December 2009 - Baby's First Christmas

This picture was taken December 13, 2009 when Alissa first attempted to crawl. She is still not crawling on a regular basis, but she is getting close.

These three pictures were taken on Christmas day. Daddy was proud of his little "padawan" for knowing how to hold a light saber. The light saber pictures were taken at Grandma's house. The other picture was taken Christmas morning at home.

Jeremy and Meggan got married right after Christmas on December 28, 2009. I loved these pictures from the wedding.

Adoption Announcement

November 10, 2009 - Princess of The Day

Alissa is the Princess of the Day today. Her adoption hearing was this morning at 8:00 a.m. at the Court House. All four grandparents came to see the special event. Other visitors included Auntie Gayle Burns, babysitter Laura Sporl, and Tatiana and Giovana Grant (virtual little sister). During the hearing, mommy began to cry because she was so overwhelmed with joy. Alissa was so excited during the hearing that she gave a "shout out of joy" and everyone laughed. It was the perfect beginning of our new PERMANENT lives together. We lover our little girl so much.

After the Hearing, everyone went to Village Inn for Brunch and Grandpa Diamond decided to treat. Alissa was very entertained with her bottle, restaurant spoons, and saltine crackers that Grandma Smith kept giving her. She left a huge mess on the floor for the waitress to clean up, but the waitress didn't seem to mind. Alissa enjoyed the attention and company very much. Poor Giovana was a little jealous of all the attention Alissa was getting so she pretended to be Alissa and crawled into her car seat. The joys of little children to lighten our lives. We are so happy!

The other exciting news that took place this week is Alissa's first two teeth. We noticed her first one on Sunday, November 8th and her second one today, November 10th. Our little girl is growing up and we are grateful to have her in our lives. :)

October 30, 2009 - 6 Month Milestones

Pics & Collages by Ash Roberts

Alissa is 6 months old now and she is sitting for long periods of time (20 minutes or more), holding her own bottle regularly, switching toys from hand to hand, and traveling while rolling over. This is a fun month for Alissa because it is her first Halloween and she is dressing up as Winnie the Pooh. We also moved her into her own crib at night (instead of the cradle) and put her on solid foods this week. She is eating 1Tbsp Rice Cereal with 4 Tbsp of formula every evening. At first, she didn’t seem to like it as the texture was strange in her mouth. But, after about 10 bites, she started to get use to it and ate then entire amount.


Alissa’s 6 month doctor appointment was on 10/23/2009. Her weight is now 16.8 lbs which puts her at 61%. Her length is 25.79 inches at 45% and her head circumference is 16.7 inches at 47%. She is growing very well and has remained around the 50th percentile since birth so the doctor is pleased.

We love our little girl so much and are so grateful that she has entered our lives. We can’t imagine our lives without her. She is the highlight of every day. Daddy loves her so much that he even took the entire Halloween Week off so he could spend it with Alissa. They went shopping together, listened to music (Beatles, Pink Floyd, David Bowie etc), played games, and even watched Star Wars together. Believe it or not, Alissa loved Star Wars, which made daddy very happy.

Currently, Alissa’s favorite thing to do is go for walks in her stroller and look around at all the new sights. Mommy and Daddy make sure to take her out often so she can see the fun new world.

Another fun thing that happened to Alissa was her slumber party at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Mommy and Daddy went out of town for 3 days and so Alissa was able to stay with Grandma and Grandpa. They took her out to dinner, to a Halloween Party, and shopping. She loved it all.

Oct 16, 2009 Pictures with Tami & Brody Blair

I offered to take pictures of my cousins new baby, Brody Miller Blair, who was born on 9/24/2009. Tami and Dan Blair (parents) do NOT have a camera and I felt they needed some pictures for a Birth Announcement. So even though I'm not a great photographer and my camera isn't a professional one, I offered to help out. On October 16, 2009, I spent the day with the Blair's taking pictures. We had a wonderful time. While I was at it, I thought it would be fun to take a picture of Alissa and Brody together in their Halloween costumes. Brody is going to be Mickey Mouse and Alissa will be Winnie the Pooh for Halloween. I purchased both of these costumes since I found such a great deal on them at Walmart.

Please share your opinions on the Birth Announcements. Tell me which one is your favorite and let me know of any changes that might make them better. Thanks everyone!

October 15, 2009 - 6 Month Pics

Ash Roberts came to the house to take 6 Month Pictures of our daughter. Here are some of the great pictures she took. We plan to use some of these pictures for our adoption announcement. Ash agreed to design that announcement for us, stay tuned...

10-9-2009 6 Months

Alissa will be 6 months old next week on October 13, 2009. This is a very special month because it's Alissa's first Halloween and she is 6 months old. We plan to start her on food after her 6 month appointment on October 23rd. She will also move from the cradle in mommy and daddy's room to the Crib in her room. She already sleeps in the crib during the day, but is still in mommy and daddy's room at night.

Alissa's adoption hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, November 10 at 8:00 a.m. I'm very excited for her adoption to be final, but am also disappointed that we have to wait an extra month. I was really looking forward to celebrating her adoption this month along with Halloween and the other milestones. It will all work out though. We sure love our little girl.

