Happy Holidays!!

I only had enough cards for a few family members this year,

but consider yourself Christmas carded!

May you feel the love of our Savior during this special season!

6 Months

3 Months to go! Woop woop!

Her Latest

Hallie has been really into making these little treasures lately. She colors on little pieces of paper, puts stickers on them, then folds them up and gives them to me or puts them on the counter. She says, "presen!" It's so cute!

"W(r)ap, w(r)ap, w(rap!"

Also, a few phrases have been newly introduced to her vocabulary:

Be w(r)iiiiight back!

Ina minute (like when I say it's time to do something)

W(r)ight! Now! (I have to ignore this one or tell her to use her nice voice, and then she'll practically whisper)

Oh, and yesterday I heard her counting from the kitchen table... "one two fwee...time OUT." Then she said, "Time out! Ma ma! Time out! " AHEM......

I said, "Momma doesn't go to time out." Then I turned around and tried not to snicker! Oh man. I say all of these things to her so it's really not surprising.

Just call me Bargain Betty

Oh how I love a good deal.

I have been looking for a while now for red flats, and I didn't want a bright red, so I've been keeping my eyes peeled. Well, I recently stumbled across these at Target, which was unusual, because I typically keep fairly good tabs on Target's goods. They're a nice dark red, and my size was just sitting there, waiting to be taken home! Yay! Plus, they were on clearance for $8.50. What up.

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween! Hallie was so happy to wear her dancer outfit (thanks Holly!). Friday night we went to the church for chili & hot dogs & a trunk or treat (kids walk around the open trunks outside and get candy). Hallie loved the bounce-house, but it was pretty cold that night!

These first two are from Friday night. Hallie will now do a happy face and a sad face on command. So some of the smiles are by request (she say's "ee" for like 2 seconds and then looks away).

She was very anxious to go to the party on Halloween night--she kept looking out and seeing kids outside. Our neighbor has started doing a pre-trickortreat party potluck, so we had chili, hot dogs and lots of other fun food in their garage and a bunch of people came out. It was nice and relatively warm (65?).

Awwwww!

This is the 2nd U/S where we saw this little thing sucking her thumb. Or at least it seems that way--she always has little fingers up by her face! We love her already :)

Wreath

So, my only project for the last little while has been this fall wreath. I tried to copy this page from Pottery Barn. BTW, this issue is the best ever--that's why I had to keep it.

Now here's my version...

I spent probably $20 or more, and of course did it the hard way. I bought a garland of green leaves and painted e a c h l e a f...gold, brown, orange. I also painted some of the fruit because it was too bright (a teeny bit of a dark gold or a muted tone works great to make it cohesive). I got a stick wreath at Hobby Lobby for $5, some orange berry branches, and a couple of containers of fruit/fall leaves/gourds/pinecones at Walmart & Michaels. Then I hung it with 2 in ribbon and used a couple of tacks (thanks Carly) to attach it to the top of the door. I'm hoping the wreath is sturdy and the leaves won't blow away with the next windy storm, but we'll see. The only bad thing is that I can't see out the peep-hole, so I can't tell if the pest control guy is at the door or a friend who's about to see me without makeup (gasp!) and in PJs.

Yep, I'm Pregnant!

It's true, it really really is!

I'm due March 12, so I'm 16 weeks already! So far, so good. Still have the morning sickness, make that evening sickness, but haven't thrown up yet, so that makes me happy. I'm taking Zofran and Protonix, but I usually feel terrible come the late evening hours. Dinner has been very pitiful/non-existent for a few months now. Hallie has gotten used to me laying on the couch--she'll bring me books to read to her and she'll play nearby. During the day isn't as bad, but I have my good and bad days. I have had some cravings--pretty much the same as when I was pregnant with Hallie--potatoes in any form, fruit, chips, fatty foods, candy (you know I'm pregnant if I want skittles over kisses). I'm feeling it move occasionally throughout the day now too. So fun! We're excited to find out an official gender on October 21st, woo hoo!!! Then let the naming difficulties begin.

Her Latest

I took Hallie to her 2 year well visit today and realized I need to do better about brushing her teeth and giving her more veggies. New pediatrician (finally!) too, and I liked him. Here are her stats:

Wt for age%: 40%
Ht for age%: 61%
Head circum: 91%
BMI: 24%

Well, she's right on track developmentally. She can count to 10 (frequently misses 5 and/or 6), she knows her colors, and she's learning her letters. Thanks to the LeapFrog Letter Factory dvd. She asks to watch that every day. Which leads me to another lovely development...watching TV!!! Now she likes sitting in front of the TV, and I can leave and get stuff done! And she sits there or lays on a pillow with her blankie, and she doesn't move!! It's been delightful. I try to limit it to one little show a day or less. I really need to start recording Sesame Street, I think she would like it. It's funny to see when she recognizes letters on buildings and their sounds. I think she knows H the best, she does a little ha ha sound like the H makes when she sees it. Learning new words every day! One of today's was Hobby Lobby...although it sounds more like 'Habi Yabi?!' when she says it!

