Sleepover

 This last weekend my sister went to Colorado (and took Max) for her 10 year highschool reunion, leaving Luke and Livi home with Jesse.  Well, Jesse had to help with security at the football game Friday night and wouldn't be home until like 11 or so.  Nobody wanted Livi to be up that late so we got to have Livi spend the night with us!

I wanted to do something special that I know Livi would love and I hit it on the nose!  She LOVES horses- she takes lessons, has about a million horse toys, is getting her own horse soon, etc.  We walk down this trail by the river on the east bench of Spanish Fork and about 1/2 mile down the trail there is a small pasture with horses.  We have gone several times and fed them so I decided we would go there!

Of course Hadley loves any animal right now but Livi couldn't get enough.  We probably stood there in the same spot feeding this horse (usually there is 3) for a good 25 minutes.  She was getting right in her face and talking to her and petting her and was literally in heaven!



It was a great "adventure" as Livi kept calling it.  After the little hike we went home sang some songs and read some books with Hadley.  Then Liv got to stay up a bit later and have milkshakes with Steve and I :)

It was a fun weekend and Hadley thought it was the neatest thing to have Liv there when she went to bed and when she woke up!  But it did make me realize I'm not ready to 2 anytime soon- it's like the double the work, haha :)

Our New Reality

 So I have been back in school (with the kids there) for a week now and Hadley and I are adjusting quite nicely to our 'new reality.'  It obviously helps that I take her to Becca's where she is loved just like I would love her and that Ily and I have a darling class of 22 third graders.

My biggest concern going to back to teaching was that I would miss alot of quality time each day with Hadley.  And yes, I do miss about an hour and half of awake/play time but I have really been focusing on making the time that I am with her really good :)

 I am kind of a schedule person and I do my best work and everything gets done if I make and stick to a schedule.  So before I went back I decided to make a schedule of what each day will look like.  So basically it looks like this (this is mostly for my records, you don't have to read it).

7:20 - 8:00 - We eat breakfast, bathe, get dressed and play a little.

8:00- 9:00 - Play time!  And she watches a 15 minute segment of Curious George (she is obsessed!!)

9:00 - 9:30ish - Hadley's quiet time (sometimes she sleeps, like she did 2 days last week)

9:30 - 10:00 - "Educational time" This is the teacher in me- we read, color, do puzzles, trace letters and numbers with our fingers, sing, etc.

10:00 - 11:00 - Play time

11:00- 11:30 - Make lunch, eat lunch, pack our bags to go

11:45 - drop her off at Becca's

3:45 - pick her up and go home

I know it's dumb to do this schedule but I feel like we get alot done and she has a super good morning!

 She has been doing really well at Becca's!  Obviously her and Max fight sometimes - hey they are toddlers, what do you expect? - but otherwise they do really well together.  It took a several days and some experimenting on Becca's part but her naps are pretty regular and solid now, about 12:45 to 3:30ish.  Overall, Hadley loves to go play with her cousins!  One day we got to Becca's house and pulled into the driveway and she said, "Bye mama."  Yes, very sad but at least she excited to go and play!

How am I adjusting?

Does it make me a horrible mom to say that I am actually enjoying it?!  I love being back teaching and being with the kids and the other teachers.  Things are going really well with Ily and I sharing the class, it's been smooth sailing this far :)  I feel like I'm going nonstop all day, I use Hadley's quiet time to do all my cooking and cleaning, so at the end of each day I am exhausted!  I usually hit the sack around 9:00 and am out by 9:30 at the latest!!  But of course I love weekends and any extra time I can get with my little lady!

I've been trying to do all my errands after Hadley goes to bed and I spend at least an hour every night working on school stuff (she's in bed of course).  Steve has been so helpful and supportive, which I am grateful for!  Hadley is still as happy as ever and growing and learning each day!  I'll keep you updated as the year keeps going :)

A Year and a Half

 My baby girl (who is not really a baby at all anymore!) is 18 months old!  I know I say this all the time, but where as the time gone?!  She has turned into such a little person right before our eyes and we couldn't love her anymore!!

With everything gone on around here lately, I have been awful at taking pictures so I decided to snap a few this morning on our visit to the park and river.

* Hadley is very adventurous and honestly has no fear!  Not always a good thing, but she is always willing to try new things...

 * At her appointment 2 weeks ago she was in the 85th percentile for height and 45th for weight, so still super tall!