9-18-09 - 5 Months

Alissa is 5 months old now and she is rolling over. When she was 18 weeks old (8/16/09), she rolled over twice while laying on the bed with daddy. Daddy was playing with her on the bed and she was laying on her back. She started arching her back and moving her head to show interest in rolling over. So, Daddy encouraged her and she did it. Mommy missed it and was very sad because she wanted to see it. So she started playing with Alissa too and she did it again. The bed was sloped a little since daddy was laying on one end so it helped make it easier for Alissa. Ever since that day, Alissa has been working very hard to roll over on flat ground, but could not quite get it. For the last few weeks, she has managed to get her entire body over except for her arm. She could not figure out how to get the arm out of the way. Then on 9/16/09 (exactly one month after rolling over on the bed), she did it. She rolled over all the way and both mommy and daddy got to see it. It was a very exciting evening for us. So daddy ran and got the video camera and she did it two more times for us. She was so proud of her self that she was laughing and kicking her legs. It was so cute. Of course mommy and daddy were cheering her on the entire time, which helped her happy mood. She loved the attention we were giving her. She was so tired after three tries that she needed a break. Two hours later, she rolled over two more times and even managed to roll back to her original position.

Another thing that is really fun with Alissa is Bath Time. She has always enjoyed bath time, but usually just sits there and smiles… until recently. Now, she kicks her legs and splashes mommy and then giggles when mommy gets wet. She kicks so much that water spills out over the counter and floor and mommy has to mop it up afterwards. If Alissa is having a rough night, then we put her in the bath tub and she is instantly happy. She loves the water. 

Alissa can also hold the bottle by herself for a longer period of time.

Here are some 5 month pictures of Alissa: 1. In her Bumbo chair with an outfit that Grandpa Smith purchased for her and 2. Alissa fell asleep in daddy's arms, isn't this sweet?

August 2009 - 4 Months

We had Alissa's four month appointment on 8/14/09. The doctor was again pleased with how healthy and beautiful she is. He told me that she was “quite the chunk” because she weighs 14.44 lbs, which puts her at 69%. Sheis now 23.62 inches, which is 26%.

Mommy and Daddy love spending time with Alissa every evening, on the weekends, and holidays. We have already taken her swimming 3 times, she has been to the zoo twice, and she loves going on walks with mommy and daddy. Alissa has also discovered that she loves watching baby Einstein DVD’s, playing peak-a-boo with mommy, playing games with daddy, reading books, and playing with her toys.

Here is a couple of pictures of Alissa swimming with mommy, daddy, and mommy's best friend Gayle and her son Ian. These pictures were taken on August 2, 2011.

August 16, 2009 - This picture was taken on the same day that Alissa first rolled over on mommy and daddy's bed. Isn't this a cute picture of Alissa holding herself up. I just LOVE this little girl.

August 17, 2009 - We try to give Alissa "Tummy Time" as often as possible. This is Alissa's "Tummy Time" on mommy and daddy's bed. She doesn't always like "Tummy Time", but she is getting better at it.

Here are a couple of additional pictures of Alissa sitting in her Bumbo chair. The green outfit was a gift from the next door neighbors. The blue dress was a gift from Steve's Aunt Vera.

6/15/2009 - 2 Months

We had Alissa's two month appointment on 6/15/09. The doctor was again pleased with how healthy and beautiful she is. He noticed that she has a very mello personality and informed me how lucky we are as another patient of his has a Colicky baby that never stops crying and is Alissa’s same age. Alissa now weighs 10.87 lbs. and is 22.24 inches. Her weight is 49% while her length is 43%. She is a very happy baby and is starting to smile more and more. She even laughs sometimes.

At 7 weeks, Alissa grabbed a small 2 oz bottle from Kim and started holding it. She held it with the pinky and thumb on the bottom and the other fingers on top. It was so cute. One week later, at 8 weeks, she grabbed a normal sized bottle from me and started feeding herself again. She is such a smart baby.  Around 9 weeks old, she started sticking her tounge out more and curling it. She also blows bubbles all the time so daddy calls her “Bubbles McBarfy Pants”. This picture was taken on June 8, 2009 and you can see how she holds things and blows bubbles. We love our little girl so much. We feel very lucky to have her.

June 29, 2011

We took Alissa swimming for the first time on June 29, 2011. We took her to Aunt Kathy's swimming pool. She seemed to really like it. Here are a few pictures of her that day.

4/29/2009 - 2 Weeks

We had Alissa's two week appointment on 4/29/09. The doctor was pleased with how healthy and beautiful she is. He said that he normally expects a newborn to be at their birth weight by their two week appointment, but Alissa had actually gained weight. Her birth weight was 7 lbs 7 oz and now she weighs 7 lbs 13 oz. She has grown in length from 18 inches to 20.57 inches. Her weight is 31% while her length is 58%. She is a very happy baby, but her stomach bothers her a little sometimes. We have discovered these Mylicon gas drops that help her tummy a ton. She rarely cries especially when we use those drops at every feeding.

Here is another 2 week picture of Alissa in a Winnie the Pooh bath robe.

4/13/2009 - Alissa's Birth

The day Alissa was born, mommy and daddy walked into the nursery to see Alissa for the first time. She was so beautiful that mommy started to cry. As we approached her, we could see her crying so Daddy reached and to grab Alissa's hand and she instantly wrapped her hand around his finger. We spent most of the day in the nursery with Alissa to include watching the nurse give her first bath, feeding her, and spending time with her. Mommy was thrilled to capture a picture of Alissa's frown because it looked just like mommy's deep frown. We knew immediately that Alissa was meant to be our child.

This frown is just like mommy's. We asked the birth mom if she or anyone in the family frowned like this and the birth mom said "No". This was one of many signs that told us Alissa was meant to be ours.