May 2011-Amaree has a language Explosion!

Up to this point, Amaree has been behind in her speech. She has been working with DDI Vantage to get her skills up and in May we saw a huge leap in her speak development. It is so fun to listen to her talk. She tells stories and reads books and sings songs. Sometimes we still don't understand everything she says, but we enjoy listening to her talk anyway. Here is a little video of her reading Humpty Dumpty. I love the way she says Humpty Dumpty!

She also is saying things more clearly that she was stuttering over. She can now say "Chicken" when she used to say "chich-chichs". She can also put words into a sentence.

And she loves to pray. It is so funny. Andrew will say, "Please bless the food," and Amaree will say, "eye-a food," "Thank you for this day," "eye-a day", "In the name of Jesus Christ," "eye-a Jesus AMEN!" It cracks us up that she only says the last word of the sentence.

Another thing that I LOVE LOVE LOVE is that she runs up to me, puts her arms around me and kisses me on the lips and says, "I love you too!" My heart melts and puddles at her feet.

"I Love you too, Nana"

Andrew had a training in Midway at the Homestead Resort. I took some time off and went out with him. Amaree and I spent the day at the Discovery Children's Museum and shopping. We also went swimming. Amaree had so much fun. She loved it. Her lips were blue and we were trying to get her out of the pool, but she still wanted to stay.

At the resort, Amaree is ready to go shopping!

April 2011-Andrew gets his Masters Degree!

Andrew's Graduation Announcement

After three years, Andrew gets to graduate from Utah State University! Andrew has been in school for Amaree's whole life! A refresher - When Andrew started school, I had Amaree the first week of his school. Anyway, after nearly three years, Andrew will have his Master's degree! Andrew does have to finish the summer semester, but we are really close!

Andrew Receives the Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year Award

Andrew was honored at graduation as the Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year. He was also awarded the Masters of Social Work Graduate Student of the Year. He is graduating with a 3.9 GPA and we are so proud of him!

Amaree wore a new dress for graduation

March 2011-Haircut and Zoo

Amaree got her first hair cut! She has this mullet thing going on, from her bald spot finally growing out and then the top hair is short and the back hair is long. I wanted her to get a cute little bob with some bangs and her hair being able to be tucked behind her hair. I didn't get very many photo's of the cut, but I found a cute one with her riding on Lea. Amaree loves her Lea!We also went to the Zoo with the Cousins! Amaree loves, loves, loves the zoo! My sister and her family were going to the zoo that day and so I took Amaree out. She had so much fun with James and Aedan! She really loves James and talked and talked about him. We rented a stroller and all of the kids rode in it.As we were walking down the hill, Jake lost control of the stroller. Amaree and James were in the stroller and it flipped onto its back took off down the hill and was heading straight for the a huge crash into a fence. Rachel was at the bottom of the hill trying to stop the stoller and Jake was running down the hill trying to catch the stroller. I was just standing there with my mouth open. Just as the stroller was about to crash, it spun around did a full circle and then stopped. We all ran over to the stroller and were the perfect concerned parents. However, James and Amaree were both laughing so hard. They both kept saying, "Again, again!" They thought it was great and we were all trying not to have a heart attack. All in all, they had a great day at the zoo.

February-George

Amaree has discovered something on TV that she likes. She generally won't watch TV but she discovered George. She loves the monkey. We watch George a few times a day. I am not sure how I feel about George. I mean, he is always causing problems, but in the end he comes out the hero and everything works out. Life is not like that. What kind of message is this sending my kid? All in all, though, it is better than most shows on tv!

We have George books, pajamas, dolls, movies, and the show is always on our DVR. What would we do without it? Oh yeah, and did you know that they make Curious George Fruit Snacks? Yes they do, and Amaree loves them. We use them as bribery for many things...

January-Cows

Amaree cooking in her kitchen.

Amaree loves to go see the cows with Gwampa. All day she asks for gwampa and cows. He picks her up and they drive down to the field in the big blue truck and they would feed the cows. When ever she would hear the truck coming down the road she would run and get her coat and boots. One time, she was being very quiet and I asked her what she thought about inside her pretty little head. She answered, "Um, cows." I laughed at that.

This video shows her one night when they came home, they had just seen some deer. Oh my! She has never talked like this before. She was so excited!!!

Christmas

Gwampa brought this adorable hat from Russia for Amaree. She wore it almost everyday when he would take her to go see the cows.

Inside this massive box was a kitchen. Amaree loved this kitchen! She would say "I cook, I cook" and would use her snacks to cook food.

Amaree got so many fun things and had such a great time. She loves this monkey.

Halloween

Amaree was a wonderful Ballerina for halloween.

Amaree had just enough hair to pull up into pigtails. So cute!