California Trip: Hollywood

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

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...

...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

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

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.

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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!

Me

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!!

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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

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!