow. Bailey was so great! She quickly got out of his way and stood in his doorway and at the end of the video she started barking to applaud Jason's hardwork! Poor Alaina missed all of the excitement due to her napping this afternoon. When she woke up and I told her she said, "Way to go handsome! I'm so proud of you!" She's such a proud big sister!

1st snow!

2011-01-10T21:18:00.006-06:00

Alaina smiling for the camera, but starting to lose her patience, because she couldn't wait to go out in the snow!

What a happy little boy for all of the gear that we put him in. He was warm and unable to move!

Posing with Daddy before we all went outside!

And a picture with Mommy! Jason wasn't really sure what all of the excitement was about.

Bailey helping Dan make a snow angel! ;)

Alaina making her very first snow angel!

Eating snow!

What a silly little boy! The snow helped prop him up, because he was a little top heavy! ;)

Bailey being such a great big sister, checking on her little brother. After this Jason starting hollering and cooing like crazy like he didn't appreciate the snow Bailey put all over his lap!

Our two adorable babies!

Alaina showing Jason how to eat snow and Jason looking and thinking, "She's nuts!"

Alaina is crazy

2010-12-31T22:40:00.004-06:00

There are so many things that are funny and/or chronologically inconsistent about this video.

1. Jason is completely immune to Alaina's craziness. She is going nuts and he does nothing but ignore her.
2. Alaina is wearing her glow in the dark Jack-o-Lantern pajamas (her choice). This video was shot five days after Christmas.
3. Alaina is playing with the Abominable Snowman doll (from Rudolph) that she picked out at Build-a-Bear four days after Christmas. Keep in mind that she will NOT watch Rudolph because the Abominable Snowman is too scary.
4. Alaina is holding a Tangled "Happy Birthday" balloon. Her birthday is in nearly six months. But she loves Rapunzel and loves the balloon.
5. The name of her song is "Locked Door."

Jason talking up a storm!

2010-12-29T22:22:00.005-06:00

Dan and I had some alone time with Jason while Alaina took a long afternoon nap the other day and we captured Jason talking like crazy! Sorry that it's a little long, but we couldn't resist the cuteness! I've been trying really hard to get him to say, "Ma Ma!" It's not working. He went from saying, "Da Da," to saying, " Duh Duh!" Click on the link below to see our little chatterbox!

Click on the video to watch at YouTube so you can see the full picture. Our blog sometimes doesn't play well with HD and widescreen videos.

Breakfast with Santa!

2010-12-11T14:19:00.006-06:00

We went to our church's annual "Breakfast with Santa!" Alaina was so excited this year. We arrived right at the start to even see Santa's entrance. He greeted everyone by coming up the stairs ringing a sleigh bell saying, "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas," with Mrs. Claus in tow with cookies for the boys and girls! The minute that Alaina saw him you could see Christmas spirit fill her beautiful little brown eyes. She quickly turned and said, "Daddy, Mommy, Look! It's Santa!"

My beautiful girl and I before we got to see Santa!

The two handsome men in my life! Poor Jason was woke up from a nap to go see Santa and he was a trooper! Poor tired baby!

Alaina showing Santa her pretty dress! She was so excited!

Santa asked, "Can you twirl in your dress?" Whoa baby! That was music to Alaina's ears. She said, "Yes, I can!" Then she twirled and twirled! Jason was checking out Mrs. Claus. He knew that she had the cookies!

Alaina talking to Mrs. Claus about her brother Jason. She's so proud of him!

Look at that beautiful, happy girl! Mommy couldn't get a smile for a picture with her, but Santa can get a smile whenever he wants it! ;) She was so excited to sit up on his lap!

Jason wasn't too fond of the situation! Mrs. Claus tried everything to soothe him!

Alaina told Santa, "I want a toy white puppy for Christmas!" There was so much noise that poor Santa didn't hear her, but she didn't notice.

Alaina telling Jason, "Shh! It's okay Jason they're nice! Jason still not buying it!

Bless her heart she thought that a hug and kiss would make it all better. Then she said, "I don't like it when he cries!" What a sweetie!

Daddy's girl!

Momma's Boy!

Sister and brother fun!

2010-12-02T21:40:00.003-06:00

Dan and I just love watching Alaina and Jason playing and or interacting together. They already make each other laugh and smile and I can see how much they love each other. Here are some adorable shots that we've caught of them lately.

Check out our little hams! Alaina's new smile that she's developed since turning 3 drives us crazy!

Our little J-man getting ready to give his big sis a kiss! He's such a little lover!

My beautiful babies! I love them so much!

Our best attempt at a Christmas card picture. Even Bailey doesn't work with us!

Alaina loves to read books to Jason and he loves to sit and look at the story with her. Such a precious moment to capture!

Very late! Sorry!

2010-12-02T20:30:00.005-06:00

I can't believe that I'm so late putting pictures from Halloween this year! I guess it's better late than never. Alaina is enjoying and so excited for every holiday. She's so cute! I hope that you enjoy the pictures.

Jason with his very first jack-o-lantern!

Alaina LOVED riding in the wagon while trick-or-treating in our neighborhood!

Papa and Mema were able to go trick-or-treating with us this year! It was a lot of fun!

It's so hard to get a family photo with everyone smiling and looking at the camera!

My handsome little monkey! I love to kiss those chubby little cheeks!

The back of my little Tinkerbell! Jason is mesmerized by her beauty!

What a cheesy smile! She looked so darn cute!

Jason with his very first pumpkin! He's so proud of his perfect pumpkin!

Cheesy Alaina helping Mommy clean out the insides of the pumpkins.

6 months pics!

2010-10-17T19:36:00.006-05:00

We took Jason to get his 6 month pictures this weekend and they did an AMAZING job! Dan and I had a really difficult time picking out our favorite poses. I posted our favorite poses of the kids below. Alaina didn't really want to have her picture taken! She was more interested in making Jason laugh and that worked out well for us!

Our little Princess!

We told her that she could have some pretzels if she smiled and said, "Cheese!" Sad, but true that bribery works every time!

Jason didn't cooperate for the pictures with both of them. Alaina was an absolute trooper and didn't take a bad one, but this was the best of both of them. Jason was very interested in the props!

My happy boy sitting all by himself!

This picture just melted my heart! I love it!!!

Look at him sitting in the rocking chair! My baby's growing too fast!

Jason's SO BIG!!!!!

Alaina had him laughing so hard and we just loved it!!

6 months old!

2010-09-24T21:17:00.004-05:00

Jason is 6 months old today! I can't believe that he's already 6 months old! He weighed 17.4 lbs. which puts him in the 50%, 28 inches tall 90% and head circumference 90%. We were also told that we need to really to take away his middle of the night feeding. Dan and I are pretty sure that Jason is our last baby and I'm having a little trouble letting go. I miss both of my kids now that I'm back at work and so when Jason wakes up it warms my heart to snuggle, kiss and hold him until he falls back to sleep. I'm not going to lie that I'm still tired the next day, but spending time with him means more to me than sleep. I told Dan that I'll work really hard to help him give up the feeding, but I never promised that I'd do it without tears. Look at that beautiful little face below and tell me how you could say, "No!" Happy 6 months my handsome, baby boy! Mommy loves you and Alaina more then you'll ever know!! Your needs will always come before mine!

She's growing up too fast!

2010-09-24T20:51:00.003-05:00

Our beautiful baby girl started preschool this year! She's growing way too fast! We're so proud of her! I was a little emotional that morning and of course Dan was so excited. I hope that you enjoy this entry of Alaina's first day of preschool.

Taking a picture with Mommy!

Getting a picture with Daddy!

Trying to get an adorable smile of our big girl on her first day of preschool! I can't wait to share this picture with her some day ;)!

This was the best way to get her to smile and not be silly! Thank goodness for Daddy!

Her Tinkerbell backpack that she picked out all by herself. It's bigger than she is! We love to watch her help pack her bag for preschool. She's so proud of herself!

Sitting on her carpet square and looking at a book waiting for her other friends to arrive.

