The Berglund Bunch

Winter Favorites

2012-01-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

It seems like at all different times of year I go through different phases where I have different phases. Well, I currently have several really good 'winter' favorites. Please allow me to share :)

My sister was bugging me for a long time to read the series of books Vampire Academy, but I just didn't for some reason. But I got the box set for Christmas and was instantly hooked- they are right up my alley! A good mix between Twilight and Mortal Instruments. I just finished the sixth and last book and highly recommend them :)

It's back... finally!! Steve and I love ABC show Shark Tank. Just based on the description you think it may seem a bit dull, but honestly, it's anything but! It premiered last Friday night and you better believe we watched it right away!

Last week on a quick trip to Walmart I made the huge mistake of picking up a couple of boxes of Toaster Strudels. Not a good idea! I forgot how delicious, addicting, plus fattening they are! And it doesn't help that both Steve and Hadley feel the same way...

Hadley's kitchen (that she got for Christmas) and her baby, which was actually mine when I was little, have provided HOURS and HOURS of entertainment. She's constantly asking to play kitchen or baby and she just is so cute while she plays. She rarely allows me to play with her so I'll just sit and watch or sit and read. I can already see what a good little mommy she will be someday :) Plus I'm loving that she is so in love with her baby right now since she is getting almost all baby things for her birthday!

What are some of your winter favorites?

The Update

2012-01-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

Nothing to exciting to report around here so I thought I would do a quick update of what we are up to!

Steve:

Busy, busy, busy! Between full time work and full time school I sometimes feel like we only see him on weekends. That is actually the case, Steve doesn't get home lots of nights until like 8 or 8:30. But he's doing really well and really enjoying this new set of classes (finally getting into the core of the information systems training). But he's the best dad ever- Hadley is always asking where dad is and when he gets home they instantly go to their wrestling and crazy wild games!

Me:

Since we have so many nights just me and Hads we are always on the look out for ways to spend our evenings. We are always up for visitors and playdates ;) I finished my portfolio for my level 2 license last week and I also just two my second praxis test. So as long as I passed I'm good to go for my Level 2! Besides all this school stuff and planning, Hadley is certainly still keeping me on my toes and I love every minute I get with her!

Hadley:

When did my baby get so big!! She just grows and grows more each day! She hasn't hit anything 'terrible' at all is seriously so fun to be around all the time- she has such a funny personality. Her interests are all Pooh and I've never seen a 2 year old more obsessed with anything! She is talking up a storm these days, including some full sentences and funny comments :) We are excited to celebrate her birthday here in a few weeks!

And no post is complete without a few pictures of Hadley of course... I mean who really wants to see pictures of Steve and I?

Snip Snip!

2012-01-13T13:12:00.001-07:00

Hadley had her first real hair cut this week!! I probably shouldn't have waited 2 years to get it done but since it's pretty curly you couldn't really tell how uneven it was :) I took her to a girl in our ward who sometimes does my hair and Hadley actually did really well. Of course she had to sit on my lap the entire time so I didn't get very many good pictures. But between candy, being fascinated watching Whitney's two little boys, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse she was a trooper!! Whitney really only took like 1/2 an inch but just evened the whole thing out!!

I've been straightening her hair a couple times a week and it's been look pretty scraggly... so here's a before picture.

During...

And after...

When did my baby become such a little person? I need to take some better pictures of it but we seriously think she looks so cute and Steve keeps commenting on how old she looks!!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

We had a great Christmas with our little family. We ate lots of food and played with cousins all night on Christmas eve...

We tried to get a good picture of all the kids in their new jammies...

Hadley got very spoiled by Santa (and of course by mom!)...

She came downstairs and of course ran immediately to her new Pooh books and pillow! We then played with our new Santa toys...

Took a bath with our new bubbles that came in our stocking...

This year we opened presents at our house and it was a bit crazy. Hadley had a massive meltdown and spent a great deal of the morning in 'quiet time.' I guess you could say that it wasn't exactly the Christmas morning that we had planned...

We spent the day together watching lots of basketball, eating more delicious food, and playing lots and lots with cousins...

Loved the day (aside from the crying and screaming) and we couldn't feel more blessed!!

Twas the Season...

2012-01-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

To spend time with family and friends!!

We had a really great December and were able to do lots of fun things! But of course I forgot my camera for several of them (temple square, Festival of Lights, playdates). We did get to go the zoo with Becca, Jesse, Kevin, Hillary and the kids. Afterwards we kinda wished we stayed home... It was freezing, it was $3 Thursday which resulted in about a million people up there, and they blocked off most of the animals. But the kids enjoyed what little we did see and sipping on hot cocoa!

We also went to dinner and bowling with our friends that live in Tennesee, Nate, Cami, and Jane! The girls played around the fountain for a little while and this was the most they ever interacted :) They both just kinda had their own things going that night- I guess that's the life of a 2 year old!!

Hadley loved bowling but most loved running around the bowling alley! I love this time of year and am always sad to see it end... here's til next year!

Two Truths & A Lie

2011-12-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

Two truths and lie- one of the few things that got me to seminary (I know I'm horrible!). We used to play this game all the time. Three different stories would be told and you had to decide which were truth and which was the lie. Ready to play?

Story 1:

We've had some snowy/freezing weekends recently. You know the kind of where you have list of things to get done (errands, school stuff, work stuff and what not) and you don't even want to get out of your pj's or leave the house. So that's exactly wha we did! We built a fort and hung out inside most of the day. We read books, played games, even at our lunch inside... and of course Hadley enjoyed every minute!

Story 2:

December 17th had been on the books for a while. Another 12 person date with my team teachers and their husbands to make gingerbread houses and play games. Well, what ya know that when we go to get Hadley up from her nap she has thrown up EVERYWHERE!! The poor thing was so traumatized with it being her first experiece throwing up and all. So we had to cancel our plans :( to stay home and take care of the little women. She threw up 4 more times that night and has slowly returned to normalcy since.

Story 3:

Becca and I took the kids to the mall last week to visit Santa. Hadley was so cute and waving and saying hi while we killed time waiting for Becca. When it was our turn she just hopped right up on his lap and was quite pleased. She got a little coloring book where she made me proud when she said all by herself, "Thank you."

Story 1- TRUTH!! And just for the record Steve makes much better forts that I ever dreamed of!!

Story 2- TRUTH!! And be grateful that I did not document the weekend with pictures!

Story 3- LIE- the picture says it all!!

Thanks Kelly for the post idea- I always need a fun idea to spice things up!!

Unplugged Play

2011-12-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

I mentioned a few months ago about a book I bought from Amazon. It was recommended by my friend Cami and the book is called Unplugged Play. It is awesome! It has literally hundreds of ideas of fun things to do inside that really don't require much extra then what's lying around your house! And obviously none of the activities use anything electrical.. Since we have such cold weather we have really enjoyed using this book during these freezing winter months :)

This is one of Hadley's favorites. You mark a bunch of notecards with colored circles and then staple one of each colored card onto a brown bag. Then you hide the cards around the room and she finds them and puts them in the matching bag. We started with just two bags (blue and yellow because those were the colors she could recognize consistently). But now we have blue, yellow, pink, and purple cards and she's really good!!

Another favorite is we collect all the balls in the entire house and play basketball with a laundry basket.

We've also make homemake 'goo' with flour, water, and food color (a messy but definite favorite) and Hadley loves to do her own dishes :) Which is really just soapy water in a tuperware with some smaller (plastic) dishes. Hope this book lasts us until May!!

After We Stuffed Ourselves...

2011-12-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

My parents went home on Friday morning so took the chance to spend the last 3 days of our break together as a little family! On Friday evening we went to the dollar theater to see Lion King 3D. It was Hadley's movie and she actually did pretty good (if she had either popcorn or candy on her lap). She only kept the glasses on for about 3 minutes total so the movie was little blurry for her :)

On Sunday we decorated our house and tree for Christmas! She was so cute and kept going around kissing all the decorations. Every day the first thing she says when we go down for breakfast is "Tree lights mama!!"

And who doesn't want to play with packing peanuts all day!!!

I love spending quality time with my little family!!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday this year! My parents came from Colorado so almost the whole family was together (minus Ashton, Kylie & kids :( ). We spent a lot of time relaxing, plenty of time playing games and laughing, and too much time eating!!

Hadley was OBSESSED with my dad, she asked all day and night where Papa was. He thought she was pretty funny and would laugh and laugh at her so she spent alot of time doing silly things for his attention!

We were going to have a snack buffet on Thursday for lunch but decided to do it for dinner on Thursday night instead. You should have seen the spread- WOW!! It was amazing! The kids mostly enjoying hanging out and playing together...

Thursday morning we had our own little Turkey Bowl. We walked across the street from my sister's to the high school fields where we played and the kids wandered around with my dad. It was Kevin, Steve and I against Becca, Jesse, and Luke and we won!! It was 35 to 28 and I will have you know that I (yes, ME) scored 2 of our 5 touchdowns. And those guys thought I would be worthless :)

We split up the dinner so no one would cook too much and it was delicious! Sadly, the three pictures below were somehow all that I ended up with! You can tell that Hadley and Max really enjoyed the food... or their goldfish crackers!!

