The Young Loves

Aaliyah walking

2010-03-17T08:32:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't been on here in a long time. First reason is that my camera batteries died and it took me forever just to get replacements. :) Second reason is because I've not really felt up to blogging with the morning sickness stuff. However, I think it's on the downhill side! Well, in the last couple of months Aaliyah has learned to say a few words ("snacks", "uh-oh", "whoa", "hi"), wave "hello" with her hands, and her latest...she's learning to walk! So I thought I'd include a video of her taking a few of her first consecutive steps. Hope you all enjoy!

REVELATION

2009-12-11T17:18:00.000-08:00

REVELATION...

I'm always really hesitant to use that word, but for the sake of this post I had a revelation the other day in the sense that I realized something that I've never realized before. As I was in doing initiatories yesterday I was listening to the women speak. Sometimes I feel guilty when I do a lot of initiatories in a row because it seems so monotonous and you kind of stop really listening to the words and your mind wanders. For some reason, I was thinking as they were speaking that this is really God's voice, speaking through these great women. These words were given by him, and through his servants they are spoken. Isn't that an amazing thought? From that point on, I thought of the words as being spoken by God Himself, and it was such a great spiritual experience to do the ordinances that usually seem so monotonous and unexciting. It was great.

Halloween and More

2009-11-29T19:31:00.000-08:00

HALLOWEEN AND MORE

Aaliyah being tickled into smiling for the camera in her Halloween flower costume. The funny part, you can see all of our Christmas decorations in the background because we never actually took any Halloween pictures... :)

...hence the pajamas under our mad scientist costumes...

Hmm...I think I'm done...

Aaliyah is so cute playing with her daddy. She grins as soon as he walks into the door and starts saying "da, da, da, da, da". It is so cute!

Daddy hiding...
Peek-a-boo!
Using daddy to stand up.

Looking for a good toy...

Family Pictures

2009-11-19T20:54:00.000-08:00

FAMILY PICTURES

Ok, so these family pictures are a couple of months old, but I put the blame on the wonderful postal system of Idaho. We just received them in the mail this afternoon. :) These were taken in the gardens by the greenbelt in Idaho Falls in August by our dear friend Alyssa Perez Tolman. Unfortunately, Aaliyah was not in a friendly mood this particular afternoon after just waking up from a nap and she only graced us with a couple of half smiles. We are having Christmas pictures taken, so hopefully she will cheese it up then!

Baby M.I.A.

2009-10-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

BABY M.I.A.!

So this afternoon I asked Justin to run upstairs to check on Aaliyah during her nap because we didn't have a monitor set up. A minute after he goes upstairs, he comes running downstairs and says "You need to come upstairs, quick!". Of course I go running up into the room where I had laid her on some blankets to take a nap. To my surprise, this is what I found...

...no Aaliyah. I was almost in a panic and said "...Justin, where is she?". If you look closely at the zoomed in picture, you'll see that we had a clue...

...a little foot poking out from underneath the bed! So I pull up the blankets from the floor, and this is what I found!...

...a very mobile Aaliyah! She had crawled from her bed of blankets under the bed and was entertained by the wrapped up Christmas tree that was being stored there.

...uh-oh! Caught red-handed!

..."I can explain, Mom"...

"Actually, I'm speechless..."

It's a good thing she's cute! Needless to say, that was her last nap outside the safety of her crib!

Karli's company is doing a show soon...

2009-08-12T10:25:00.001-07:00

The dance company we started is doing a Cancer Benefit in October, and this is the ad Justin made for the September/October issue of Idaho Falls Magazine. Tell all your friends to come!

Funny Video

2009-07-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

This was hilarious! We were just sitting and playing before getting her in her pj's, and she started shaking her fist at us! It was so funny! I guess this was her way of telling me that I'd better feed her now...OR ELSE!

July 4th!

2009-07-07T09:58:00.001-07:00

JULY 4TH AND SUCH...

Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays ever. This year we got to spend it with the Love family, plus the extended Johnson family. We stayed the weekend at Justin's parents house in Idaho Falls and got to spend time with his brother Jeremy and his family, Tiffany, McKinna, and Jamison, and also with Justin's sister Rachael and her family, Randy and Cannon. On the morning of the 4th we all got up early to go sit on 4th street and watch the parade in Idaho Falls. It's always fun to see the floats that people make. After the parade, we went to the annual picnic/BBQ at Grandma Johnson's house. Yay for steaks, cookie salad, Jim and Camille's 7 layer salad, and Jennie's Salad (jello/graham cracker dessert)! After naps we all went to our plot of land on the river to watch the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration Fireworks Show. We actually googled the fireworks show and it is like #13 in the nation. That's pretty cool! We took some pictures of Aaliyah during the fireworks because it was so funny to watch her. She loved them! She just stared at the fireworks and then she started smiling at them. After about halfway through she fell asleep. Don't ask how she fell asleep, I guess she just takes after her parents and can sleep anywhere and through anything. :) I also realized that I seem to only take pictures of Aaliyah lately. I need to start taking more pictures of Justin and I and other people. :)

This was me trying to get Aaliyah to laugh for the camera. She smiles and laughs all the time, but our camera is so slow that it always misses the moment! The pictures are backwards, but if you go from the bottom up, she is looking at me like I'm crazy. It's pretty funny with her big eyes! Lol, but then I get her to smile, you can see the end of her smiling in these first 2 pictures.

JULY 4TH PICTURES! :)

Freezer Meals and 'Fro Baby

2009-06-28T14:12:00.000-07:00

FREEZER MEALS AND 'FRO BABY :)

So, this post is really late, but a few weeks ago my sister Somer and I made freezer meals. We try to do it a couple times a month, but it ends up being about once a month. This time we made burro hots, meatballs, mini quiche, and blueberry muffin mixes. Here are some pictures of the packed oven. By the way, when I build my own house I am going to have 2 ovens.

I just needed to brag for about 2 lines. Today at church a lady walked up to me and asked if Aaliyah could be a baby model for her hair bow/headband business. She has a website and said that I could keep all pictures taken of her. I will post the pictures when I get them!

So, sorry these pictures are sideways. If you turn your head sideways you can see how really cute they are. About a month ago Aaliyah started doing this really cute thing...whenever you hold her up on your shoulder (for burping or whatever), she arches her back and picks her head up so that she can look you in the face. It is super cute!

I can't believe how curly Aaliyah's hair is! This is all natural everyone. We had just given her a bath, and I just rubbed a towel over her head to dry her hair a little bit, and this is how it turned out! She is so cute!

2009-06-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

So, this past month has just flown by and we have no idea where it went. Here are a few pictures of Aaliyah and some fun things we did during the month of May. She is happy and healthy, and we love her more than candy. :) The pictures are backwards, so if you want them in order you should start at the very bottom.

The past month

2009-06-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

THE PAST MONTH

Dad Love's birthday party :)

Mesa Falls is a beautiful place about an hour from where we live. They have 2 sets of waterfalls and beautiful trails all throughout. Too bad the mosquitos were eating us alive :(

Going for a walk...

Snug as a bug in a rug

I love this carrier. Compliments to my sister Somer, she made it. :)

Aaliyah wearing her sunhat

Cute sleeping habits...

Peek-a-boo? No, but really, she is sound asleep like this.

Prayer time?

First Week at Home

2009-06-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

FIRST WEEK AT HOME

Daddy and Aaliyah taking a nap on the couch so that I could take a nap on the bed and not worry about her.

Close up.

4 Generations...Amazing.

And again. Justin's grandma, mother, and daughter. He's got nothing but women in his life. :)

Justin imitating Aaliyah.

A few pictures from her first "bath".

I took this picture to show just how tiny she is, compared to Justin. Also, how tan she is compared to Justin. :)

Aaliyah...AKA...Minnie Mouse. I thought that's who she looked like in her polka dot outfit with the bow on the top of her head. :)

We've taken a few of these pictures to try to capture how she sleeps like in fairy tales, resting her head on her arms or hands. It's soo cute. :)

Aaliyah and Grandpa Love sleeping.

Aaliyah laying 'froggy' style with Grandpa Love.

This is the tag from the "boppy", but Justin thought it was funny by itself.