Getting a picture of her with one of her best friends Kortlynn. I couldn't get smiles out of both girls, but at least they were looking at the camera (okay well at least Kortlynn was)!

Alaina was so excited to show Daddy all of the things that she did at preschool that she started unloading her backpack right there on the patio outside her preschool.

Of course she had to make sure that she took everything out to show Daddy (even a her change of clothes)!

What a big girl! No matter how big she gets she'll always be my baby girl! I love hearing all about her day when she goes to preschool and seeing all of her projects that she brings home! She'll have her first field trip next week and I can't wait to hear about it.

Playing with Alaina!

2010-09-22T22:06:00.003-05:00

She loves to get horsey rides from Mommy! I could listen to her laugh all day long!

My big girl! She's growing so fast. I try my best to enjoy every funny moment and write them down, so that I can remember all of the moments that we laughed together in her childhood!

Alaina in her new car seat, because Jason has outgrown his infant carrier! She's not a morning person if you can't tell! When we told Alaina that she was getting a new carseat and Jason would use her old one she said, "Mommy, I think that's a great idea!" Then when she saw her new carseat she said, "Mommy, this is AMAZING!"

So exciting!

2010-09-22T21:55:00.004-05:00

Jason got his first two teeth at 5 and 3/4 months! We had a to do a lot of tickling and work to get a picture of his two little pearls! Of course we loved capturing his adorable little, round, chubby face with huge smiles as well.

Jason is getting so big!

Our handsome little boy!

He loves to fly up in the air above Mommy and Daddy's head!

His two little pearls!

Jason's 4 month pics and some more of big sister Alaina!

2010-08-13T18:42:00.004-05:00

We took the kids to get their pictures for Jason's 4 month and of course we had to get some of Alaina as well. It's so hard when we get their pictures taken, because the studio always captures some amazing shots. The pictures that follow don't show that Jason was hungry and a little fussy off and on. It also doesn't show Alaina climbing all over the props and us trying really hard to get her to smile her pretty smile and not her silly smile. The pictures are so worth it in the end, but Daddy and Mommy are a little tired after the photo shoot.

Jump, Jump, Jump!

2010-08-02T22:23:00.002-05:00

Jason is starting to really become fond of his Jumperoo! You can't tell in this picture though ;)!

Yes Mommy! He stopped jumping so that I could take the picture. Dan and I love how he moves his eyebrows for different expressions.

What are you thinking little man? ;) Check out that left eyebrow. We love it!

What will she think of next?

2010-08-02T22:18:00.003-05:00

Alaina decided to find a new use for the Bumbo seat. She crawled around the living room floor with it stuck on her bottom. I told her that she looked like a little hermit crab carrying his shell!

She could entertain herself with anything. Oh, the things that she comes up with!

So exciting!

2010-07-30T21:14:00.004-05:00

Jason found his feet last week and he loves to grab them and put those cute little toes in his mouth. They grow and change way too fast! I just love watching him experience his new discoveries! I don't know how I'm going to be able to go back to work!

Keeping both of his hands busy!

"Look Mommy! I have my toes!"

"Mommy, you have to use both hands to put one set of toes into your mouth!"

Holding on tight to his big toe!

She's done it again!

2010-07-30T21:06:00.002-05:00

Alaina has added another outfit to her fashion line this summer! How I LOVE that little girl!! She makes me laugh!

This would be her gymnastics leotard over her Disney Princess pajamas.

You don't get the full effect of the outfit until you dance to music and look at reflection in the fireplace!

The back view. If you notice the leotard has caused the back of her shirt to be shoved up to her shoulders.

Happy 4 months Jason!

2010-07-23T21:26:00.004-05:00

Jason is such a happy little boy! He loves to smile and laugh so many times throughout the day. His favorite person to smile and laugh at is his big sister Alaina. He loves to follow and watch her every move and she loves having his undivided attention. He is grabbing his toys and starting to reach out to grab his toys. After he gets a hold of the toys they go straight to his mouth. He loves to holler out and get our attention. Lately instead of hollering out he sucks in air to make a really loud noise which we all think is funny, but he usually ends up giving himself the hiccups. He really loves his Exersaucer and the Jumperoo is starting to grow on him. We discovered today that he has a favorite animal. It's a cow! He has one on his bouncer, on his Exersaucer, and Alaina made a paper plate cow that he adores. Whenever he sees one he'll coo and smile or holler out. It's so adorable. Dan and I are going to have to take him to Build-a-Bear to make him a cow! He's growing and changing so fast!

So sweet!

2010-07-20T15:16:00.002-05:00

Alaina loves to have Jason sit with her in our recliner. She wants to do this first thing almost every morning. Jason isn't always a fan, but he was on Sunday, so we took advantage of it!

He is 26 inches tall and she's 37 inches tall. She had better start growing or Jason is going to pass her! We loved how Dog Dog and her other little dog had to be positioned just perfectly also.

Jason was so great about looking at the camera and of course Alaina was not. They never seem to be on the same page with looking at the camera at the SAME time!

This picture was an oops, but we thought that it was still a sweet and priceless picture!

Now we have Alaina's adorable face and where did Jason's eyes go?

Happy Birthday!

2010-07-19T21:51:00.003-05:00

Dan and I can't believe that our first baby is 7 years old today! Time flies!
Bailey has had a really rough summer and we're really worried about her. She's been limping on her back right leg off and on for about a year now and they said that she tweaked her ACL. Through x-rays they found that she has an extra vertebrae that is trying to fuse with her tailbone causing her to limp and that she also has arthritis in her hips. Through the sedation for the x-ray they discovered that Bailey has a heart condition called Boxer cardiomyopathy. Basically in humans is the breakdown of their heart, but for Bailey it affects the blood flow through her heart to give her the electrical charge for her heart to beat correctly. They told us that she probably has 4 years to live. That hurts my heart to type that!
Last week Bailey tore her ACL and they told us that they wouldn't do surgery until we saw a cardiologist to check the condition of her heart, because they sedation could be too much for her heart if her disease is worse then they think. Dan's going to take her this Thursday to find out more about her condition and see if surgery is a good option or not for her. If she doesn't have surgery to repair the ACL it could take her 6-9 months or up to year to heal on it's own and with surgery it will take 2-6 months to heal.

She is such a snuggle bug when she sleeps. If she doesn't have someone to snuggle with she'll find a blanket or pillow to snuggle with.

Chewing on her treat with Tinkerbell staring her down!

Bailey's birthday treat vanilla frozen yogurt! She was so excited tonight when I gave this to her. She's our baby and we all love her unconditionally!

Exersaucer

2010-07-19T20:30:00.003-05:00

Jason loves one of his new toys that we just introduced to him. He can't quite reach the bottom, so he's standing on a blanket to help him reach, but it doesn't seem to bother him. I was able to capture some pictures of his first time in the Exersaucer.

Alaina was so adorable. She would say, "Here handsome, push this animal!" She would either help him push it or she'd push it for him and tell him what it was. She's so helpful and sweet!

He was so excited when he'd push on an animal and the noise would come out. You could tell that he wasn't expecting it!

I wish I knew what he was thinking in this picture! He did a great job at getting the wheels to turn and rattle for his first time in the Exersaucer! He's growing so fast!

Time flies!

2010-07-19T03:12:00.002-05:00

Since Jason has been born Dan and I constantly reminisce about Alaina when she was an infant. I was drying her hair and getting her ready for bed the other night and when I finished I looked at her little face and my heart just melted. I couldn't believe how big she's gotten and how she's lost her chubby little baby face. She still has some cute chubby cheeks on her, but that's it. Dan and I can't believe that she'll be attending preschool this year. Where did the time go? I tried to capture a great picture of how adorable she looked and you'll see how ornery she really is and how many takes it took to get my adorable pose that I was looking for. We definitely have our hands full!

This is how she says, "Cheese lately!"

Oh Boy! She's a pistol!

For some reason it was hard to get her to stop trying to smile like this!

Look at that sweet, adorable little face! We love her so much!

Yeah Jason!