More pictures from the Turkey bowl... I don't have the patience to spend the time trying to move them around the post. Sorry!

It was a perfect Thanksgiving spent with family- especially since we have so much to be thankful for!

A First

2011-11-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

Hadley has had a lot of firsts in her short two years (almost) of life. First words, first steps, first wave, first clap but I must say that this 'first' was one of my favorite favorites to watch!

A couple of weekends ago we had our first real snow- Steve defines a real snow by having enough to play in. So we got Hadley all bundled up in her new coat, pants and boots and sent her on out!

At first she was really timid and just stood and watched Steve but then she got REALLY into it! She was rolling around and shrieking and squealing and laughing... overall having a grand ole time!

When she came in she was absolutely freezing but of course wanted to go back out the second a she warmed up with a little cocoa! Sadly the snow was pretty much gone a day or two later and we haven't had any more since... but don't worry she asks everyday, "Snow Mama? Snow?"

The Things You Learn From Boys...

2011-11-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

Oh the funny things that miss Hadley has learned from her best bud Max!!

- She LOVES to shoot hoops on Max's basketball hoop in his car! When we drive there each day she always says, "Hoop Mama? Max hoop?" She's not very good but he doesn't seem to mind and she could care less!!

- She now enjoys playing cars, trains, and anything that can roll around on wheels and make noise!

- She and Max like to "play" Wii with Luke. It's the funniest thing to watch... they both grab a remote and pretend to hit the tennis ball or golf ball or whatever game Luke plays.

- Best of all she now walks sometimes around shooting guns. A couple weeks ago she was carrying around straws and pointing them straight out making shooting noises. Steve said, "What the heck is she doing?" I replied, "Oh, she's just shooting her guns!" It may not the best thing to learn but I think, "Hey, it could be worse!!"

These two are still bestest friends. This week we got to have Max spend the morning at our house; they played to their hearts content, ate snacks and watched a little Pooh, and had a fun dance party!!

I see my hope of Hadley becoming a girly girl slipping through my fingers!! :)

Fall Fun!!

2011-11-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

We've had some crumby weather recently and when the sun was out and the sky was blue we totally took advantage!! We took Hadley out to play in the leaves and she loved every minute!!

She was running and jumping through the piles and kept saying, "Mama wook!!"

I remember loving playing in the leaves in my backyard when I was a kid (but we had to rake them up too!!) and I want Hadley to remember loving it too!!

It's definitely days like these that remind me that I love Fall!!

Halloween & Things

2011-11-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday night before Halloween we carved pumpkins with Becca's family. I actually hate carving pumpkins so I just watched happily from the sides... but the boys were very intense!

Aren't they so funny just standing and waiting for their popcorn!! Love them!

On Monday evening we first headed down to do a quick trunk or treat with Becca's ward (since our ward didn't have one). At first Hadley was unsure of what to do but got into really quickly!!

They even had a little fishing pond for the kiddos!

We went home to do a little trick or treating around our neighborhood. We had practiced all weakend saying "Treak or treat" and she was so cute saying, but of course she would never say it at the houses. She would only whisper really quietly, "Tank you."

This is the best picture I could get of her on the porch with the pumpkin. Plus she was holding onto that candy bag for dear life!!

Fall Break

2011-10-28T21:47:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday and Friday I had Fall Break from school. They were two great days where Hadley and I just spent quality time together and did some fun things!

Thursday:

Thursday morning Hadley and I went to the mall do to a little shopping. We got Orange Julius's and then I let Hadley play in the play area for quite a long time! She had a great time and loved all the other little kids there! One of the things I love about Hadley is that she isn't in the stage yet where she throws a big fight when we have to leave somewhere (here's me hoping that stage never comes... haha!).

It was such gorgeous weather that we went to the park every single day of the weekend! Hadley is a huge park fan and so she asked everyday, "Park Mama? Park?"

Friday:

We ran some errands, spent a bit of time at a different park, went to Becca's to eat jellybeans and jump on the tramp.

After nap time we went with Becca and Jesse and kids down to Payson to a Fall Farm. I love this fall season and all the great things there are to do!

Aren't these two just the cutest best friends? We think so!!!

Hadley loved the hay maze with daddy and Luke.

After the farm we went to dinner and Carls Jr. where the kids play for more than an hour! Then we went to Becca's for movie night and snacks!!

Saturday:

We got up early on Saturday morning and drove up Payson Canyon to hike. The drive up there was amazing but since we hiked so high up it was pretty cold and most of the leaves had fallen. Hadley loved riding in the backpack and was so adorable pointing out all the things she saw!

We did the park a couple more times, had state conference and a delicious Sunday family dinner together to wrap up our great weekend.

Playdough & Pizza

2011-10-19T19:35:00.000-06:00

Last week we had a little playgroup at our house where we made peanut butter playdough and ordered pizza! I'd never made the playdough before and it turned out ok, but most the kids (specifically Dex and Hads) were interested in eating it. We made Dex a big ball and the first thing he did was take a huge bit! Hadley probably ended up eating 75% of hers which was a LOT of peanut butter. It was fun to get together and just relax and hang out! We love hanging out with our friends :)

Updates

2011-10-14T20:54:00.000-06:00

We have had a busy couple of weeks so I thought I would just do a quick update on some things that we've been doing.

- Steve caught this awful flu/cold bug from somewhere and after almost 2 weeks of feeling pretty awful and yucky he is finally feeling better. He stayed home a couple of days from work which was nice because Hadley got to stay home all day. Luckily (and to my surprise) I didn't catch it and Hadley had only had a slight runny nose on and off for a couple of weeks.

- Hadley has a new obsession: coloring! She just sits and colors quietly for at least like 20 or 30 minutes and she does not want me anywhere near or crayons or coloring book. So I usually just sit close and read aloud to her. She asks multiple times a day "Cowo (how she says color) mama?" She loves to lay on her belly and do it too- couldn't get much cuter huh?!

- I have been spending alot of time working on my portfolio for school, which will allow me to get my Level 2 license and be licensed forever! It's a lot of work and a bit overwhelming for me since it has be completed and turned in my January 30. Luckily I am 8 weeks planned and prepped for school so I can step back a bit from the planning and focus on this portfolio. Eight weeks may seem a bit extreme but that's just the kind of teacher I am :)

- Hadley is doing really well at my sisters each afternoon. She is finally (for the most part) over her hitting stage and is learning to share and play nice most of the time. She is learning some funny things from Max and loves all things boy now! Sadly for me she doesn't even want to come home some days. As soon as I walked in the door today and she saw me she said, "No, mama! No buh bye." Nice huh? It makes me a little sad but I'm glad she's happy to be there!

- Hadley no longer eats in her high chair. I would keep her in there forever if she would let me, but she got to the point where she wouldn't even eat. She just said there and said "Chair, chair, chair..." over and over pointing to the chairs at the table. So she now sits in a booster and is pleased as punch! My baby is getting too big!!

Dailies

2011-10-02T19:33:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to document what our daily lives look like these days! Things are still going really great- still spending lots of quality time with Hadley, loving school, and being with our cute family!

Tub Crayons... a new and priceless find! Hadley already loved the tub, now she never wants to get out!

Trying out new hairstyles since Hadley's hair is soooo long! Please excuse the crooked parts- she was not interested in holding still very long that day :)

Another almost daily activity... playdough!

Trying to take advantage of the warm weather - lots of trips to the park!

Got this great idea from my friend Cami... lots of little toys and a muffin tin. Sounds so simple but seriously hours of entertainment! Hadley takes them out, puts them in, takes them out, puts them in... well you get the idea :)

On the way to Becca's for the afternoon- cute, cute, cute!

Luke's last soccer game of the season! She spotted a baby and just kept going and standing by the baby

and saying "Mama! Baby! Baby!"

Life is still pretty simple and we love it that way!! Take advantage of it while you have it that way huh?

Sunday

2011-09-22T19:20:00.000-06:00

I know it's awful to say but since the start of the year (since we changed meeting times at church) Sunday has been my least favorite day of the week. We meet at 1 which is Hadley's nap time and she is one little toddler that does not handle going without a nap. It seem like the longest 3 hours of my life. She was so naughty and did not want to sit for the entire 3 hours. Plus Steve is in primary and so I have to do that last 2 hours alone :(

But we have now breathed new life into Sundays!! Not only does Hadley go to nursery (and she loves it, never really looked back) but I changed her schedule so she sleep from about 11:30 to 12:45 and what a diference that short nap makes! Now I enjoy Sundays and they are what they are meant to be! :)

We were ready a few minutes early so I snapped a few shots this last Sunday..

What Do You Call A 10 Person Date?

2011-09-17T20:19:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we hosted a game night at our house for everyone on our 3rd game team (minus Kristen :( ) and their husbands. Did you know that playing games with 10 extremely loud and vocal people could be so fun?! Seriously.... I haven't laughed so hard in a long time and it was a total blast! We had some yummy snacks and then started some intense games! We played a couple of rounds of Catch Phrase (booo, the boys won) and then a hilarious version of the Newly Wed Game (booo, Steve and I didn't win).