* Her vocabulary is growing everyday- she probably says 35 words or so!  Her newest words in the past couple of weeks- poop (yea), apple, Luke, Becca, train, water, doctor, school, blankie.  She is constantly saying to me "Mama?" I'll respond, "Yes, sweetheart?"  Then she goes on telling me long thing in her own little language!

* The only fruit that Hadley will eat consistenly is bananas... BUT she will eat any vegetable you put in front of her.  Weird huh?!

 * Her favorite thing in the whole wide world is water.  She will play in all water, no matter if it's 1 inch of it or 3 feet!  She is obsessed!!

* She is also extremely extremely attached to this little stuffed animal blanket thing.  I'm not so pleased with this especially when she screamed for 40 straight minutes last week when I had to wash it!

* I love that she can understand everything that I say now.  I love that I can say, "Hadley, go pick some books" and she does it!  She also obeys what I say most of the time :)

* Hadley has now gone to nursery (that post to come) 2 times and as done surprisingly well!  The first time she didn't cry at all until the minute I walked in to pick her up (it was like she had just remembered that I had left her).  The second time she cried for a minute or so and then did really well!

*  She is very very independent, just like her mommy :)

* Still BEST BEST friends with her cousin Max- cutest thing ever!

* She is so good at folding her arms for prayers now.  Also pretty adorable!!

* Lives for Otter Pops!  Consumes at least 3 a day... at least...

* Loves mommy's makeup and perfumes :)

* Not a huge fan of riding in the car (unless she has a snack), thunder, Becca's big dog jumping on her, or sitting still.

We love you Haddles- thanks for adding so much to our family!!!!

The Last Hoorah!!

 You know when you were a kid and school was about to start... you wanted to do as many fun summery things as possible before you had to go back?  Well, the last week or so we did the same thing!  I wanted to squeeze as many things in as possible before I went back to school (which was Monday).  I know that I'm only teaching in the afternoons so Hadley and I will still have all morning but summer is still technically over for me!

One evening we went down the river, park and river trail for family night!  It was such a great night and Hadley having wide open spaces to roam :)  Plus isn't the picture above the sweetest thing you ever saw?

Becca and I took advantage of Two Dollar Tuesdays at Thanksgiving Pointe again this year.  But this time it was the dinosaur museum.  It really is a cool museum and had the potential to be a great trip but there was a MILLION people there.  I think I would rather have paid full price on a less busy day!   Afterwards we got ice cream cones at Gardner's Village and wandered around for a bit.  That was honestly the best part!

 Anyone notice a trend in all my pictures?!  Hadley will not sit still nor will she every look at the camera- hopefully she outgrows that!

We also had our last play group of the summer.  Since we all went back to school this week we will have to do evening or weekend playdates so these kiddos can stay together :)

And probably Hadley's favorite thing of the week (aside from spending hours in the pool and sprinklers) was washing our cars!  She loved helping Steve and wandering aroud the yard with the buckets.

It was a great week and I'm glad I got to spend so much quality time with Haddles.  I was sad to go back on Monday but I'm glad I will still have time to do more activities like these!

Colorado Again!

 We were lucky to be able to go to Colorado again this summer.  Becca and I packed all 4 kids in the car and headed over the mountains for 8 days.  We had a blast hanging with family and doing some fun things!  I don't have very many pictures because I lost my camera for a few days.

We played at the park with Foxx and Fiona...

 We went to the zoo again...

And this time we got to go on the Sky Ride up the mountain!

The last few days of our trip we headed up to our family cabin.  Hadley loved having huge wide open spaces to run and play.  We played in the river, went on fun walks and ate a lot of good food!

 Sorry of the lame post but I needed to get it done and I'm not in the mood :)  But it really was a great trip despite my lack of vivid post!

Spanish Fork Fiesta Days

 So the week before we went to Colorado (that post to come) we had a great time celebrating the 24th of July.  Spanish Fork has Fiesta Days every July and they have so many great things to do!  I only got a picture of some of the things that we did..

Steve and I left Hadley with a babysitter and headed to the rodeo with Becca, Luke, and Livi.  It was packed but so much fun!!

 One of the days we all haeded down to the carnival and enjoyed some rides and stuff and some delicious food!  Luke and Livi participated in this thing called a Fish Carnival.  They put like a million fish (regular size trout and things) in this blow up pool and the kids run around with nets trying to catch them.  So funny!

Spanish Fork certainly knows how to celebrate :)