2010-07-19T02:52:00.004-05:00

Jason started rolling over about a week and a half ago and I'm so excited that I was finally able to capture him on camera rolling over! We were able to take pictures of Alaina rolling over and I wanted to be sure that we did the same for Jason's scrapbook.

1st: I pull my arms and legs up.

2nd: I flop my legs and arms over to my left side (I never go towards my right). Daddy's hoping that I'll be left handed like he is!

3rd: I have to get my head going in the same direction while tucking my shoulder (this is by far the hardest part)!

4th: I finish rolling the rest of my body right over!

5th: I listen to my silly Daddy, Mommy, and Alaina clap and yell, "Way to go Jason!" If you can't tell I'm not the craziest about being on my stomach and I can't wait until I master rolling back over to my back on my own!

4th of July

2010-07-13T14:09:00.002-05:00

We went over to Granpa and Grandma Sweany's to celebrate the 4th of July on the 3rd and Alaina had a blast this year! She went to the fireworks stand with Daddy and Uncle Drew and they both said that she was a great helper and had a lot of ideas for what to buy. Uncle Drew said that he'd turn for a minute and Alaina would have dropped a couple of items that she wanted into the basket. They only made it back to the house with 1 extra item that was put into the basket by Alaina, so I thought that was pretty good!

Alaina's all time favorite was the parachute. She ran up and down the driveway over and over again with the parachute blowing behind her. Bailey also liked the parachute and chased it as well as Alaina up and down the driveway! I sadly was unable to capture that on camera!

Being Daddy's big helper. She loved helping Daddy light fireworks!

Her other favorite part of the fireworks weren't watching them, but lighting them with Uncle Drew or Daddy and running as fast as they could once they were lit. She's so funny! She'd yell, "Hurry Uncle Drew! Run!"

Uncle Drew letting her pick what she would like to do first! Decisions, decisions!

Alaina picked up on of Granpa and Grandma's granite rocks and she was caring it around the yard so carefully telling everyone, "This is Pixie Dust to help Tinkerbell and her friends fly!" If you notice Bailey eyeing the rock very carefully, because Alaina kept cleaning the Pixie Dust bowl (rock) in the bucket of water and Bailey would tail Alaina drinking the dripping water off of the rock. Just to let everyone know on the other side of the house a dog bowl FULL of water, but that must have been too far for Bailey to walk ;)! You have to love how a dog's mind works!

Fun with Friends!

2010-07-11T21:23:00.004-05:00

Some great friends of ours (Hillary and Mike) brought their twin boys over to play with Alaina in the yard last night and they had a blast!

Corbin just loving the water hitting him! He loved playing in the water!

He loved catching water in his mouth. He would laugh and giggle so loud after he got water in his mouth. It was so cute!

Quinn was on a mission the whole evening to push the car all over the yard!

Quinn was so excited that he finally convinced his Mommy to push him around and give his little legs a break! Look at that smile!

Alaina loved showing Corbin and Quinn how fast she could kick her legs in the pool.

She loved twisting and watching how big her splashes could be! She's so funny!

Jason was so impressed with all of the activities going on in the yard that he took it all in while chewing on his delicious fingers!

Yes Daddy! What a sweet baby boy!

Cute feet!

2010-07-11T21:13:00.002-05:00

Alaina and Jason have some of the cutest shoes to wear this summer!

Jason's sandals that we got from our wonderful daycare provided Kendra. Aren't they the cutest!

The inside of the sandal!

Check out those cute little toes! I just LOVE baby feet!

Aren't these the cutest little sandals that Alaina got from Papa and Mema!

I wish that these came in my size! How can you look at them and not smile!

What a dog!

2010-07-08T17:10:00.004-05:00

Bailey is so great with the kids! She's so patient! If Alaina takes one of her toys or her treat she just whines at Dan and I until we get it back for her. She doesn't realize that she outweighs Alaina by at least 30 pounds or so. We love her so much!

Alaina with her best buddy! She loves snuggling with Bailey on the couch.

Bailey loves to lay on the floor next to her little brother!

Bailey trying to kiss Jason's little hand, but he keeps moving it too fast!

Summer fun!

2010-07-08T16:54:00.006-05:00

I'm really late at getting pictures posted and I thought that I would start with the pictures of Alaina playing in the Slip in Slide with the SUN is out. I don't know if we even know what the sun looks like with all of this rain lately. Enjoy and think of sunshine!

Alaina playing, "Keep Away!" with Bailey's tennis ball. These two are best buds!

Bailey loves to participate in the water fun! She cracks us up!

WEE! Nobody can push Alaina down the water slide like her Daddy can!

She's getting so big! Dan loved this action shot that he captured of her jumping into the water pool at the end of the slide.

Sibling Fun!

2010-07-05T19:03:00.004-05:00

After a busy weekend full of 4th of July activities with the grandparents both of the kids were really tired. Before we put the kids into the bathtub Alaina was making Jason belly laugh and it was the first belly laugh that we've experienced. The best part is that we were able to video the belly laughing. Alaina loved making him laugh so hard. Jason is so mesmerized by Alaina and Dan and I just love to watch them interact with each other. Alaina is the best big sister and we're so proud of her. She loves him so much and is always making sure that someone is paying attention to him. We hope that you enjoy the video!

New Jason Videos

2010-06-30T09:02:00.001-05:00

Jason at 2.5 months being a hoot owl:

Jason at 3 months giggling:

3 Months old!

2010-06-24T21:02:00.004-05:00

My baby boy is already 3 months old and I don't know how I'm going to be able to go back to work in August. His personality is really starting to form and he's such a happy little guy! He smiles all of the time with one little dimple on his left cheek. He's oohing and ahhing all of the time and Dan and I call him our little hoot owl! He's growing too fast already, but it's exciting to see all of his developmental growth! We love you J-man!

Hanging out!

2010-06-21T20:57:00.002-05:00

Jason playing with his favorite toy. It's a little dog that makes a crinkly noise. He loves to grab a hold of it and put it in his mouth.

He gets such a determined look on his face or he'll holler out while he tries to get the nose into his mouth.

Oh Mommy! My hands are so yummy!

Alaina (Tinkerbell) being an amazing big sister by reading to her brother and Jason is more interested in the red flashing light from the camera.

My happy little boy! He makes me smile all of the time!

Little gymnast!

2010-06-21T20:44:00.003-05:00

Last week Alaina started going to gymnastics. I didn't buy her a leotard, because I didn't know if she'd like it or not. Once it arrived in the mail on Friday we haven't been able to keep her out of it. She loves it and she likes to pose and be silly for the camera in it.

This was the first attempt at a smile!

This was the 2nd attempt (Dan and I were about to give up)!

Then we finally got an almost perfect smile! She's so excited for class on Wednesday!

Big girl!

2010-06-20T21:20:00.002-05:00

Alaina loves to get dressed by herself and sometimes her attire is just to great to pass up.

Dan and I love the one Croc shoe that is on the wrong foot, the Tinkerbell pajama pants, the cowgirl outfit and the Santa hat to finish off the outfit. She came out of her room saying, "Mommy look! I so pretty!"

Video- Hamper Head

2010-06-20T20:57:00.003-05:00

So Dan and I are wondering why we spend money on toys when all Alaina needs is a pop up hamper to entertain herself? If you can't understand her she says, "I'm hiding in my house from the monsters!" Then when we ask her what she has she says, "A ball pit!" Alaina is obsessed with the movie Wall-E right now and we think that she looked like him when she'd sit on the floor. She makes us laugh all of the time!

Sibling love!

2010-06-19T21:15:00.002-05:00

Jason gets so many kisses from his big sister! She absolutely adores him and Dan and I are so proud of the big sister that she is.

Lots of hugs!

Snuggle up Jason under my Dora blanket!

Another kiss! Jason just loves it! When she walks by or talks while she's near him he just smiles and coos at her. She'll even tell Jason what is happening on her T.V. show. It melts my heart. I love them so much!!

Wedding reception

2010-06-19T21:00:00.002-05:00

We went to a wedding last weekend for a family friend's daughter and Alaina was quite a hoot! She had dance fever!