Thanks for all the fun and great idea Em! Can't wait for our 12 person trip to the mountains in January! Sorry for the awful pics, but I did want to document the night :)

"Wuv you!"

2011-09-12T19:29:00.011-06:00

"Wuv you mama"- my new favorite words to hear!! I feel like Hadley's talking has really taken off and she is saying new things every day! Saying love you is a phrase that has developed in the last 2 weeks or so... And it is SOOOOOO cute!! She is constantly saying it even if I don't say it first :) We love it and hope it continues forever...

And of course some cute pictures from the week- she would close the door and then pop out and say "Wuv you!!"

Berry Picking

2011-09-10T20:02:00.000-06:00

Last week Debrah, Ily and I headed with the kids to a berry picking farm here in Spanish Fork. It was such a fun way to spend an afternoon with friends and I great idea for our little play group. Unfortunately Hadley doesn't like most fruit so of course she didn't like the raspberries and most of them were left on her clothes.

Hadley had such a fun time running around with Lizzie (that is until Hadley hit her and Lizzie didn't want to hang with Hads anymore. We are SERIOUSLY working on the hitting!). Plus there was a dog and some sheep near by for Hadley to see.

We got tons of raspberries and some blackberries for such a great deal! And when my parents were in town we made the most amazing crepes with the raspberries... now we need to go back with Steve to get more to make jam!

Sleepover

2011-08-31T08:05:00.017-06:00

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

2011-08-28T13:18:00.001-06:00

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

2011-08-21T13:29:00.001-06:00

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!!

2011-08-17T19:44:00.001-06:00

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!

2011-08-11T14:04:00.000-06:00

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

2011-08-08T13:11:00.000-06:00

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 :)

Bedroom Makeover

2011-07-27T11:01:00.000-06:00

Over 4th of July weekend we finally redid our bedroom. I've only had the new comforter set on the bed since my birthday last year :) But I'm telling you it takes a lot to get Steve to help me paint (he loathes it!). But we worked really hard for 3 days and I am so happy with the way it looks!!

I forgot to take any before pictures but I did snap a couple during ones... So here is during...

And after!!! Sorry the pictures got all scrambed and I'm too lazy to fix them :)

Hopefully this little makeover will appease my constant need to change and newness for a while!

The End of a Napping Era...

2011-07-22T13:33:00.004-06:00

Well, it's official- Hadley is done with morning naps! I'm seriously impressed that she has gone for almost 17 months taking two naps daily. It's less time for me to get things done around the house and for me to work on my school stuff but more time to spend with my little women! Although she doesn't take the nap anymore she still goes down for a 30-45 minute quiet time each day. I know this may sound strange to some of you but there is a very noticeable difference between the days she has a quiet time and the days she doesn't. If a quiet time means less whining, less little tantrums, and a more happy girl I am 100% for it!! And just for my records she takes a solid afternoon nap- usually from about 12:45 - 4. I can't complain!!

Even without the nap she is still the happiest girl in the world (most of the time :))...

Outside Fun

2011-07-19T15:20:00.001-06:00

We have had some very unseasonable Utah summer weather... and I'll admit... I have been loving it!! Of course it's still been warm enough to do LOTS of outside activities but not so much that it's miserable to be outside. For starters we have this awesome little splash pad here in Spanish Fork. Hadley is literally obsessed when we go and so I imagine (since she can't tell me) that she always wants to go :) Want to know the best part- it's free!! We also love going to the pool but it costs $4 a person every time we go so it can add up fast. Two weekends ago we took Luke with us and I'm not sure who had more fun... Luke, Hadley, or Steve...

This last weekend we went to a great park up in Orem with giant swings, a playground and a duck pond. Hadley always loves anything with animals and was laughing and squealing the entire time!

And lastly yesterday we went to another great park in Spanish Fork with Cami, Ily and the kiddos. We are lucky that Cami comes to town so often so we can get these three together!! The weather was cloudy and breezy so it was perfect...

We are looking forward to a couple more months of wonderful weather followed by fun outside activities!

Besties

2011-07-14T13:09:00.000-06:00

I know 'besties' is more of an elementary/middle school term but I thought it was cute to describe these 2! Max and Hadley are seriously the cutest little best friends. They love each other so much and get so excited every time they see each other- always shouting each other's names until they are together!

We watched Max at our house for a little while today and they played so great the entire time! Their favorite game is definitely chase!

And they are constantly giving each other the sweetest hugs and kisses!

I know the reality of this cute little situation- they won't be like this forever! But I'm loving it while it lasts!!

Babies

2011-07-08T16:03:00.002-06:00

In my continued effort to make my little girl and little more girly (you know a girl who doesn't eat dirt and sand, wants to keep their bows in their hair, doesn't want to get messy, and has a gentler less rambunctious personality) I have started to have Hadley play with babies. When I was little I LOVED babies and that's basically how I spent all my play time. So I went down into the basement and pulled out a bunch of my baby stuff. After a quick trip to the store for some new baby clothes and accessories we got started!

She is actually loved playing with Bitty Baby! She is always wanting to feed her and give her binki- but strangely never wants her to be in her bed! One small problem... After one quick feed to the baby all she wants to do is to use the bottles and binki for herself :)

Don't get me wrong I love love Hadley and her wild personality, loud voice, and messiness (most of the time) but is it too much to ask to have at least one little girly girl? I might be out of luck with Hadley so I guess I better have more girls huh?!

Fourth of July Weekend

2011-07-06T20:45:00.000-06:00

We had a great extended weekend!! Steve has this thing about long weekends and is always wanting to do lots of fun things to fill the time! Well I would say we did a pretty good job this last weekend.

On Saturday we headed up with Becca and the kids to the Spanish Fork resevoir to swim and hang out the the little beach. Becca and I mostly sand on the towels with Max while Steve entertained everyone else in the water!

Max had absolutely NO interest in getting wet or even leaving his towel much at all... he was mostly interested in the food :)

Later in the day Hadley had lots of fun playing on our mattress. We had to bring it downstairs because we were painting our bedroom and bathroom (that post to come) and didn't want to sleep while inhaling lots of toxic fumes.

This one was just too cute to leave out :)

Monday before lunch Steve and all the kids played outside in the sprinklers. Seriously my little girl LOVES water, she was just running like mad around and didn't have a care in the world!

We went to my sister's house to do fireworks and stuff on Monday evening. We played with the neighbor kids while we waited for it to get dark.

As soon as it got darker we had root beer floats, roasted marshmallows and did fireworks with her neighbors. Hadley was loving every minute (didn't even flinch at any of the booms and such) and really loved hanging with the big kids!

I wish every weekend could be a holiday :)

Tori, Mylin, Shopping, and Lunch...

2011-07-03T20:22:00.000-06:00

All the things for the making of a great day!!

Last week my good friend Tori came all the way from California to visit us- well, not really. She is spending time in Arizona with her family and was down in Richfield visiting her grandparents so she came up here to spend part of the day with us.

We were only able to do a little shopping and have lunch at Zupa's but it was so fun to catch up. Hadley and Mylin are only about 6 weeks apart in age so it was fun to watch them, although they didn't really give each other much notice.

Right before we both left to go our separate ways we took a few pictures on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. They were both very interested in ice in Tori's cup and I only got one where they were both looking at the camera but of course eating ice!

I must admit they are two cuties and we can't wait to eventually spend more time together! Thanks for the fun couple of hours Tor!

Grandma & Fiona Visit

2011-06-30T14:44:00.000-06:00

For the last week or so my mom and little niece Fiona were here in Utah with us! It was fun for Hadley to get to know her little cousin a little better and she is such a sweet little thing. They stayed about half the time here and the other half at Becca's but we did some fun things while they were here.

We went to the splash pad here in Spanish Fork one morning and the kids had a blast. We ate lunch at the park there and just played around in the water. Hadley was the only of the 5 kiddos that never wanted to get out of the water- even if she was freezing!!

One night Max thought it would be fun to feed Hadley his popsicle... these 2 are hilarious!
We had a fire in the fire pit one evening and roasted marshmallows for smores- my favorite!! Just as we start roasting Jesse says, "Ummmm, has anyone looked at Hadley?" Well she was in the pool fully clothed (not surprising since this is not the first time she has done this). Apparently she thought this was a pool party, which it then kinda turned into...

All kids very much enjoyed the huge marshmallows my mom bought!

And in news at our home... Hadley is pregnant :)

We had to borrow some clothes from Max since obviously Hadley's were soaked...

My baby girl all ready for church!
Sunday night we had a big family dinner at our house followed by some running in the sprinklers- well not actually. The kids were running around in the yard while everyone was getting ready to go and I kept turning the sprinklers on them!

The last morning they stayed with us Hadley and Fiona had a fun time playing together!
We are looking forward to more time with grandma (and papa) and cousins when we all go to Colorado next month!