Aaliyah Jade Love is here and she's a looker...

2009-05-07T19:42:00.001-07:00

(Justin's first posting) Yep, that's right. Aaliyah was born yesterday at 12:42pm. She was 5 lb 14 oz, 19 1/2 inches long, and perfectly healthy. All the pictures I put on here were posted in reverse, so for chronological people like me, start at the bottom. This first picture was the last so far. I was lucky enough to snatch a photo of her yawning.

This is pic 3 of 3 of a long nap.

This is pic 2 of 3 of a long nap

Here's pic 1 of 3 of a long nap, and one of my favorites.

Aaliyah's first tantrum. She didn't want to wait for Mommy to be ready for her to eat.

Our first family picture with Aaliyah. Karli looked awesome. No one could tell she had just given birth just by looking at her. She did great.

Grandma Love was holding Aaliyah after her first bath and hair salon trip. (Cute little bow, eh?)

All squeaky clean. Look at all that hair!

Just chillin' on the table.

Despite being fully effaced, dilated at a 5, and contractions about 2 minutes apart, Karli insisted on a final side profile before we headed out the door at 3:30 in the morning on Wednesday. Technically, she had been in labor all day Tuesday, but suddenly at 3, things picked up quick. We made it from Rigby to Rexburg's hospital in about 10 minutes. Yay for no coppers.

2009-04-28T10:54:00.000-07:00

So, this is a new past-time of ours. You can tell by my smile that it's not exactly a favorite past-time. For those of you that don't know, this is the infamous "non-stress test". It tells us how well Aaliyah tolerates contractions and how well she is doing the last 4 weeks of pregnancy (some babies just need to get out). I have to sit in this chair for half an hour every week while Justin stares at me. Yeah, pretty fun. This particular time the nurse didn't tie the monitors tight enough, so I had to hold them on in order for the machine to record Aaliyah's activity. You're probably thinking "that looks like a pretty comfortable chair though". You have obviously never been pregnant if you are thinking that. Squishy chairs, especially reclining, is probably THE most uncomfortable thing in the world. I'd rather sit on a concrete floor indian-style.

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

2009-04-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

So, on a particularly windy Friday night Somer and DJ invited us to go fly kites with them and the kids at a park in Rigby. This was my first experience with flying kites. Flying kites isn't a very popular past-time in Delaware because it's not windy very often and there's lots of trees everywhere. However, you do see lots of kites at the beach, but we never indulged. It was a lot of fun! I wished I would have gotten a picture of the playground though. They had a huge rock formation with slides built into it. Mia wouldn't let go of Somer, and Ian kept saying "You gonna come up this way with me, Karli?" So of course I couldn't refuse that! It must have been quite a sight, 2 pregnant ladies climbing around on the rock formations. Meanwhile, Justin entertained himself by swinging on the swings. His favorite thing to do is to tip his head back when he swings forward so that you get that butterfly feeling. I'm not sure if I should tell everyone this, but the other night he entertained himself for, no lie, 10 minutes by tipping his head off the end of the bed and sitting up quick (giving himself this sensation). He laughed like a little kid and then repeated several times. It was very entertaining to watch, I just wish I had documented it. Ok, this is the end of my novel, enjoy the pictures!

The boys were fixing Mia's fish kite because it wasn't flying for some reason. Justin is the master jimmy-rigger, so of course he figured out how to make it fly.

Here's some of everybody flying their kite. We had Thomas the Train and a fish. Justin was doing kite tricks with the fish. Who knew you could do tricks with a kite? I sure didn't.

OK, so this is a totally random picture, but I thought it was hilarious. Justin and I were babysitting at our house and the kids wanted to watch a movie. Long story, but they ended up watching in our bedroom. As soon as we walked in they climbed up on the bed, bubble wrap and all, and got all tucked in to our bed and comfy. They are such characters.

Boy Scouts of America

2009-04-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

So, something new for us is that Justin just got extended a calling in our ward. He was called as the Assistant Scoutmaster for the 11 year old scouts. He had his first night last week and they tied knots. He is excited to go on their campout next month (even though he's leaving his newborn baby at home). We are also excited that now when we go camping he will be able to 1. Raise me out of a hole if I fall, and 2. tie an adjustable knot to hold the tent up. We are glad to be getting integrated, and hopefully once the baby is old enough Karli will get a call too. For now, she is satisfied with visiting teaching. The church is true!