Jason didn't want to miss out on the fun, so instead of sleeping he woke up to watch his big sister dance the night away! I was trying to be a prepared Mommy and I had him in his pajamas and he fell asleep on the way there and then woke up right away and didn't go back to sleep until we left. So much for being prepared.

Alaina moving and grooving with Mema and Papa! The reception hall was so hot and humid and once Alaina started dancing she didn't want to stop. We all got a great workout keeping up with her dancing shoes!

Mommy with her tired beautiful girl. Although she'd never admit that she was tired.

Slow dancing with Papa and Mema.

"Spin me Mema!" Poor Mema! She had to be so dizzy after we left the dance. Mema was a trooper and loved every minute of it!

J-man with Papa and Mema

2010-06-18T21:30:00.002-05:00

Jason wasn't participating as far as the camera was concerned. I couldn't get him to look up and smile.

Getting kisses from Papa.

Talking to Papa and Mema.

Jason and Alaina both love this piano. Jason can be in a fussy mood and you pull out the piano and all is great in the world.

Check out the resemblance! They both had the same body position and they found something very amusing across the room.

Fun craft time!

2010-06-18T21:17:00.002-05:00

Alaina had a great time making these small crafts with Mommy!

She named her frog Naveen and had to kiss him like Tiana did in the Princess and the Frog!

She made a cow, pig and horse out of paper plates.

Naveen

2010-06-08T22:01:00.002-05:00

Jason sporting his summer hat! He didn't really care to have his picture taken in, but he didn't mind having it on outside. The bad thing is I need to find another one, because he has a big head and this won't get him through the whole summer.

Sad day for Mommy :(! When he was 9 weeks old Dan and I moved Jason out of the Pack in Play in our bedroom to his crib in his room. I checked on him a couple of times that night and I was the only one who didn't really sleep well. Dan said that Jason would make one tiny noise and I'd shoot up out of bed and say, "I got him! Go back to sleep Dan!" I could watch him sleep all day long!

Nap

2010-06-08T14:17:00.001-05:00

Alaina has struggled with taking naps since Jason was born. Yesterday she finally gave in to an afternoon nap and was so exhausted that I almost couldn't find her in her bed.

Up late!

2010-06-07T22:05:00.002-05:00

Jason decided to play a trick on Mommy and Daddy the other night. While we were putting Alaina to bed he seemed really tired. The minute that she was down he was ready for some one-on-one time with us. He stayed awake cooing and smiling with us until 10:30. How could we resist that adorable little face.

Snuggling with Daddy with a look on his face that says it all, "I got my Daddy right where I want him!" So precious!

Changing of the seasons!

2010-06-07T22:01:00.003-05:00

Alaina apparently has a hard time telling the difference between seasons! She's dancing with Baby Lily and Dog, Dog while wearing her grass skirt and her Santa hat. What a pill!

I forgot to mention that we also have no top to finish off the outfit. We'll work on that for next time!

3rd Birthday!

2010-05-31T19:17:00.005-05:00

These pictures are late from Alaina's 3rd birthday party! Sorry that they're so late. We had a great time and we can't believe how big Alaina is and that she is already 3. She amazes us everyday and we're so proud of her.

Family photo, but sadly Jason was missing due to him napping and we couldn't get Alaina to look at the camera.

Alaina was so anxious and excited to blow out her candles. I had to relight them 3 times!

The theme that she chose was Princess and the Frog and so I made the little frog cupcakes and Papa and Mema had the Tiana princess cake made for her. It was adorable and almost too beautiful to eat.

Look at that beautiful and happy little princess! She had such a great day!

Daddy and Mommy got her a talking and interactive doll house. She got pieces to go with her doll house as well as some really neat other gifts. She plays with it all of the time and loves all of the sounds and talking that the doll house does.

Resemblance!

2010-05-31T18:59:00.002-05:00

Everyone has been telling me that Jason really favors my side of the family and he truly does. I've also heard that he looks like my dad and after seeing this picture it's the spitting image of my Dad when he was a baby. They both have those cute little round faces.

Trying to capture him holding his head up like a big boy and Daddy got a great shot of him!

Check out this little ham! He's such a happy little boy!

Story time!

2010-05-31T18:48:00.004-05:00

Dan was so excited, because Alaina really liked Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, so he wanted to try his favorite Dr. Seuss story, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. All was good the whole family was enjoying the story but watch the pictures below and one by one they start to disappear.

The whole gang.

Alaina's done with this book!

Bailey's had enough and even Jason wasn't interested and since he can't walk away turning the head away from the book said it all.

Alaina brought a new book over to share with Jason. He's such a little trooper and what an AWESOME big sister to read to her little brother.

Then Alaina gave him plenty of reading material to keep him busy! He looked so cute laying there with all of the books around him.

2 months old!

2010-05-24T09:55:00.003-05:00

Dan and I can't believe that our little man is 2 months old today! He is getting so big, so fast. He is wearing 3 month clothes or 3-6 months. He has his 2 month check up tomorrow and we can't see to how tall he is as well as how much he weighs, because he's starting to get pretty heavy. He's smiling at us all of the time and he's cooing a lot. When he gets really excited he'll open his little mouth and try to yell out as loud as he can.

BIg girl!

2010-05-23T17:23:00.003-05:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Alaina! We love you so much and we're so proud of you! We had a wonderful and fun filled day with you!

3 year and 2 month pics!

2010-05-22T08:52:00.005-05:00

We took the kids yesterday to have their pictures taken. Dan and I can't believe that our little girl will be 3 tomorrow and that Jason will be 2 months on Monday. Time flies! We were so impressed with the shots that they got of the kids. Dan and I had such a hard time choosing our favorites.

My helper!

2010-05-19T11:16:00.002-05:00

Every time that I get the vacuum out my biggest helper searches frantically for her vacuum and tells me, "Mommy, I need to vacuum to. The floor is really dirty!" She does really well and loves that her vacuum is red like Mommy's.

Great Grandparents!

2010-05-15T16:44:00.005-05:00

Jason has had the pleasure of meeting his great grandparents before he was 2 months old. My grandparents (Grandpa and Grandma Swafford) drove up from Perry, KS and they're 87 years old. They amaze me everyday with how well they get around and how truly blessed we are to have them here each and every day. Grandma Sweany was able to meet us in Topeka on Mother's Day to meet Jason and we were so happy to see her. Dan and I were so excited and thankful for her driving to Topeka by herself to see us and we know that it meant a lot to the kids to see her as well. We love all of you very much!

Alaina was telling Great Grandma all about the Backyardigan episode that she was watching. They bought her a cute little Jack-in-the-box that she tells me, "Mommy, my Grandpa and Grandma Swaff-bird got this for me!"

Great Grandpa Swafford kept telling Jason to stand up for himself, since he's out numbered with Alaina and Paige (his 2 great granddaughters).

Great Grandpa Swafford was so excited! He can't believe that he's around to see 3 great grandchildren. He had 2 great granddaughters, and now he has a great grandson. He told me that he took doughnuts to morning coffee with his men group to celebrate the birth of Jason. So cute!

Great Grandma Swafford enjoyed snuggling with Jason. She loved telling stories about when Kenny and I were little.

Great Grandma Sweany couldn't believe how big Jason is for only being 7 weeks old! He was pretty wiggly and she was a trooper. I'm sure that her arms were sore from holding him.

How Sweet!

2010-05-15T16:36:00.003-05:00

Alaina LOVES to hold Jason! She sits in the corner of the couch props her arm up on the arm rest and says, "I'm ready to hold Jason! He wants me!" How in the world could Dan and I say no to that!

Giving kisses! I swear this little boy gets at least 20 or more kisses from his wonderful big sister everyday!

What a ham! Jason just likes to chill out on her lap!

What a cute little pair of kiddos! Dan and I are extremely blessed to have such sweet and beautiful children!

Talking to Daddy!

2010-05-09T20:33:00.002-05:00

Jason loves it when you talk to him and make funny facial expressions. On this particular night he was very focused on what Daddy was saying and he was paying very close attention to all of the details. It was so cute! When Daddy would stop talking he'd coo for Daddy to say more or move his arms and kick his legs quickly for Daddy to keep going. I wish that I could've caught it on video.