(p.s. I have no idea what is going on with the layout of my posts? It's always making HUGE gaps and things in the post- any suggestions?)

When Daddy Goes Camping...

2011-06-27T21:05:00.000-06:00

The girls par-tay!!

Well it's a little hard to party with a busy 1-year old! Steve went camping with his scouts on Friday night so Hadley and I had a bit of a girls night. After dinner we went to work at the school for a little while and to my surprise Hadley did a great job of entertaining herself while I worked. We stopped off for some Frosty's on the way home- which Hadley devoured in minutes! Before bed we watched Toy Story, ate popcorn, and painted toe nails! I love hanging out just Hads and I!!

But Hadley's favorite part of the night was climbing all over my mom's cot and bed! She seriously did not want to get off :)

Little Bits of Summer

2011-06-21T09:59:00.000-06:00

With all this great weather (thankfully not to hot yet) we've been enjoying different fun little summer activities :)

Last week we went down to a local shaved ice place for family night. Hadley and I very much enjoyed our Tiger's Blood but mostly she just liked pushing the little chairs all over he place!

One afternoon Becca and I took the kids to the water park. Hadley has no fear of anything in the water (not always a good thing) and she loved going down the big slide with me over and over and over!
And everything is better when it can be done outside- like playing in our tent!!

Also, Hadley is finally tall enough to climb up on our couches. This is like a dream come true for her but also means falling off lots of times!!

And in the biggest news of the summer... Hadley had her first real babysitter!! Since she was born when Steve and I go out we just wait until after 7 when she is in bed and then the 13 year old girl who lives behind us comes over. Well I decided it was high time she adjust to being watched by someone other than Becca! So last week I had Jessica (our neighbor girl) come over and watch her for a couple of hours. She got Hadley out of her bed from her nap - which I decided would be less tramatic for Hadley than watching me leave. I went and worked at the school and to my surprise Jessica said she didn't cry once!! I was honestly totally shocked!! We're doing it again on Thursday just to get Hadley used to it. But I now I can safely say that I see more dates in Steve and I's future where we can leave before 7 :)

Pure Genius

2011-06-14T09:00:00.000-06:00

Ever seen this stroke of genius sitting on the shelf at your grocery store?

Seriously great- drinkable applesauce!! These babies come in super handy around our house!! They are so nice for in the car, at the park, and basically anywhere that you don't want your 16 month old making a HUGE mess by feeding herself applesauce from one of those little cups. They really aren't the most economical friendy purchase (like $2.28 for a pack of 4) but for me they are worth every extra penny. They are still all natual, no sugar added, and come in 3 flavors (apple apple, apple banana, and apple strawberry). Ok, so I sound a bit like a commerical but these get a huge round of applause from me- thanks Ily for introducing them to us!!

The Last 8 Days

2011-06-10T10:02:00.000-06:00

We have been quite busy around here recently. The weather has been gorgeous (most of the time) and we have definitely been taking advantage. I alwasy forget how much I love this time year :) Here are some of the things that have occupied our time within the last 8 days...
We have gone to park 4 times!

Steve has worked six eleven hour days.

Ily and I worked for 4 hours in our classroom. It was a huge mess and therefore quite the project :)

We went to a great place called Kangaroo Zoo in Pleasant Grove with Cami & Jane and Ily & Dex. Aftwards Steve told Hadley she was too young to already be getting involved with boys...

Sadly, strangly, and somehow Jane didn't end up in one picture on my camera!

I have gone to kickboxing once and jogging/walking 4 times.

Hadley played in the water and on the trampoline with her cousins!

We have bbq'd 3 times and were supposed to again tonight until our dang gas ran out!

We enjoyed our last Sunday dinner with Jesse before he left to fight fires for the summer. Obviously Hadley and Livi enjoyed themselves while watching a little Backyardians...

We have watched every game of the NBA Finals while whole-heartedly cheering on the Heat!

Hadley had some cute little friends over to play in her pool and with her water table!

I planted the rest of my flower pots.

I started and finished the second book of the Kane Chronicles.

I rewatched my entire season 1 of Vampire Diaries (seriously, best show EVER).

Other than these things we have spent a lot of time playing outside!!

Hoping that everyone has enjoyed their last 8 days as much as we have!

Going Green

2011-06-06T14:39:00.001-06:00

So I have read on a bunch of different blogs and websites about spinach smoothies. Well, to be honest I was not a believer! I am not a huge fan of dark greens but I knew that I needed to put them in my diet somehow.

Well, I tried out a couple of different things and can now proudly say that I am a believer. I make myself a spinach and fruit smoothie everyday for breakfast and they are sooooooooo good! And honestly you can not even taste the spinach...

Here's what I put in mine:
Half a banana

4 or 5 cut up strawberries

Handful of frozen peaches

3/4 cup of apple juice

About 3 spoonfuls of yogurt

Generous handful of spinach

Then I either put a handful of frozen blueberries or a cored apple.

At first I didn't really know what kind of yogurt to use but I've just been using whatever I have. Today it was vanilla but yesterday it was strawberry. What's the added benefit (besides how healthy I feel about my eating)? Hadley LOVES them! She doesn't drink it with me everyday because sometimes I make them while she is asleep, but when she does she just guzzles it right down!

Still not a believer? Try it for yourself!

Colorado Vacation

2011-06-02T20:13:00.000-06:00

We had a fantastic trip to Colorado this past week!

The trip started and ended with beads galour! My mom pulled out these beads from when I was in high school and Hadley was absolutely obsessed all week long. She would wear as many as possible and hand them out to people, she was so cute!

On Thursday night my parents watched Foxx and Fiona and we had tons of fun! We all went on a walk, ate lots of ice cream, played games with blankets, and then got cozy to watch a movie.
Friday my dad and Steve went kayaking up in the mountains so we spent the morning with my grandma... and of course went to lunch at my favorite place, Panera Bread. Yumm!!

One of the main purposes of us going out there was for one of my good friend's wedding. Friday night they had a pre-wedding bbq at their house for people who came from out of town. I got to spend the entire night with my best friends from high school (minus 2). It's always great, like 7 years never even passed! I truly love those girls!!
Saturday we went to the zoo- Hadley was so fun! She loved each animal and saying the sounds of each :)
We got to feed the giraffes. She loved it until she put her hand a little to far in and then she backed way off!!

We got to see this awesome show with the grizzly bears!
All cute and ready for church....
Following church on Sunday we all went to an Open House for Jessie's wedding. Another friend of mine from high school was the photographer and she took these GORGEOUS pictures of Hadley. Isn't it amazing was talent and a really really really nice camera can do?

And some pictures of Jessie and I at the Open House!

On Monday we headed to Old Colorado City for Territory Days. It had a ton of booths and food and just fun stuff to look at... Steve panned for gold and he and my dad shared steak on a stick and one of those huge turkey legs!!

After Territory Days we went to the Penny Arcade and played some games and let Hadley ride a couple of rides! She throughly enjoyed herself...

It was so fun to spend so much time with my family- we certainly miss them though!!

Decisions

2011-05-22T19:31:00.000-06:00

So this isn't really new news but I thought would share anyway! Many of you already know that I am going back to teaching next year but I kinda wanted to document more about it :)

So when I left last year I honestly didn't picure or have any plans to return any time soon. I have absolutely LOVED my year home with my little one and wouldn't trade one second (not even the tantrums, grumpy mornings, days without naps... etc.) of it for anything else!! I have felt so blessed to watch Hadley turn into the cutest little toddler ever and been to have been there for every new step, new word, new food, new toy, and new discovery. But over the year I have kept in close contract with my principal from Riverview and the oppurtunity just kind of arose for me to come back under circumstances that I was super happy with! She knew that coming back full time was not an option for me- so I have decided that I will do a shared day in 3rd grade with my good friend Ily!

I am honestly so excited to go back! Obviously not looking really forward to lesson planning (even only half a day's worth) but I am so excited to be back with the kids and with some of my best friends :) It turns out that my sister can only watch Hadley in the afternoons, so I will be doing afternoons and Ily will do the mornings. At first I was a little bummed because as a teacher afternoons are not ideal but when Ily and I did all of our planning last week I realized it's still going to be great! Plus the biggest benefit is that I won't really miss that much awake time with Hadley. I will drop her off at Becca's around noon and pick her up at 4 and since she consistenly sleeps from 1 til about 3:45 or 4, I'll miss about an hour or so with her. Right now even that seems like an eternity for me to be without her!

Ily and I haven't hashed out all the details but I know that I will be teaching math, science, social studies, and most likely writing. She will be doing most of the literacy stuff (reading groups, fluency, grammar, etc.). Other than that we still have a LONG way to go to be ready!! Luckily third grade is what I know and so I got lucky :)

So this is kind of a long post with no pictures- augh, I left my camera at my sister's in Salt Lake and won't get it back til we go to Colorado on Thursday- but my relaxed and super carefree life will change a bit starting August 22. So here's to a new and unexpected twist in life and I can't wait!!

Miss Hadley

2011-05-17T13:14:00.000-06:00

So I don't plan on doing this all the time but I wanted to document how much Hadley has cahnged since she turned 1! And since I use this blog as our family journal, there is no better place to do it!