Also, Hallie has been very interested in potty books. We have a few and we read them every day. 'Going to the Potty' and the 'Princess & the Potty' (it's lost right now) are the top two. I frequently tell her that she can go poo poo in the potty if she tells me, but it's always too late. She doesn't like it in her diaper and at that point, she asks to go potty. Still working on that concept! Hopefully it's a smooth transition to big girl underwear.

Now friends are very important to her too. She asks if we're going to see them all the time. At least once a day, she'll announce that she's going to GaGon hou! (Grandma's house), and pack up her stroller and baby or purse and she'll walk away. We're very excited for her to come next week!

Overall, Hallie is a very good little girl, sweet and of course, we think she's the most adorable thing ever!

My Baby!

My baby is 2. I guess that means I need to put pants on her when we go places instead of throwing a onesie on and little shoes. But really, those chubby little legs and her little baby hair!? Well, she's growing up.

Hallie had a wonderful birthday this weekend...thanks so much for all the gifts and for all who came to the party! She had so much fun with her friends!

Bounce-house (thanks Rebecca!), lunch, cupcakes, presents, and pool time outside.
Thanks to Brad for taking pictures (our camera is def on the fritz)!










Breckyn, Kinsley, Hallie, Sofia, Madison, Kate, and Locke


The fun lasted until bedtime...

A Mother Was Born

Today, 2 years ago, I looked like this:
Admitted at 10 am or so at Medical City Medical Center, an epidural around lunchtime, then hanging out for the rest of the day, laying in bed. Hey Everyone!

Pushed for 45 minutes, and Hallie was born at 4:33 in the afternoon. Textbook pregnancy, textbook baby. The room was semi-dark and she had her little eyes open and looking around. She had dark hair, not tons, and a little cone head. She had such perfect little features, I thought she was a pretty cute newborn! Nothing squishy or weird. She was so sweet and beautiful. We love her to bits and pieces!

Happy Birthday Hallie!

Saturday

Saturday John & I started working on the front yard at about 7 am. We really should have taken a before/after pic--I can't believe how bad it had gotten.

We basically filled our entire garbage can of dirt, clay, rocks, and a little garbage that we dug up. John pulled out this slab of cement. Lovely.



I clipped the bushes and plants, and John weeded and mowed the grass. We replaced the dirt with new potting soil. I think we worked for like 5-6 hours out there (plus breaks and a trip to Lowe's. There are several things John wants to do to the front--like pull out some plants and replace them. Hopefully later in the fall we can have another yard day and buy some new plants/trees.

Hallie was very good the whole time while we were working. Towards the end, she kept saying, "ah done! ah done!" No, sweetheart, we're not done yet!

She was so funny because she kept seeing bugs and she would get scared and whine and point. She was climbing up on John to get away, and eventually she perched herself like this.

Here she is pointing to the mess "meh!"

Awesome Product

My mom got me these amazing hair appliance organizers for my birthday several months back. They are made with a heat-resilient material for curling irons and flat irons. Here's the dryer size hung up in my closet. Very convenient and out of the way.

Here's my big curling iron and flat iron, so now there's room for my other curling iron on the counter. These things are not expensive, and what a great space-saver.

BTW, I actually have another dryer size that I'm not using-- if anyone wants it, $4?

My Baby's a Pro

At eating cherries....

We sat down with a big bowl of cherries and grapes the other day and she went to town. Pih! Pih! Yes, spit out the pit! Her mouth was covered in dark red juiciness that covered her little dog teeth, as I like to call them.

Hallie has this toy bin that she pushes around the kitchen. Then she stands up on it and wreaks havoc on anything that's left on the counters...let's see, wallets, purses, leftover food that has yet to be cleaned up...papers/ads. She's hilarious when she scoots it over to the fruit bowl. Snacking on peaches and plums, peeling bananas, hey, I guess it's a free-for-all--take a few bites, then put it back.

I have been letting her help bake with me lately. She gets so excited when I ask her to stir something or throw nuts or chocolate chips on top. Funny little thing!

Photo Shoot

We had a photo shoot back in June--here are a few of them. Thanks to Steph! She did a great job, even though we were chasing Hallie the entire time. Maybe next time I'll come to my senses and have someone come help us during picture time.

Watching Hallie run away...

Steph was trying to get one of Hallie sitting and us standing, but Hallie stood up too fast.