Dancing!

2010-05-09T20:25:00.004-05:00

Alaina loves to turn on her My Little Pony named Pinky Pie and sing and dance with the music. She has really taken an interest lately in wearing dress up clothes and she wanted to dress up to dance last week. She amazed me at how many objects she was able to hold on to while dancing and singing. She has two hand puppets, her Tinkerbell sceptor, Dog Dog, and her Tinkerbell outfit with the wings included. She cracks us up!

1st smile!

2010-05-05T21:58:00.003-05:00

Mommy caught one of Jason's 1st smiles! He's such a little cutie! I was also able to get a video of him smiling and cooing. Once Daddy gets it imported and uploaded to his computer we'll be posting it on the blog as well. I can't believe that he's 6 weeks old today! He's growing so fast.

Work

2010-05-05T20:18:00.002-05:00

Alaina loves to get into her dress up tub and get ready to go to work like Daddy and Mommy do. She cracks us up, because when we tell her not to work too hard she'll say, "I'll get Bailey some treats at the store and some milk." I believe that she's been listening to our conversations.

1 month old!

2010-04-21T08:08:00.008-05:00

We can't believe that on Sat. Jason will be 1 month old! Time has flown by. Our family has adjusted pretty well to the changes and new routines, since Jason was born. Alaina loves him so much and we couldn't be more proud of how good she is with him. She is however testing Momm and Daddy every chance she gets, bit we'd rather it be that way instead of it being taken out on Jason. Enjoy some our photos f our handsome little man!

We're super fond of the vibrating motion on the bouncer seat. If you can't tell he just kicks back and relaxes.

Snuggling with Mommy!

What a handsome little boy!

Alaina was so excited that both her and Daddy were holding Jason's hand.

Alaina showing Jason how yo use Daddy as a jungle gym!

Problem solver!

2010-04-21T07:55:00.003-05:00

Alaina has amazed Dan and I with her interest in puzzles the last few months. She loved working and completing the two 12 piece puzzles that Santa gave her for Christmas and so when Grandpa and Grandma bought her a 24 piece puzzle for Easter we were sure that it may be hard for her. She figured out that 24 piece puzzle in 2 days and she loves to show everyone who comes over that she can do the puzzle by herself. She likes to help keep Daddy in line and make sure that he's putting the pieces into the correct places. We're so proud of her !

He's Here!!!

2010-04-06T21:08:00.003-05:00

Jason Kenneth born on March 24th at 8:15a.m. He weighed 8lbs. 8oz. and he was 19 1/4 inches long. He's such a joy and we've really enjoyed watching Alaina interacting with him. She's doing very well for such a huge adjustment.

Holding Daddy's finger and listening to his voice to soothe himself.

First picture with Mommy and Daddy.

First family photo! Alaina wasn't as cooperative as everyone else, but it will work for a smile.

Going home!

News!

2010-02-27T14:47:00.002-06:00

We just set a date last week for when we'll get to meet our son and Alaina will become a big sister! The date is March 24th at 7:30a.m. We're very excited and we hope that we make the transition for Alaina as smooth as possible. She's so excited and can't wait to meet baby brother! She asked him 1 week ago if it was fun in Mommy's tummy! Then she proceeded to try and pick baby brother up by wrapping her little arms around Mommy's belly. She looked at me and said, "Mommy he too heavy I can't hold him.

Having fun!

2010-02-27T14:42:00.003-06:00

Horsing around and being cool in Daddy's hat!

What a ham! She loves to wear Daddy's hat and be silly!

Fun outing with the neighbors!

2010-02-27T14:21:00.004-06:00

We went to Monkey Bizness this morning with our neighbors. It was so crowded and busy, but Alaina had a blast! She was out like a light when we laid her down this afternoon.

She waited a long time to jump on this and she loved it. We were so proud of her patience, because Dan and I don't always witness her being very patient.

She had to climb through a lot of bungee tunnels to get to this slide and it ended up being her favorite. She would squeal the whole way down it was adorable!

Jumping with the foam beams and check out the wild pony tails.

Wee!!

I love it when we're able to capture her with a cute smile, because lately all we get are really big, "Cheesy," smiles. It was a great time and we'll have to take her back soon.

New Videos

2010-02-15T15:55:00.002-06:00

Here are a few new videos we have!

Video #1- Christmas Eve. Alaina loves singing to the Tweety song so we had to get it on video.

Video #2- Christmas Break. We got her a fancy Rice Krispie Treat where you could decorate a house with frosting and candy. I think she's still a year away from that one, looking back. All she did was force-feed us frosting! It was a blast.

Look out!

2010-02-08T20:27:00.004-06:00

We've created a monster. Grandpa and Grandma Sweany bought Alaina a tutu for Christmas. When she puts it on she takes off running up and down the hallway yelling, "I'm a pretty princess!!" It cracks us up. Bailey however is not a big fan of the tutu. If you can't tell from the picture she runs right along side Alaina barking and wishing that she'd quit running and yelling.

Now Alaina likes to strip down to nothing but her diaper and her tutu to become the pretty princess. Dan and I haven't captured it on film yet, but it's pretty hilarious to see.

The day has come!

2010-02-07T21:51:00.002-06:00

Every night when I get home I lose my shoes to a cute little 33 inch girl!
She puts on my shoes that I wore for the day and says, "Mommy! These are my shoes!"

We have some work to do when turning corners in heels. We suddenly go from a cute little walk to a waddle.

Big cheese! So much for a natural smile!

That's so much better. If you notice Dog Dog is a little overwhelmed and exhausted from his stroller ride up and down the hallway with Alaina in Mommy's shoes. Bailey is also glad that she's stopped running in my shoes and she's making sure that she's not moving anytime soon.

Getting ready!

2010-02-07T21:34:00.003-06:00

Daddy and Alaina spent some quality time together putting the baby swing together to get ready for baby brother. Dan has decided that we need to buy Alaina her own toy tool set, so that she can help around the house more often.

Alaina kept trying to unscrew the screws on the zebra with Daddy's screwdriver. She kept telling Dan with a wrinkled face, "Daddy we need some batteries."

Any hole that she could find she tried to put the screwdriver in it. She's following into Daddy's footsteps. Who needs a manual?

She kept telling Dan, "Daddy I fixed it! It's ready!"

Lion got to have a turn in the swing. We had some coaching to do about being gentle when pushing the swing or we'll have a newborn baby boy in March who will quickly hate the swing.

Lion didn't get a turn very long, because it was Dog Dog's turn. She was so gentle with Dog Dog. She put his legs in nicely and kept telling him, "It's okay! Just a minute! I be gentle!"

Cookies Part 2 (frosting and decorating)!

2009-12-31T15:12:00.002-06:00

Alaina was a lot quicker than Dan and I were while decorating. Being sanitary all the way through the process wasn't something that we thought we'd have to think about. Let's just say that we weren't able to share these sugar cookies with anyone and after you see the pictures below you'll understand.

We love to put sprinkles on our cookies. The more the better in Alaina's eyes. I cleaned up sprinkles for 3 days off of the floor.

Sneaking a sample of frosting off of the cookies that we were decorating. She did this more often then we'd like to admit to. ;)

While she was putting sprinkles on the cookies she'd yell, "Shake, shake shake!" The two cookies here are for Santa.

We sampled the cookie dough, the frosting, so why not the sprinles!;) All I could do was laugh. By the time we finished Dan and I had to unplug all 3 sprinkle containers.

The finished product! She was so proud of the two cookies that she picked and decorated for Santa. Daddy tried telling her to take it easy on the sprinkles, because it could give Santa a belly ache. She just looked at him and said, "No Daddy, Santa likes sprinkles!"

Christmas Cookies!

2009-12-31T14:55:00.002-06:00

We have a family tradition that every year on Christmas Eve after church we make sugar cookies for Santa. This year was the first year that I let her help me make the cookie dough as well as the frosting.

Alaina did an amazing job helping pour all of the ingredients into the mixer. She loved watching the ingredients mix together.