I really feel like Hadley changes so much each day but even since her first birthday she is growing so much and learning so many new things each day!!

- She LOVES LOVES LOVES to be outside and will stand at the door and cry and say 'side, side!' until we go out!
- She also has learned a new trick... opening our doors! What fun this has been :)

- She has such spunk and personality and is always laughing and making the silliest faces!

- She is currently obsessed with her little blanket/stuffed animal. Which is not necessarily a good thing- we have to take it everywhere we go!

- When she walks around the house she carries as many things (usually like 5 or 6) in hands as possible. If she drops one she'll just find something new to carry around.

- She loves to play in water and dirt :) Despite my best efforts, she's not the girliest girl around...

- Still takes about a 45 minute morning nap most days (I would say 5 out of 7 days). A 3 hour nap in the afternoon and goes to bed between 7 and 7:30. We love our little sleeper!

- Her biggest change of all is her talking! She can say so many words!!
mama, dada, baby (dede), star, ball, Max, thank you, please, papa, bottle (baba), doggie, me, yea, hi, hello, book (boo), more, outside (side), oh wow

And then the words I was hoping she would never learn- mine and no, no!

- She also knows most of her animal sounds. Although when you first ask her she will say all animals say "Woof, woo."

And we see this face several times a day about something or other that has happened... This one was because dad left for church before us and she was quite upset about it!

I sometimes get sad that she's not my little baby anymore, but it is so much fun to see her becoming such a big girl!

Has Spring Sprung?

2011-05-09T15:34:00.000-06:00

Or is it too early to get my hopes up?

We have been having some gorgeous weather lately and I hope it is here to stay (I'm choosing to ignore the fact that it has been pouring rain all day!). So we have been taking advantage of every moment we can to be outside. Steve and I did yard work for most of the day on Saturday and when she wasn't asleep Hadley just wandered around in the yard exploring. She loves to be outside! Everytime she had to come in she cried and cried!

Steve took her out to play with her new golf set while I cooked dinner so I took a break to snap a few cute pictures...

We hope this weather is here to stay!!

The Working Mom

2011-05-04T18:19:00.000-06:00

So I have been subbing for a friend of mine for the last 7 days and I still have 4 more! She needed to have a back procedure done and it puts her out for more than two weeks. Since it's time for end of year testing she needed someone Certified to do the class's testing. I actually have been really enjoying being in the classroom and feeling more like I was actually in charge (as opposed for subbing for just 1 day) and I have loved being with all the kids!

So really this post is to give a shout out to all moms who work full-time: it is hard! I know being home is hard too (since that is what I usually do) but I feel like this is has really tested me differently. So I am so impressed with them! It took my body a few days to adjust to it but now I feel like I come home and still have plenty of energy to play with Hadley, cook, and clean!

Hadley has done so well being at my sister's everyday. I was a little worried about her sleeping but she is still taking 2 naps a day over there and her and Max are getting along better and better each day. But I love to see her little face light up and her chubby little arms reach up to me and she says "Mama!" the second she sees me! And then all night she will come and just lay her head on my shoulder or my chest... I guess she misses me (which is good because I miss her too!). Although I have enjoyed it, I can't wait to be back with my sweet girl all day again!

And of course she is still as happy as ever!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T18:43:00.000-06:00

This weekend was a busy one in our household! My parents came into town for my younger sister's graduation and for Easter Sunday. It was so nice to be able to spend so much time and to relax with all of our wonderful family.

We had a nice, quiet day at home on Friday and then headed up to BYU for Hillary's graduation at 5. It was kinda a rough time for Hadley since it was dinner time and the graduation was really long, but she ate lots of snacks and did so great! Following the graduation we went to Costa Vida for dinner and then headed home.

Trying to get all these to look is a serious task!

Saturday morning everyone got up and going and headed to the Spanish Fork City Easter Egg Hunt. It was pretty cold and really wet but the kids enjoyed themselves and got some fun treats and toys. After the hunt we went to Magleby's for all you can eat french toast- yum!

Saturday afternoon we had a babysitter and my entire family and some friends went up the BYU Museum of Art for an exhibit they have on the Savior. It was very nice and a great way to spend some time on Easter weekend. That night we played a bunch of games, had a LOT of food and watched some NBA playoffs.

Here are some pictures from Easter morning of Hadley and her treats from the Easter bunny. He spoiled her with a new barn, a puzzle, a bib, and some little treats.

Hadley loves to crawl and sit in the dog's kennel. :)

And now for the cutest pictures you will EVER see!! I know we are a little biased but I don't think Hadley could get any cuter!!

Easter Fun

2011-04-23T11:57:00.000-06:00

I seriously love Easter time! Between dying eggs, egg hunts (that post to come), Easter baskets, and Easter dinner there are so many great activities!! And now I don't feel so silly doing these because of Hadley- who really doesn't know what is going on but enjoys it all the same!

On Wednesday evening Becca, Jesse, and the kids came up to dye eggs! Steve had never done it and was just as much into it as Luke and Liv!

Don't these two look like they are having a blast?! They were a little unhappy that they were being forced to play instead of sitting at the table with all the action (but Max kept drinking the dye liquid!).
Happy Easter!

California Trip: Newport Beach

2011-04-20T17:13:00.000-06:00

After we got home from Disneyland on Thursday at around 11 we packed up some lunches and all of our beach stuff and headed to Newport. We originally were supposed to head up the Santa Monica Pier (after the fact we wish we had) and also meet some friends of ours but it didn't work out for several reasons. The one nice thing was that Newport Beach was only about 25 minutes away. So we got there and got all settled. It was actually pretty cold (even though we went on the warmest day that we were there) and windy but the kids certainly didn't mind.

Hadley was a little unsure of the sand at first...

But got really into it really quickly!

We had some AMAZING sea food for lunch and then Jesse, Steve and the kids headed into the water. Yes, Steve took Hadley in the freezing water and she still LOVED it!!
Don't you just love the chub on those legs :)

This picture would have been so cute if Hadley would look up and if she hadn't messed up my 'H'.

I wasn't about to go out in the cold water!

And then Steve and Jesse played Baywatch lifeguards...

Cute Livi was a little timid in the water.

And Hadley had absolutely no fear!

And if you can't tell she really enjoyed eating the sand!

Then she tripped and fell face first into the dry sand...

... and sadly the only way to clean her was to dump cold water from our water bottles all over her body. After that she was little miserable because it was cold and SUPER windy!

We got her dried off and in clean clothes and walked along the pier. We wanted to see some of the sites where 'The O.C.' was filmed and come to find that actually very very little of the show was actually even filmed in Newport (although somehow I knew that before and just totally forgot!!). All in all a great beach day though- despite the fact that I feel like I am still washing sand out of all sorts of places!

Thursday was our last full day and it was great! That night Becca, Livi, and I went back to Downtown Disney and did some shopping. It was nice to be there without having to push a stroller everywhere! Then we left Friday around 10 and got home around 8:30 that night! What a fabulous trip!

California Trip: Disneyland

2011-04-19T19:46:00.000-06:00

We actually got to spend TONS of time at Disneyland and do so much stuff (so much more than we thought we would!). We spent all day, aside from a couple of hours, at the park on Tuesday and Wednesday and then the first half of the day on Thursday.

Our tickets allowed us to go to early openings of the park (which is only an hour earlier) but it made it nice! We had to be up, ready, have eaten breakfast, and on the shuttle by about 7:30 to be there at 8. We got there a little after 8 and headed right to Fantasy Land where we thought no one would be! Wrong! Everyone was there!

Steve and Hadley about to ride Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. She was so cute!
Steve and Jesse ran to get fast passes for some of the other big rides so Becca and I took the kids on some of the other smaller rides in Fantasy Land. This is right before the Tea Cups started- during the ride Luke, Livi, and Max were laughing and having a ball. Hadley looked a bit green and like she was going to be sick :)

We all were able to literally walk right on the Pirates of the Carribean, which was one of Hadley's favorites by far. She couldn't even look away to take a picture!

Look at those gorgeous big blue eyes!

Snack time while we waited for dad and Jesse to get off Indiana Jones! Seriously fast passes and rider switch passes are AMAZING! The longest I waited in 3 days was probably 15 minutes (and that was one time without a fast pass).

Another of Hadley's favorite 'It's a Small World.'

Petting the goats while waiting for our Fast Pass time on Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Each day about 2 or 3 Becca and I took the young kids back to the hotel for a quick nap. We went to dinner early and then back until about 9 or 10 each night. All the kids did great but I was grateful for Hadley to have even a short 1 hour nap :) Please don't ask what Steve is doing in this picture... I was mad when I saw it!

Taking turns watching kids while everyone rode Space Mountain.

This is after a looooooooong day and Hadley was a bit tired...

They didn't offer an early opening on Wednesday so we had to wait with everyone else for the park to open. Ok, this is a bit embarassing for the human race. You'd think people were starving and racing around for food- not for a theme park.