Sunday Picnic

2009-04-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

The past few days in Idaho have been progressively more beautiful every day. I love the fact the spring is finally here! So, Sunday we had stake conference so we were able to go to the park for lunch (our normal church time is 1-4, so we can never do lunch) and relax. Some things we like to do on our Sunday picnics are read, eat, and take naps. :) I love to just lay and listen to the sounds of all the things going on around me, whether it's the birds, kids playing, or just the silence. I have to add that both of us got sun-kissed. We didn't anticipate that we would need sunscreen in April. Guess we know better than that now. Here are some pictures.

I'm lucky; he loves me even though I've gained *blank* lbs in the last 9 months.

Justin reading his book

New Due Date

2009-04-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

So, we went to the doctor yesterday for my 37 week appointment, and the doctor moved my date up 5 days. So...my new due date is May 8th. I'm confused about this because I'm pretty sure the old due date was exactly right on, but he's the doctor...right? Anyway, 37 week pictures to follow soon.

Family Night at the Park

2009-04-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

So, Justin and I (not knowing that Idaho would be consistent with it's weather forecast of BEAUTIFUL weather the next 2 weeks) decided to take advantage of a gorgeous day on family night and go to the park. Yes, I am wearing a hat, but it's out of my love for hats, not the cold weather. :) We brought the soccer ball with us and kicked it around, and of course Justin saw the big gun and had to get on it. I'm not sure why they have a memorial monument in Rigby, Idaho of all places...but it's cool nonetheless.

I love this one. "...Ummmmm.....what is all this stuff?"

This was him explaining to me all the parts. I don't know how he knows so much, but I'm pretty sure he should be on Jeopardy or some trivia show.

This is Justin on attacking the bad guys. He’s such a stud. (I’ll have you know that when I first wrote the captions to these photos I called it a tank, and he came in and changed it for me because he didn’t want me to look like I didn’t know what I was talking about. He’s so sweet.)

Justin doing his tricks.

I can still play soccer, even 3 weeks before my due date!

Ok, it wasn't the most comfortable activity of the night, but it was so much fun to be out and doing something!

Yes, I am 37 weeks pregnant, thank you very much.

Easter Fun

2009-04-11T20:41:00.000-07:00

So, Easter is a really fun holiday for us. We get candy and family time, our two favorite things. We spent an evening with Somer, DJ, Ian and Mia on Good Friday. We had a smorgasbord with all of our leftovers. Neither one of us felt like cooking on a Friday night and had TONS of leftovers, so we just put them all out on the counter and traded leftovers. It was awesome! Then we decorated eggs with the kids. Despite the fact that a lot of the eggs cracked, it was a really fun night! Somer decorated the cracks on one egg for abstract art, and Justin found an egg that had cracked open and leaked out and he decorated it as an egg that had a traumatic accident. He's so creative :) Then, Somer and I (the mother hens) were captured on camera laying eggs.

The Pregnancy

2009-04-11T20:02:00.001-07:00

To all of you who so faithfully blog, I am ashamed to even have a website. But...I am trying. Below are the photos that we've taken so far in the pregnancy. They are few and far between, but it didn't seem like I was growing very much so we didn't take a ton of pictures. Right now I am 36 weeks, so our little Aaliyah could really come any time now. We are anxiously awaiting her arrival.

Baby Love

2008-09-12T18:35:00.000-07:00

As some of you already know, Karli is expecting a baby, due in May of next year! She is in her 2nd month and is feeling great so far! We are so excited to hear the news, as it has been a very long and emotional journey getting to this point in our lives. We feel so blessed to be entrusted with this great blessing and responsibility and are glad that Heavenly Father trusts us to raise His children. Karli will continue to teach at the University until the baby comes. Thank you all for sharing our excitement! We are taking bets on the gender of the baby. Justin thinks it is going to be a girl because family genetics say that we will have a girl, but Karli thinks it is going to be a boy. Any guesses?