While I was getting more powdered sugar to make the frosting someone stuck her face into the bowl to eat some of the powdered sugar. Everything was good until we put the salt into the bowl! ;)

She loved rolling out the dough and of course her little rolling pins were not that cool compared to Mommy's fancy rolling pin, so I was stuck using the little kid rolling pins that I bought for her.

We had to move quickly once she used the cookie cutter, because she was cutting cookies on top of each other.

What a little ham! She had a blast! Dan and I had a great time, but we couldn't believe how tired we were when she went to bed that night.

Bah Humbug!

2009-12-31T14:38:00.002-06:00

Dan and I have many wonderful blessing in our lives, but one of the best blessings is our beautiful and precious dog Bailey. Bailey always allows Alaina to do whatever she wants to her and the pictures that we capture are priceless.

Bailey: "Are you kidding me!"

Bailey: "Seriously!"

Alaina hugged Bailey and said, "It's okay puppy! You so pretty!" Bailey however was hanging her head in shame!

Breakfast with Santa!

2009-12-31T14:20:00.002-06:00

Dan and I were trying to come up with a fun way for Alaina to see Santa Claus this year (since she hasn't ever before) where we wouldn't have to wait a really long time, because she isn't always the most patient toddler. Our church has a fundraiser for the youth group called, "Breakfast with Santa," where the children see Santa, you eat breakfast and then the children can go shopping for the parents in the Santa shop. Santa was so patient and kind. He took so much time with each child and made it a very memorable moment for Alaina. We had a blast and Alaina loved seeing Santa. I wasn't able to move away from her, but she talked to him and when we finished she said, "Mommy, Santa is so nice!" She also called her grandparents and told them all about seeing Santa.

Started off telling Santa about her pretty doggies on her dress.

Santa was telling Alaina that they both had curly hair. She thought that was funny and then she said, "My Mommy and Daddy have hair too!"

We didn't capture a smile unfortunately, but we got a great picture of her sitting on Santa's lap and of Mrs. Claus who gave Alaina a bag of goodies.

Packing Peanuts!

2009-12-09T16:25:00.005-06:00

You gotta love packing peanuts! Some Christmas presents came in the mail a couple of weeks ago and Dan and I couldn't resist letting her play in the big box of packing peanuts. At this point in time we didn't know if we'd have any snow this year or not, so we told her that it was pretend snow. She loved it!

Watching the peanuts fall that Daddy was throwing. You can tell that her wheels were turning while watching Daddy throw them which led to the next picture.

Then she started to help Daddy.

After the snow fall, Alaina came in with a dramatic ending saying, "Whoa, I pooped!"

The two orneriest children in the house by far!

Big cheese for the camera. What a ham!

The natural, but ornery smile for the last picture. After we finished with our packing peanut fun we vacuumed up the mess and Alaina even got out her vacuum and helped us clean up the mess. What a sweet little girl. Sadly I didn't get a picture of her vacuuming, but it was adorable.

Big girl room!

2009-11-28T21:33:00.004-06:00

Well since little Miss Alaina has a new brother joining our family we had to move her bedroom into our guest bedroom. She was so excited about her new big girl bed! She has adjusted really well to her new room and has really enjoyed helping Mommy and Daddy move all of her clothes and toys into her new room.

We got her new bedroom set from Nebraska Furniture Mart and the whole set was nothing but white. I bought some decals from Michael's and Target to add some color to them. She loved it and tells me that it's so pretty now.

The dresser.

The foot of her bed.

She loves having her name on the wall! She tells me everyday, "Mommy that says Laina!"

Look at this cutie looking at one of her scrapbooks on her "Big Girl" bed! She's so proud of her new room!

Early Holiday fun!

2009-11-10T20:00:00.001-06:00

We hope that you enjoy a little early holiday greeting from the Sweanys. We're really excited about Christmas this year, because Alaina is so excited! She can't get enough of the Christmas decorations when we go to the store or when we're out and about. She'll constantly point out lights and trees and say,"Daddy, Mommy it's so pretty!" We can't wait to decorate over Thanksgiving break. Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving and have fun shopping and decorating for Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Step Up Walk 2009!

2009-10-24T21:38:00.006-05:00

Today we participated in the Step Up and Walk for Down Syndrome event at Arrowhead Stadium and we showed support for the team Alayna and L.C. Boom Boom Cannon Ball. WOW!! What a wonderful fundraising event. They had so many fun activities going on for kids of all ages and Dan and I couldn't believe all of the people who came out to show support.

Alaina was so excited, because she finally got to meet the famous L.C. in person. We spend a couple times a week looking at her blog and Alaina always says, "AWW! She's so cute!" L.C. and Alayna's family did a wonderful job including all of us and they were great hosts.

Little Celebs! Alayna and L.C.'s absolutely adorable little tutu outfits captured KCTV 5 news attention that they stopped their moms to interview them. Alayna was taking in the moment and L.C. was ready to take the microphone and tell everyone all about herself. She knew how to handle the stardom and didn't have stage fright!

L.C. showing off her adorable tutu and Boom Boom shirt. She's such a little cutie! When I pointed out L.C.'s adorable outfit Alaina saw her and said, "Mommy I like it!"

We were trying so hard to get a picture of the three kiddos and it wasn't easy. Karis and Samuel really did a great job and if you look you don't see their mothers squatting behind them to make them sit still and look at the camera.

Samuel was set for the ride. He had his pretzels and he was good to go for the mile walk!

Jamee was gracious enough to let Alaina ride with Karis in their wagon and Alaina LOVED riding with her buddy for the big walk!

Alaina and Karis laughed at eachother the whole way. By the end though Karis was just looking at Alaina like, "I'm too tired to laugh anymore, but you go ahead and laugh your little head off!" It was so adorable to see their little friendship up close.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-11T16:18:00.006-05:00

We went to Schaake's pumpkin patch that's east of Lawrence. We were so lucky, because both sets of grandparents were able to join us for our trip and Alaina loved sharing the pumpkin patch with them. She was so much fun this year!

I had to take a picture of how cute her hair looked and of course her cute little, "Mummy loves me," shirt. We were unable to capture them in the pictures at the pumpkin patch, because it was so cold today.

Alaina standing in front of, "How many pumpkins tall." It looks like she's 3ft, but really her hat and hood gave her a little height advantage.

Family picture!

Alaina loved the hay rack ride out to the pumpkin patch.

Alaina loved finding big pumpkins with no stem, so that she could sit down on them. She would rock them back and forth while saying, "Roll it, roll it!" We didn't have the heart to tell her that the pumpkins weren't balls to roll around.

She took off with Grandpa Sweany and came back with a very bumpy little pumpkin that she was really proud of. She kept yelling, "Daddy! Look I found my pumpkin!"

Posing with Daddy and our four pumpkins that we found to take home.

The whole frozen crew minus Daddy!

The whole crew minus Mommy! It was so cold!

Alaina talked Papa into climbing up the swingset to play and go down the slide with her.

Cheese!

Singing

2009-10-02T14:11:00.002-05:00

After we get Alaina out of the tub every night she now sings and does her ABC's. Personally, I think it's to kill time because she knows that after bathtime is storytime, and then *gasp* bedtime! I'm pretty sure that we could do videos like this every single day.

First KU football game!

2009-09-19T22:37:00.007-05:00

Our wonderful neighbors gave us some tickets as well as a parking pass for today's football game so we decided to take Alaina and give it a try! We met up with Papa and Mema, since they have season tickets. One of our really good friends (Sean) was also in town and at the game, so it was a great day to see everyone! Before I proceed with some pictures I wanted to let everyone know that Alaina made it all the way through the first quarter--we were so proud of her! While Daddy hung out with Sean and his other friends I took her over to the kid zone where she let them put a Jayhawk tatoo on her cheek. I was amazed at sweet and gentle to workers were with her. They gave her time to warm up to them and talked to her until she was comfortable. We had a really fun and great first game experience with her and we're definitely going to take her again. ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!

Alaina showing off her very first KU tatoo!

Posing with her Papa while saying, "Cheese!"

Saying, "Cheese!" with Mema.

