8.9 Magnitude Earthquake

We were shocked to hear of the massive earthquake that hit Japan late last night. We have a lot of family over there, including my brother and his family, and all of my extended family on my mother's side. It was a relief to find out early on that Kory and his family were OK in Tokyo, but much of the damage was in Sendai, where the tsunami hit:

Which is exactly where my grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. live. We were cut off from all means of communication, and it wasn't until this afternoon that we heard from my cousin via email that everyone was safe and accounted for. What a blessing!

Thank you to all who have given us phone calls of concern. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers!

London is 9 months old

I took London in for her 9 month check-up yesterday. She weighs 20 lbs, 10 oz, and is 26 1/2 inches tall. She is in the 15% for height and 80% for weight, which makes her not very tall, but chubby as can be. When they told me her weight I have to admit I was taken aback a little... none of our other three kids were even 20 pounds on their first birthday! She has yet to start crawling, and is completely content to just sit and play with toys or look at books. I was a little concerned considering that Brighton started crawling at 6 months, Chelsea could pull herself up to stand before nine months, and Siena was cruising up and down stairs at this age. But our pediatrician (a.k.a. Uncle Craig) had a good point-- why would she feel the need to crawl or stand when she has three older siblings waiting on her hand at foot? There is no question this baby gets all the attention and entertainment she wants. She makes us all happy with her cute babbling and giggling. She is seriously the happiest and easiest baby around.

I just love that reddish brown hair and those light blue eyes

Don't you just want to squeeze those cheeks?

A lot of people have commented that she looks different from her siblings, so I thought it would be fun to compare. I dug out everyone's 9-month-old pictures, and when you put them side-by-side, I think she looks a lot like her sisters and brother, with just more hair:

9 month old Brighton

9 month old Chelsea

9 month old Siena

Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, etc.

Now that we have a Chinese-speaking child and anticipate his sisters to follow, we've made it an annual tradition to celebrate Chinese New Year. This year it fell on the 3rd of February.
We loved the program that Brighton's class put on for it this year. This is a video of their grand entrance, and that's Brighton leading the dragon:

Chinese New Year Dragon

I put up some decorations, and we even had a Chinese New Year dinner with some friends, but for some reason these were the only boring pictures I took to remember it:

I will try to do better next year and get more pictures...

A few random things from the last couple of weeks:

London's hair is growing. I've noticed that each of our children have had more hair than the last. Brighton was bald until he was 15 months old, Chelsea didn't have hair until she was 1, Siena started to get hair when she was about 10 months old, and London has more hair than that at 8 months. And she may actually be our first child that isn't blonde!

Siena had pajama day at school. And bed-head to go with it

I love saltwater sandals. They are so classic, totally indestructible, and they just remind me of my childhood. I think they are making a come-back in a very big way. Or maybe they just never went out of style? Anyway, I have been getting them for Chelsea and Siena for a couple of summers, and even for Brighton (although he prefers flip flops).

Chelsea always loves her "beach shoes"-- that's what she calls them

So I was pretty excited to discover that they made them in teeny baby sizes! London has the tiniest feet, and yes, these are a size 1:

With room to grow. Is it ridiculous that it's only February and I already have spring fever? I can't wait for warm weather...

My friend introduced me to cake pops. I had seen and heard about them, but hadn't tried one until she gave me some german chocolate ones she made. They are the best little bite of cake on a stick! And guilt-free (if you can stop at one or two!):

So I made some for Valentine's Day

The coconut ones were yummy,

But my favorite were the red velvet with cream cheese frosting

I got to help with Brighton's Class Valentine's Party on Monday:

He has such a fun class

And while I was there I noticed that their bulletin board had these cute assignments that each of the kids had done in class. They each wrote a heart-shaped note about someone who was very special to them. Most of the kids wrote about their mom or their dad, but I thought Brighton's was original and very sweet:

And then as I was reading the others I noticed that several of them were about Brighton!:

Loved by all!

And that night we had our Valentine's dinner, with red foods and heart-shaped rolls:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Where did January go?

Is anyone else as shocked as I am that it is already February? I am a little disappointed in myself that I did not post a single thing we did in January, so here is our "Allen Family January in a minute":

As has become a family tradition, my mom came out to celebrate New Year's with us

She did a lot of cooking

We did a lot of eating

And we were glad she brought Mimi along for the trip

Brighton, Chelsea and I made a quick, but very special trip out to Denver for Ellery's baptism

It had been quite a while since they had last been on an airplane, so they were thrilled-- although they were shocked when we were ready to land... why on earth have we been driving 8 hours to visit them when we could have flown there in an hour and a half!?

A short snooze on a very short flight

And we were so glad to be a part of her special day

Dad grew some facial hair over the break. The girls were sad to see it go when he had to go back to work

Chelsea had cowgirl day at school

She does make a pretty cute cowgirl, don't you think?

A friend told me about a wonderful program at the Rose Wagner theater called "Ring around the Rose". Each month they showcase a different type of dance or music, and put on a performance for young kids. January was ballet, so I knew I had to take the girls

Waiting to start

They started by talking a little about ballet, and Chelsea was even invited up on stage for a little demonstration

After that Ballet West put on a condensed performance of "Sleeping Beauty". It was spectacular, and just the perfect length for Siena's attention span

Some good friends invited us up to their cabin near Park City for a weekend getaway

We had some good "snow time"

And the kids enjoyed themselves immensely

Now we feel less guilty about not taking them sledding at all last year

We've discovered a yummy little place called Bruges

Delicious Belgian waffles and frites

It's so rare that we get to go out to eat for breakfast, but I love it

What a treat!

After much pleading from Brighton, we made home-made pizza one night. I thought the kids' creations were so darn cute. From left to right, Siena's, Brighton's, and Chelsea's

And last but definitely not least, London turned 8 months old. How cute is this chubby little baby? We just love her to pieces

And she LOVES baths