Wednesday we spent most of the day at California Adventure. Hadley got a little tuckered out early and took about an hour nap in her stroller- yay!

Getting ready for the Bug's Life show...

Hadley makes friends everywhere she goes. She was following this little girl all around the cave.

Wednesday night on the Casey Jr. Track train. She loved that one too!

After riding a couple of rides we all headed to Disneyland Main St. for ice cream (which my friends said we HAD to get). Well worth the money!!

Then we all wanted to ride the Monarail around the park to see it all lit up at night. We long story short, we got on the train in Tomorrowland and the train broke down half way through the ride. We had to get pulled back to the Downtown Disney station by some tractor and then walk!! We had left our strollers all the way across the park! Do you know how fun it is to walk all the way across Disneyland with 25 lb. babies at 9 o'clock at night- not my idea of a good time!

Hadley and Max playing while we waited for the train to move.

Terrible family picture (I look pregnant, but I'm not :)). And sadly we didn't get a picture of all of us! Everytime we passed this spot we were either in a hurry to get in or in a hurry to get out because of tired babies...

Thursday morning the kids played with the water ball while we waited for our turn on Space Mountain.

I was really worried about taking a little 1 year-old to Disneyland but it couldn't have turned out any better! She loved every minute and was soooooooooo good! Steve had never been either and he was just like a little kid... so fun to watch both of them enjoy this trip! Can't wait to go back!!

California Trip: Hollywood

2011-04-18T12:51:00.000-06:00

So we left bright and early Sunday morning for the long haul to California- well 7 am is pretty early for us! Hadley was so good the entire 10 hour drive... I really don't think she even cried once!! Yes, the portable DVD player and 5 Baby Einstein DVD's were a lifesaver :)

We arrived at our hotel in Anaheim at about 4:30 that afternoon and kinda just lounged around for the rest of the night. We had dinner and ran to Target to get some things that I either couldn't find or forgot (of course!).

Monday morning the kids were all tired so we didn't get up get out real early. We left for Hollywood at about 9 and were able to avoid most of the traffic going into LA. We did the star walk or whatever it's called and went to Grauman's Chinese Theater. Then we really just walked around and kind of explored for a while. This was the only star I was even semi interested in taking a picture with. I was looking for like Robert Pattinson or Eva Longoria but no luck :(

We then headed to the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. The kids loved it!!

And all Hadley wanted to do was walk around and explore on her own...

They had this room where you could pose and it would leave your shadow on the wall. We probably spent 20 minutes in that room!

We then ate lunch and headed to the Disney Soda Fountain place for ice cream sodas... my favorite!!

While we ate sodas, Hadley ate her feet!

And she was knocked out just about the second we got in the car...

After a rest time in our hotel rooms everyone went swimming. And again Hadley is such a water girl- she cannot get enough!!

Then we went to a buffet (for Steve and Jesse of course!) for dinner. Here are Liv and Hads in their matching outfits!

Simple is Best

2011-04-08T19:21:00.000-06:00

I guess it's true what they say "Simplicity is Best." Ok, I don't know who really says that if anyone but hey, it's definitely true in my 1 year old's case!

I had removed the couch cushions to vacuum out the couch and of course Hadley climbed right up! Who knew that couch cushions, a $2.49 ball from Target, and a newly found plastic fry could be so entertaining? But seriously this little setup entertained her for HOURS (no joke!)!

Besides being entertained by couch cushions, this week we have spent getting ready for our trip to California on Sunday! I haven't been on an actual trip (like besides going home and to Washington and simple little trips) since our cruise when I was pregnant with Hadley 2 summers ago! I forgot how much there is to remember and to buy- especially with a one year old involved!

We also went on a couple of walks and to the park in semi-decent weather, went to story time, got take out from Wingers since I was craving a sticky fingers salad, and did lots of laundry!!

Think about us on Sunday while we tackle an 11ish hour drive with a little girl who doesn't love her carseat :) Hopefully this portable DVD player will have been a good investment!!

Only in Utah...

2011-04-04T10:25:00.000-06:00

...ok, or in Colorado! Of course both states where I have lived...

We went from this... Saturday a nice & sunny (but windy) day in the 70's.

To this... Sunday morning, the yard and driveway covered with 5+ inches of snow!!

I knew it was supposed to snow on Saturday night but I figured we might wake up to a light dusting of snow. Boy were we in for a surprise! But in other good news we got our new stroller on Friday! Yay! You have no idea how excited we are! I wanted to get a 3-wheeled jogging stroller last Fall but it just didn't happen. Then we were going to wait until it actually got warm in the mornings when I would jog. But we decided to get it a few weeks early for our California/Disneyland trip next week. Hadley's other stroller was nice but I felt it was so heavy and bulky and Hadley was outgrowing it. This new stroller is light as a feather and she LOVES it already! Since Hadley walk alot it will get lots and lots of use! I especially can't wait to use it on our trip and to get out of this snow!

Book Love

2011-03-29T14:02:00.000-06:00

Hadley is so into books right now! Finally! She would occasionally actually sit with me while we read them and looked at their pictures. But now she will actually sit and read them by herself and she is always bringing them to me to read. I recently have been buying her alot of board books so I can let her read them on her own without having to worry about her ripping the pages of my precious school books :)

As a teacher and a mom I LOVE to see this!! I also have been enjoying spending lots of time reading. My sister let me borrow her 'Mortal Instruments' series and they are so so good! One problem: It's a 6 books series and only 3 of the books have been released! Ahhh- I hate waiting like a year between each book!! But luckily the fourth one comes out next week! But if you are need of a good series and like books that are Twilightish (they are supposedly some of Stephenie Meyer's favorite books) try these...

Family Update

2011-03-25T10:02:00.000-06:00

I had a friend that did a update on each member of their family (although hers bigger than ours), so I thought it was a good idea since most of my posts are about Hadley or things that we do.

Steve

Steve left his job after over 5 years at Heritage Web Solutions in April of 2010 (which turned out to be a GREAT thing since they went under about 2 weeks ago). It was kinda scary for him to leave and go to a new job after being so comfortable at Heritage. He now works at Doba and Inside Real Estate. Yes, two jobs. He started at Doba and then about 4 months later was 'recruited' from Inside Real Estate to start their sales department from the ground up. Since it's sales at IRE is such a new venture it's a less than part time job (15 hours /week). But he wanted to take on the challenge because IRE has more room to grow and move up than Doba. So he does both... about 35 hours at Doba and 15 at the other. So he is very busy and works quite alot! He also just changed his major in school (ahhh!). He was studying Business Management but changed to Business Information Systems. Originally (as in forever ago!) this was his major but since he was doing business management at Heritage he moved to that. So basically this adds about 18ish credits to his total to finish but in the end he was way excited about this change. The starting salary after graduation is quite a bit higher and in a field he is much more interested in. But it also means we will probably be leaving Utah sometime in our future. The top markets for information systems are Texas, Washington, Oregon, and California. At church he teaches the 11 year old primary class and also works with the 11 year old scouts- which he loves! But most importantly Steve is the best dad ever and is absolutely adored by his baby girl! She walks around all day saying "Dad?" "Hi Dada" or "Daddy" non stop!

I basically stay busy taking care of Hadley and also cleaning, cooking, reading and keeping up with my shows :) Typical joys of motherhood!! I am loving my our freedom to go where we want and do what we want- whether that means seeing friends and family, shopping, going to the park, or just hanging out and playing at home. Since the time change and with the help of warmer weather I have been enjoying getting outside and running (with some walking :)). It is so nice to not always have to stick to my elliptical trainer! I am enjoying my calling of Cub Scout Committee chair at church. That basically means I am in charge of all awards the boys get and planning and executing the monthly pack meetings. I have also been trying to make some hard decisions. For the past month or so I have been working on making a decision about teaching next year. It wouldn't be long term and it would only be half time (I would be sharing a contract with my good friend Ily). But I'm still so up in the air about it! Yes, it would be so nice to have my Level 2 license and not have to worry about renewing a Level 1 license, which would mean back to school eventually... ugh! But is it worth missing a little bit of time with Hadley (it would be afternoon so most of it would be her sleeping at Becca's)? Is it worth all the stress managing 25+ students and their parents? Is it worth all the work that has to be done outside of the classroom? Not sure yet!!

Hadley

Little miss Hadley is busier than ever! She is constantly getting into everything and I mean EVERYTHING! Last week I was on the phone with my mom and Hadley was playing around in my room and bathroom. After I hung up she had completely emptied Steve cabinet under his sink and was sitting in it. Oh that girl! We are working really hard on getting her to understand that only toys are meant to be played with... you know, not remotes, computers, phones, makeup, trash, hair bows, etc... It is still very much a work in progress!! She is still doing pretty good about taking both her naps but I am afraid that her morning nap is drawing to its close- it's down to about 45 minutes to an hour. She is also getting so talkative! I feel like she talks all day long, even though I can't understand what she says 95% of the time. Her newest words are "buh-bye," "dede" (which is baby) and "vroom." Hadley loves to do the actions to 'If You're Happy and You Know It' and 'Popcorn Popping.' She is starting to not love to be in her carseat- great, we have a 10 hour drive to California in 2 weeks! We'll have to do lots of singing and playing games! But I can't wait to see her on the rides at Disneyland, on the beach, and having loads of fun with her cousins (plus she gets to see her friend Mylin!). My baby is getting too big, too fast!