As we were walking by Xavier Henry he immediately said, "Hi!" to Alaina and asked her for a high five. She gave him a huge smile and a big high five. When we asked if we could take a quick picture he said, "Sure!" We think that Alaina is really excited for basketball season to start.

Alaina and Mommy getting a quick picture with the huge blow up Jayhawk.

We tried to capture as many pictures as we could of the Jayhawk mascots, because she was so infatuated with them. She watched their every move and whenever they disappeared we were anxiously waiting for them to become visible, because she kept saying, "Where Jayhawks go!" We weren't able to get her down to see the Jayhawks up close, since we only made it through the first quarter, so we'll shoot for that next time.

Family picture of the first KU game for Alaina!

What a big sister!

2009-09-12T17:22:00.005-05:00

Alaina is highly attached to one of her baby dolls and we usually can't leave the house without it or Dog Dog (for those who don't know Dog Dog is her stuffed dog). When I drop her off at daycare she places the baby in her car seat and says, "See you later baby! Want a kiss? Okay!," and then gives her a kiss. Well we decided to leave baby behind one day and her big sister Bailey stepped in.

Bailey jumped up on the couch and wrapped one paw around the baby and kept looking at Alaina until she saw her. It was like she was saying, "Alaina look! I'll watch her for you today!"

Dan and I just love when we catch her sweetest looking face that really makes her look so sad and lonely. Boxers have the droopiest little faces!

Dan and I couldn't stop laughing when she snuggled her head right down on the baby to snuggle her.

At this point Bailey was highly annoyed at everyone making such a big deal about her protecting the baby and there was no way that I was going to get her to look at me for another photo. She cracks us up.

ABC

2009-09-11T21:43:00.001-05:00

We haven't really been pushing Alaina on her ABC's lately but tonight we asked her to give it a try.

We were shocked to see her make it all the way to X!! That child surprises us every day.

Lil Jayhawk!!

2009-09-07T10:35:00.005-05:00

Check out her adorable KU cheerleading outfit that she got from Mema and Papa! It was so hard to get a cute picture of her standing still with a big smile on her face, because she's so BUSY!

Alaina was waiting patiently to eat some of Papa's kettle corn. She kept saying, "So yummy!"

Papa showing Alaina his KU flag light in his KU man cave (basement)! Alaina thought that the light was really pretty!

Finally we got a picture of her whole outfit (due to Papa's help of course) and she even had a cute smile to go with it! I just wish that I would've zoomed in!

Alaina was talking on one of Mema and Papa's phones (that was unplugged) to her buddy Karis! She told me that , "Karis was playing at home!" I love it when she uses her little imagination to have conversations with her friends!

"Cheese!" I think that she was also thinking, "Mommy! Please put the camera away!"

Big News!

2009-08-24T21:17:00.003-05:00

Bailey will be a big sister again and Alaina gets to share the big sister title with Bailey! We have had one sonogram already and we took Alaina with us and when the baby was up on the screen we told her that it was her new brother or sister in Mommy's tummy and she said, "I see it!" We don't know if she meant the baby or the television screen, but either way it was really cute. We aren't really saying anymore to Alaina about being a big sister until I start to really show. We are really excited and trying to capture a great picture of the girls together for the "Big sisters to be," wasn't easy. Enjoy the takes!

Alaina so gently petted Bailey and said, "Look at Mommy! Say cheese!"

Bailey needs to work on following directions and posing for the camera. Alaina is doing her best to pose and why not use Bailey as a foot stool while you're at it?

Darn! I almost got an adorable pose, but Bailey was more interested in the flash off of the camera reflecting off the floor. Silly puppy!

How adorable, but where's the dog? Oh well we had to keep this one! We even caught her smile in the middle of saying cheese!

Play Dough fun with Daddy!

2009-08-22T21:54:00.004-05:00

Last week one night after dinner Alaina so sweetly asked, "Mommy, Daddy can I play with Play Dough?" Who could say no? I let Daddy and Alaina have some fun time, since I got to play with her all summer. Dan was so cute and had so much fun with her! Alaina loved getting her Daddy to make her some jewelry! I think that his pocket is already hurting for the future!

Alaina making snakes! I could hurt Dan for showing her the black snake that was in our backyard one day, because that's all she wants to look for when we're outside and all that she wants to draw. Gross!!

Daddy working hard to make Alaina a necklace!

"Oh Boy! Isn't she pretty!" Dan of course had to up Mommy's boring long chain to add a heart pendant! I don't think that Alaina will ever ask me to make her a necklace again, because Daddy is the best!

"Look Mommy! I pretty!" She's so funny. You would've thought that Dan had given her a million bucks!

Basement Pool

2009-08-14T10:53:00.004-05:00

It has been too hot outside to play on Alaina's swingset recently so we took her inflatable pool downstairs and filled it up with plastic balls from her ball pit. Apparently she thought it was a great idea because she loves sprinting the length of the basement and jumping headfirst into it.

We are all struggling a bit with getting back into "school" mode- Alaina is going to bed about an hour earlier than before (we are waking her up at 6:30 now), Jen is dealing with getting a new room ready, sleep, etc, and I'm dealing with less time spent with both of them. We should all be used to it by now, but we aren't (and probably never will be).

Lil Miss Fashion!

2009-08-06T15:22:00.005-05:00

I want to warn everyone about the sunglasses that you'll see below. Does everyone remember how popular Oakley Frogskins were in the 90's? Well Alaina stumbled across Mommy's old pair of Frogskins. I had no idea that I still had them, but Alaina loves wearing them around the house and Dan and I can't help but to laugh at how popular they used to be!

Besides keeping our head safe while riding your bicycle Alaina thinks that keeping the sun out of your eyes (or light when you're in the basement) is highly important as well.

Ooh! Check out Lil Miss Hollywood!

Alaina wanted to make Daddy look good also, but as you can see she still needs a little work at styling others.

Stamping fun!

2009-08-05T09:16:00.003-05:00

Alaina has had a lot of fun stamping pictures this summer. She has a set routine like every artist does and she is SO PROUD of her work when she's finished. We always hang her works of art on the refrigerator, but she's so proud of them they don't stay on their very long. She carries them all over the house. Bailey has seen enough of Alaina's art work to last her through the school year. Bailey gives me this look (that I really need to capture on film), like is she seriously showing me this again. It's classic!

Finding the right piece of paper is crucial to the artist. She will look and look for the best sheet of paper. "Mommy, I want to draw picture!"

"Mommy I push hard!"

"Mommy, put on paper! Yeah Laina!" (she's not afraid to tell herself good job) Most of the time when she's finished she'll say, "Laina I so proud of you!" It cracks us up!

Special visit!

2009-08-05T09:02:00.002-05:00

Mema took the day off last Friday to come and spend the day with Alaina, Bailey and I. We had an absolute blast and Mema had a really hard time leaving!

Mema was an absolute trooper, because one of Alaina's favorite books right now is If You're Happy and You Know It. She wants to read it all of the time! I think that Mema had to read it at least 5-8 times and she never lost enthusiasm (what a trooper)!

Alaina decided that she didn't want to take a nap since her Mema was over, so when we went in to get her she had added a new accessory to her leg. It's the mermaid's tail off of her Ariel stuffed doll. She looked at Mema and said, "Look I pretty mermaid!" It took a lot of convincing to get her to finally remove the tail from her leg, but she eventually gave in and decided to be Lil human Alaina instead of Lil mermaid Alaina.

Close up of mermaid tail on her leg!

Problem solving at its best!

2009-08-03T13:00:00.006-05:00

I saw this idea a year ago to take small objects and put them into ice cube trays and you fill the tray up with water. After the ice freezes you have your child use an eye dropper to squeeze water over the ice until it melts enough to get the object out. Alaina had a blast! I was amazed at her problem solving skills! She just kept trying new tactics to get the object loose until it finally worked. She cracks me up!

She really did a great job trying to squeeze the eye dropper, but of course it didn't last long and she thought of another way!

"Look Mommy! I can also use my teeth to bite the object out!"

