I have decided to blog about my Alana today. I have chosen to start with her because she is my last and they never get to go first.
Alana: Miss Priss, Sweetness, Tushes, My Littlest
The decision to get pregnant again (with Alana) was not an easy one. Ryan and I were not big fans of babies. We tolerated the baby stage just fine but realized, once McKenna and Evan were 5 and 3, that we liked having older kids. They are more independent and we can do a lot more things with them. So once Evan hit 3 we needed to decide, once and for all, if we were done or if we wanted more. Obviously we chose to have more but it took a lot of prayer to get there. I had a great pregnancy with Alana and I was overjoyed to find out that she was a girl. I really wanted another girl.
We really struggled to find a name for her. Nothing seemed right and we never found a name that we truly loved. To this day I can say that I don't LOVE the name Alana but we didn't hate it or find anything we liked better so that is what she ended up with. Finding the right name became so obsessive for me that I was still in "listen for good names"mode 2 months after she was born. Of course by that point she was named and that was that. But it took me a while to stop thinking about it. One thing that I did know for sure, is that her middle name would be Priscilla.
Priscilla was my Mother-in-law's name. I say "was" because she has passed away. Ryan lost his mother to cancer on February 14, 2006 (I know sucky day, right?). She was an amazing woman. She was extremely selfless and had more knowledge of the gospel then any woman I have ever met, to this day. She was alway good to me. She didn't understand me and I don't think she liked me at times but I know she loved me and she tried hard not to be "The Mother-in-Law". I would we thrilled if Alana carries any of the amazing traits that her namesake possessed. The name also turned out to be very appropriate since Alana looks very much like her Grandma Graham.
Miss Priss has been a joy since the moment she emerged into this world. Maybe because I have done the baby thing two times before, or she is just a better baby, but it was so much better this time around. She is the first baby that made me want to have more babies. (I don't know yet. So don't ask.) I finally got to see what I thought other mothers just lied about. A baby who slept. It was so delightful to be able to put her to bed and not have to listen to crying. She just went to sleep.
She is a Daddy's girl, and it goes both ways. Ryan is different with her than he was with the other two. Even he can't explain it. It helps that she wants him all the time, where the older ones only wanted me. But they have a connection that was there from the beginning. It brings me tremendous joy to watch them.
I have been having so much fun with her during the day. Both McKenna and Evan are at school now and I only have her around. I am really enjoying that. I brings me back to the days when I was a new mother with McKenna.
She is starting to walk and she says "mama". She loves to play with Evan and McKenna. When she and I go pick up Evan from school she squeals with joy when she sees him and lovingly slaps him on the face. She aways wants to be where they are and to play with them. It's really nice for me because I know she will be entertained when the older ones are home so I can work.
Her latest thing is sucking on her toes. She tries so hard to get her toes into her mouth, but then she gets mad that her toes won't stop wiggling. She'll pull them back and look at them and poke them with her finger. They aways end up back in her mouth wiggling away despite her efforts.
She's a babe.
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