And what would a post be without a couple of pictures :)

Doing the actions to "If You're Happy and You Know It" along with her Baby Einstein movie.

Water Baby

2011-03-20T20:28:00.000-06:00

So Hadley is such a little water baby (toddler?!)... On Friday Steve took the day off so we could do some things together as a family. We had a great day and after naps we headed up to Lehi to the Legacy Center water park. Of course Becca, Jesse and the kids came with us! Hadley absolutely loved every second of it- she was kicking and splashing, squealing, and smiling non-stop!

This picture doesn't show it... but I promised she liked it :)

Hanging out in the little swings...

We all ended the evening with a delicious dinner at Sizzler. And pretty sure that Hadley and Max out ate anyone at the table! We love it when daddy's home!

Recent Happenings

2011-03-17T12:17:00.000-06:00

We have been pretty busy lately! Both Hadley and I have really enjoyed getting out of the house to visit and play with friends and family and just being more active in general!!

Here's Hadley and her little friend Landon who came to play! Yes, she is putting her finger in his ear!

We have been having some gorgeous weather (ok, so like high 50's/low 60's), but for those of you outside of Utah we are loving it! We have spent quite a great deal of time at the park around the corner. One day we were lucky enough to meet our friends Debrah, Lizzie, and Daniel there!

Hadley's first time on a swing- she was a little unsure at first...

Getting a little braver...

Cute Lizzie and Daniel swinging together!

Usually about once a month we have a 'movie night' with Becca and Jesse. This really just means we put Hadley to bed there (easier and cheaper than getting a babysitter) and watch a movie and get food! On Saturday we went a bit early to play with everyone. Steve, Jesse, and Luke enjoyed the Wii while the rest of just played around...

Hadley and Liv's version of playing... rolling and wrestling around, Hadley loves it!!

On Sunday we went up for dessert at another friends' house (Holly & Curt) and to see their new adorable little baby, Calvin. Hadley very much enjoyed Tucker, well mostly poking his face and trying to steal his ice cream :)

"Mmmmm that looks good, I think I'll try some..."

I was really surprised to find Hadley with Tucker playing in his room. She usually will never leave Steve or I's sight at a new place!

She LOVES babies and just kept wanting to touch him and stare at him.

And some other fun pictures of our life!

Still just waiting for real Spring to hit!!

Done, Done, Done!!

2011-03-11T22:23:00.000-07:00

This post is entirely for my sake- every year I get to about mid-February and start thinking about my spring cleaning list. I can't ever remember everything that I need to do or did the year before so I'm putting it on here to have a record of it!

Some of these things get done several times a yeat but this just happens to be one of those times...

1. Organize and clean out pantry

2. Touch up paint in the entire house

3. Clean baseboards, doors, and lightswitches

4. Scrub blinds (the bane of my existence and one that I do every couple of months, ugh!!)

5. Clean and organize drawers and cabinets in all 3 bathrooms

6. Condition and vacuum out couches

7. Clean out under our bed (so that's where all that stuff went!)

8. Organize and clean mine and Hadley's closet

9. Clean out and wipe down fridge and freezer

10. Clean and organize laundry room

11. Clean all windows and windowsills

12. Empty out and then clean inside of all kitchen cupboards and cabinets

13. Clean and oil kitchen cabinets

14. Scrub (like seriously scrub not just wipe) both tub walls

So glad it's all done!! Now to move on to the outside work...

Livin' the Life!

2011-03-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

So we were at my sister's house last week and Hadley and Max were playing together. They left the room and Becca and I stayed and were talking... all the sudden it got really quiet... this is what we found! The three of them hanging out together watching the 'Backyardians.' Isn't this the life?!

Favorite Things March

2011-03-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

So a friend of mine dubbed March the month where everyone shares their "Favorite Things of March" on her blog. So since we don't have a whole lot of exciting things going on around here (i.e. any great posts), I thought I would share my favorites on any given day this month.
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First off- spring mixed greens with veggies and tuna! This picture doesn't really show what I have but I love to have salad with tomato, broccli, carrots, cauliflower, tuna, and italian dressing! Yumm- makes me feel pretty good and I look forward to more fresh food this summer.

Facebook messaging. I love getting and writing messages to friends who live both near and far. I get so excited when I see that little blue box on my facebook page telling me how many messages I have (I know, I'm sad... such is the life of a stay at home mom of 1 huh?). It makes me feel like my friends live close when I keep in touch with them and we talk about everything and anything.

Anybody ever watched this show? Kinda teenagish I know, but I read the books (did you know it was based off a series of like 9 books?) and so it sparked my interest. Between this and the Bachelor- Monday nights are the best!

Downeast Basics new spring/summer line! Plus all the sales and the coupons they keep sending me- good business for them, not so good for my bank account :)

The next weeks weather forecast! Yes I do see the snow and rain but do you see all the days in the 50's?!! Maybe Spring with come early this year! I'm crossing my fingers, toes, legs, arms, etc. for it- but don't count on it, this is Utah after all.

Now you tell me your Favorite Things March!

Cabin Fever

2011-03-02T18:10:00.000-07:00

So we (ok I, Hadley could probably care less) have a pretty bad case of cabin fever. Neither of us has left the house since last Thursday... This is all due to the fact that yes, Hadley is sick AGAIN!!! It started Friday just with a runny nose and small cough and just got worse and worse and worse as the weekend went on. The poor girl has the cough that just won't quit! She is litterally awake several hours each night coughing and unable to sleep because of it. So sad for her and tiring for me (it's like having a newborn again).

Luckily yesterday was her 12 month check up so we went only to find out that she has Bronchiolitis again- she had it at the very beginning of the year- which came from a minor case of RSV. Her breathing isn't bad enough for her to need breathing treatments or anything but the terrible thing is that there is nothing can be done for her. Basically, it has to run it's course, which is a couple of weeks. She also has an ear infection, which luckily can be solved with medicaion.

Besides her sickness, the doctor said that she looked great is right on or a little bit ahead developmentally. And we got her stats:

Weight- 20 lb. 15 oz. - 60th percentile

Height- 30 1/2 in. - 92nd percentile
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So she gained very little weight in the past 3 months but kept growing tall. The doctor said this is very normal and babies usually tend to thin out at about a year.

Since being sick Hadley has really gotten attached to 2 things- her giraffe blankie and her binki. I am so mad about the binki because she was practically weened (if that's the word) and she somehow found one somewhere in her room and now it's all she wants when she doesn't feel good :( Oh well I guess...

This little animal blanket has gone everywhere with her since Saturday...

We have taken lots of bathes and they always make her feel better.

Another thing we have done to fill our time is lots of coloring! The 12 month questionnaire I got from my doctor said that she should be able to scribble on a paper after you modeling for her. So a couple of weeks ago I showed her once and she did it and then we worked on not eating the crayons :) So now she LOVES to color all the time!!

Here's our finished product...

She has been taking like more than 5 hours of naps a day which has given me lots of free time! What have I done you may ask? I'm trying to knock out everything on my spring cleaning list! This is basically things I HATE to do; like cleaning out all my kitchen cabinets and drawers, scrubbing my blinds, organzing my pantry, etc...

I really don't mind being at home too much except for one thing... Steve and I got tickets like 3 months ago for the Jazz vs. Celtics game last night and I just couldn't bring myself to leave Hadley with anyone else... So Steve went with Jesse and I stayed home and watched The Bachelor and ate Bajio's.

Here's to warmer weather and no sickness!!

Round Two

2011-02-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had Round 2 of Hadley's birthday- my parents came out for the long weekend so we decided to do the big family party on Saturday night!

We always love having grandma and papa here and Hadley always LOVES having Buffy here. We started the fun on Friday night at the Spanish Fork Highschool basketball game. My brother-in-law is the coach so we go to most of the home games (sounds kinda lame I know, but it's actually lots of fun). Hadley loves to watch the ball and is totally enthralled by the cheerleaders and dancers. Plus I get to see lots of my old students at the game- last week 3 old girls came to say hi to Hadley and I. Well, at least I thought they were just coming to say hi... they sat with us the entire game!!

Saturday was the party and Hadley wore her new birthday dress that my mom gave her. We had her favorite meal- hot dogs, brats, chips, baked beans, deviled eggs, fruit salad, and pasta salad (all her favorite foods!).

True to form: Hadley is surrounded by presents and she is most interested in the ribbon :)

Max and Hadley started out so nice playing with all her new toys...

... but it quickly turned to this... fighting over the toys!

After the party the girls went to the mall and the boys babysat and cleaned up after the party :)

Here is some trouble that Hadley has been getting into this week... I found her doing this, so I took her out of the bathroom and put her by her toys.

I turned my back for like 10 seconds and came back to the bathroom to find this... I should have shut the door!!