All of a sudden Alaina turned to me and said, "Wait Mommy I do it!" She then picked up the block of ice and tossed it into the bowl.

She then grabbed it out of the bowl and pulled the little toy counter out of the ice and said, "See the car Mommy!" Well so much for me staying a step ahead of Alaina!

"See my blue car! Yeah Alaina!"

Snickerdoodle fun!

2009-07-27T17:18:00.003-05:00

Alaina was a really big helper today and I think that she's trying to become a better cookie baker than her Mommy! I did a really good job at explaining to her that we couldn't eat the cookie dough until the cookies were baked in the oven. However I didn't explain that the cinnamon and sugar was for the cookie dough only and not for Lil Miss Alaina's mouth. She had a great time and I was sure to not do this activity until Daddy was on his way home, so that if the sugar makes her hyper then her Daddy can help run interference. Moms are always thinking;)!

"First Mommy says I need to grab a ball of cookie dough and put it into the cinnamon and sugar!"

"Then she told me to roll the dough in the cinnamon and sugar, but I better make sure that the cinnamon and sugar tastes okay first!"

"Whoops I rolled to hard! Mommy is it okay if the dough has a hole in middle?"

"Ooh! I better try the cinnamon and sugar again, because maybe it tastes different! I'm only thinking of the cookies Mommy!"

"Yummy! I don't know how the cookies are going to taste Mommy, but the cinnamon and sugar is AMAZING!"

July 4th Video

2009-07-24T22:12:00.004-05:00

Okay, better late than never, right? So this was Alaina's third Fourth of July but really the first one she could enjoy. She had a great time watching the fireworks... EVENTUALLY. It was difficult for her to understand that the fireworks started on the ground and ended up way up in the sky, but she eventually got it.

PS - It cracks me up how much Grandma Sweany seems to HATE fireworks.

Family vacation!

2009-07-23T09:21:00.008-05:00

Last Friday we took our summer family vacation! We went to the Omaha Zoo! WOW!! What an amazing place! Alaina had a really good time! She enjoyed the zoo, but I think that her favorite part of the trip was going swimming in the hotel pool and riding in the glass elevator. Every time we got back to the hotel she'd say, "Daddy, Mommy, can I go wimn!" Then every time the elevator would stop she'd say, "Again Daddy! Again!"

Daddy was really smart and got us a room with a king size bed and let's just say Alaina didn't sleep well in her pack n play and ended up in bed with us every night. Dan and I would be on the very edge of our sides and Alaina was sprawled out in between us making sure that she had plenty of room. Needless to say Mommy and Daddy are still recovering from lack of sleep.

She was so excited for our first night in her first hotel! She loved watching the Lion King with her Daddy while Mommy made her a special snack of popcorn to eat. The portable dvd player saved us on our trip. We don't know what we would've done without it!

Family portrait inside the desert dome!

Alaina shocked the zoo keeper behind the touch and feel table, because she couldn't wait to touch the horseshoe crab, sea urchin and some kind of ray. He said that usually little kids are afraid to touch the animals. This picture is showing her touching the ray. Her Daddy wanted nothing to do with the touch and feel table.

The penguin display was also amazing! Alaina loved the penguins!

A priceless Daddy/daughter photo inside the aquarium!

Alaina and Mommy posing in the aquarium area!

After we went through the aquatic displays Alaina walked by the stuffed penguins picked one up and looked at Dan and I and said, "Oh! Can I pwease have it!" Well you know the end result and who could say no to that little face. All day throughout the zoo she kept hugging and kissing it saying, "Aw! You're so cute! I love you penguin!"

While we were eating lunch we loved watching the giraffes walk around and eat leaves from the trees. After we ate we went up to the giraffes for a closer look.

So much for getting a mother/daughter pose in the Butterfly Pavilion with the beautiful tropical flowers in the background!

This orangutan was hilarious! She kept sticking her foot out hoping for a hand out from someone. Alaina kept laughing and saying, "Monkey silly!"

When Alaina saw the sun bear sleeping she quickly turned to Dan and I and said, "Mommy, Daddy shh! Bear sleeeeping!"

The polar bear exhibit was really big. The section that the polar bear was in was covered with rocks and a beautiful waterfall and the other side was a big tank filled with water for him to swim in.

Alaina loves to ride the carousel! She chose the elephant because she thought it was pretty. She loved the pretty jewels and flowers that were painted on the elephant.

Alaina loved touching the different primates hands to see how big or small her hand was compared to their hands. She had to touch all of them!

Happy Birthday Bailey!!

2009-07-21T12:07:00.005-05:00

This post is late due to the lack of internet in the hotel without a fee of course, but we want to recognize that our oldest little girl turned the BIG 6 on Sunday! It's hard to believe that she's 6 already.

We found out last week that our little baby has arthritis and it's getting hard for her to jump up on the bed at night without some help. She's now taking some medicine to help increase the acid that's around her joints to help loosen them up for her. They said that worse case scenario is that someday if it gets bad enough we could pay quite a good amount of money to inject stem cells into her joints to completely cure her arthritis. Besides the stem cells making new cells they would basically almost build up a whole new set of joints for her, so that she'd have no more pain in her joints. Who would of thought about putting stem cells into your dog to help rebuild their joints! Dan and I are hoping that we never have to come to this decision, because it is quite expensive and since little Miss Bailey doesn't handle surgery really well (due to being a hemophiliac) I don't know that we'd pursue the option anyway!

"Ooh! That feels so good!"

Taking it easy! It's a tough job looking after the house and helping Mommy with Alaina all day. Bailey loves Alaina's nap time!

Rice Krispy Treats!

2009-07-21T11:57:00.004-05:00

Before we left for our family vacation to the Omaha Zoo Alaina and I enjoyed making some YUMMY Rice Krispy treats. Alaina loves to add sprinkles to the treats as well as licking and eating the remaining Rice Krispy's off of the spatula.

"YUM! YUM!" Bailey also isn't missing the opportunity to pick up some leftovers off of the little table.

"Mommy, what do you want? I'm eating!"

On the run and trying to escape the kitchen with the sticky mess and hoping that Mommy wouldn't catch her. BUSTED!!!

Finger Painting with Pudding!

2009-07-10T22:36:00.003-05:00

"Mommy, It tastes yummy!"

"Whoa! Look at how fast I can move my hand!"

"Cheese! I all done Mommy!"

"I'm so messy and silly!"

Singing

2009-07-10T15:48:00.003-05:00

Alaina has become quite the little musician. She loves playing her toy guitar, she likes finding new ways to play percussion instruments (read: making noise by banging stuff together), and she has recently started singing. Old McDonald, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and the Barney song are among her favorites, but she'll also sing along to the Little Mermaid or the Lion King every once in awhile. Here is a short clip of her singing along to Barney. I'm sure many more singing videos will be coming in the upcoming months.

PS- The Fourth of July video is somewhere, apparently I didn't get it imported yet. Minus points for Daddy. I'll get it on here at some point.

Fourth of July Celebration with the Sweanys!

2009-07-08T22:37:00.006-05:00

Alaina loved playing in the puppy sprinkler. She loved to use it's tail to spray everyone. Her and Uncle Drew were having a water fight war with the sprinkler. Once Alaina figured out that she could pick up the puppy and move it Uncle Drew as well as everyone else was in trouble!

Bailey even joined in the fun with the puppy sprinkler and Alaina was so focused on getting everyone else wet that she didn't even notice.

"Hi Grandpa! What doing?"

Uncle Drew's favorite holiday is the 4th of July and Alaina was his little buddy/helper last Friday. Alaina had Uncle Drew pulling her all around the cul-de-sac and he had her hold onto some the fireworks that he was going to shoot that night. She was very interested! As the fireworks would go off that night Alaina would shout, "Yeah Drew! Do it again!"

Alaina for some reason decided that it was fun to get into the dog kennel. We came back inside from playing in the sprinkler and we all heard Alaina giggling. We found her in the kennel with Trey who isn't really thrilled to have her in his space! Trey has a tendacy to get grumpy when he's tired, but he was absolutely amazing with Alaina being in his bed!