Oh and she thinks the mischief is all to funny!! She also has learned a couple of new things this last week, one cute and one not so cute-

- She nows gives kisses if you say "Give me a kiss." Sometimes open mouthed and sometimes closed :)

- She has also started to fake cry. If you put her in highchair while you get her food she fake cries until you give it to her- it is quite the sound!

And lastly some pictures of Hadley & Dex from when Ily and I took them to the museum in Springville earlier this week. So fun to be with friends!

Future artists in the making?

If they take after their moms, probably not!

Birthday Day

2011-02-16T18:55:00.000-07:00

We are a great day celebrating Hadley's birthday on Tuesday! We didn't do any huge celebration or anything (my parents are coming in town today for that) but I tried to make it extra special for just the three of us!

Steve and I decorated the kitchen on Monday night with streamers and balloons and this was Hadley's reaction for seriously like 10 minutes. Complete awww....

I made her favorite breakfast pancakes, sausage, and hashbrowns, which she very much enjoyed!

And of course we would never forget about her favorite whole milk :)

After naps I made a fort that we played in for like an hour. She was a little unsure at first but then she cried when she had to get out for lunch!

After her favorite lunch of corn dogs, green beans, and applesauce we had a fun dance party! This little girl LOVES to dance, but only to certain songs!! Her current favorites are Never Say Never (Justin Bieber), Dynamite (Taio Cruz), and Whip My Hair (Willow Smith). You may think I'm kidding about those songs, I'm not. She bounces up and down and waves her arms all around!

After her afternoon nap we met some friends from our ward at the park a couple blocks away but I forget my camera :(
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After dinner we did some presents and we sang and she had her cupcakes (her cake is this weekend!). This was the best of the whole day!

She was little timid at first because she knows she not allowed to play with her food. She kept poking it with one finger and looking at us :)

She was mess! She took a big long bath, we read some stories, and then she was off to bed!!

Today we went to a delayed birthday lunch and play time at Carls' Jr. with Becca, Livi, and Max. Even though it was a day late because Becca was taking care of her neighbor's kids it was another fun way to celebrate!

She had a grea time playing and even made a new friend :)

Birthday are so fun with little ones!!

365 Days Later...

2011-02-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

My baby girl is 1!! I guess she is now officially a toddler and no longer a baby? Kinda bitter sweet...

I apologize in advance for this long post, I don't expect you to read it, but it's the main way I record about her.

Here she is today... such a big girl!!

- She has 8 teeth. 4 on top and 4 on bottom, no molars yet (don't really want those).

- She LOVES to play with my hair! She will stand at my back and just play for like 10 minutes. If you know me you know I love to have my hair played with so I let her do it, plus she is actually soft and gentle.

-She loves and I mean loves, loves, loves her regular whole milk! But who wouldn't compared to formula?

- Recently she has discovered she actually likes books more than just to eat them. She will sit for a few minutes and look at the pictures or sit with me and let me read to her.

- This little girl is laughing ALL THE TIME! She thinks Steve is especially quite funny...

- She still sleeps from 7 to 7:30 and takes a 1 to 1 1/2 hour nap in the morning and a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.
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- She is doing more animal sounds too. She can now do horse and we are working on dog. Not really any more words- she now says 'mmmmmm' and sometimes 'ball'.
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- She has taken up to 7 steps at once but usually just goes around taking 3 or 4 steps. Yesterday she took 3 steps, stopped and stood, 2 steps, stopped and stood, 3 steps, stopped and stood and then got down and crawled.

- She is also walking from one thing to another if the distance is short. Like from couch to couch or my shoulder to couch.

- She is obsessed with babies!!! Any picture or tv show with babies puts a huge smile on her face :)

- She really is Miss Independent. She will sit and play by herself and talk to herself for sometimes 15 minutes a time. I just love to sit and watch and listen (which makes me feel guilty sometimes)- I wish I knew what was going on in her head!!

- Loves to play ball, which is really just throwing it back and forth.

- Her new thing is putting her toys under the couch, under her crib, behind the tv stand, and in drawers.

- She also loves moving things back and forth. The other day she moved her toys back and forth between two buckets for like 10 minutes!

Time sure flies!! I feel like Hadley was just born but at the same time I can't imagine/remember what life was like before her!!

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentine's to all! We had a fabulous day as a family!

Here is my mini Valentine!

My gift to my mini Valentine...

And to my forever Valentine...

And my wonderful gift from my Valetine (I seriously was so excited!!)...

We all shared some delicious heart shaped pizza...

... and watched Hadley enjoy her gift from dad. Who knew all she needed was a balloon?

Build-A-Bunny

2011-02-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

Becca and I decided that we wanted to take the girls to Build-A-Bear as part of their birthday celebration :) So since Livi's birthday was last week and Hadley's is next week, we decided to go today!!

All dressed up and ready to go! She was being so weird and wouldn't let go of Steve's hand even though she can stand by herself for a long time and does it all the time. I think she was little unsure of her new shoes...

Liv and Hads also wore matching outfits that we shopped for a couple of weeks ago. They both were completely enthralled in watching the animals be stuffed (and Livi insisted on holding Hadley's hand).

I was trying to get her and help her to push the pedal herself but she didn't want to :)
"Washing" the animals together.

She picked her animal all by herself- ok, not really! We wanted her to get a bunny because Steve calls her bunny. But I did give her the choice between the tan one and the chocolate brown on and she picked this one.

And she helped me pick out some outfits for 'bunny' to wear.

It was so cute and funny to watch them in the store. We then went to a delicious lunch a Chick-Fil-A and did a little summer clothes shopping (which got me way to excited for warm weather and even way more ready for this cold to be over!!).

Hadley loves her bunny!! Every time she see's it she squeals and laughs and wants it immediately!!

Our Weekend

2011-02-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend!! Not that we did anything super special but it was just fun to get out and do things as a family. I feel like all of Friday was spent watching Hadley walk, walk, and walk somemore on her little walker. She gets upset very easily if she gets it stuck somewhere and can't maneuver it out. I just wish she would let go and walk all around on her own now!!

Saturday I went to Becca's to help with a little tea party she threw for Livi's birthday. It was such a cute party and all the girls dressed up as princesses!

After all three of us took a LONG nap we headed up to the mall for some dinner, shopping and playing...

Hadley quite enjoyed Wingers and coloring with dad :)

She enjoyed the play place at the mall and was having fun until she got knocked over by some crazy boy- then it was time to go! I don't know why these pictures are blurry...

Then Sunday was Livi's actual birthday party and dinner. Hadley mostly enjoyed playing with the balloons...

... and the stuffed animals...

... but she was OBSESSED with the ZuZu Pet... Her Max kept fighting over it!

I love fun weekends with my little family!!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

Must have been a good nap!!

Grand Adventures...

2011-01-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

I have been a little bit of a slacker about posting so this post is long and FULL of pictures!

So we haven't really had any 'grand' adventures lately but with this dang cold weather doing much more than playing at home seems pretty 'grand' to Hadley and I! What can I say, I decided I am ready to get out of Utah :)

A couple of weeks ago Hadley and I left Steve at home and flew home to Colorado for a trip to visit. It definitely wasn't long enough, but I had to get home since I was in charge of a Blue & Gold Banquet for 100 people. We ate some GREAT food, shopped, visited with friends, played with cousins, spent a lot of time with my grandma and just soaked up all of Colorado that we could. Hadley's favorite part... definitely the dog Buffy :)

I went out with my good friend Jessie from highschool while grandma babysat. She came back with me for a visit and as you can see Hadley was a bit unsure...

This is the best we could get of Foxx, Fiona, and Hadley.
Foxx was trying to teach Hadley to snap... haha!

Foxx was trying to share- didn't go over so well!

The week we got home we were able to see Cami and Jane again- yay!! We went with them and Ily and Dex to a new place in Provo called the Provo Beach Resort. It has a fun little play area for toddlers and a carousel (which was so funny to watch all of them ride, 6 HUGE eyes). After we finished playing we went to dinner together. We love getting these little friends together!

Hadley wasn't quite as courageous as Jane and Dex, she liked to watch them be little dare devils!

But our adventures this last week or so have been pretty close to home- playing with cousins, highschool basketball games, shopping at the mall, eating out for dinner.

Last week Steve and I were putting away groceries and of course Hadley wanted to help. She ws digging around in the bags and I thought to myself, "If this will keep her occupied for more than a couple of minutes, I'll let her do it." We a minute or two later a looked over and she had ripped open a package of brown gravy mix and was eating it! She was quite enjoying it, she kept licking her lips over and over and over.

Sporting her black velour track suit from grandma...

She's also enjoying looking at books now instead of just eating them.

And still loves picture frames and can name either Steve or I in a picture if you say, "Who is that?"

And a new favorite game is playing slide with dads legs...

I was trying to get this bag from her to wrap Steve's birthday gift and she thought it was so funny to keep taking it from me. Little stinker...

Still loving the curly hair...

And the best adventure of all- playing in the dryer!! And yes, she climbed in there all by herself!!

Hope we have another week of great adventures!!