Sadie's Blessing

This weekend, we made a quick trip up to Idaho and back for Sadie's blessing! We left Saturday about noon after Devin and I went to our ward temple trip. My friend Camille came up with us because our friend (well my cousin too) Anneka was visiting from Washington and we had not seen her for pretty much two years! We had dinner that night at Camille's abandoned house (her parents have moved to Utah and haven't sold their house). It was super fun...we ate picnic style on the floor since there isn't any furniture. Some of our other friends joined us, along with of course Annie. We got to play Ticket to Ride and you know I love that!!

The only bad thing about the trip was that Hallie wasn't feeling super good, so that night was AWFUL!!! She is on such a strict bedtime routine at home (I know I am nazi, but we like sanity around here...) so she is used to sleeping from 7pm-7am. Well, with traveling and being sick and what not, that night she was up pretty much the whole night screaming. Poor us!

No, I felt bad for my mom and Dave and Camille who had to deal with it too. Except the next morning Camille said she never even heard her and she was in the room next door! She must be a DEEP sleeper!

Sunday we had the blessing, which was wonderful. I honestly don't remember the last time I felt the Spirit so strong. Chris' dad was able to bless Sadie because Chris's speaking is limited due to his tumor. He gave her a great blessing. I just felt so strongly the eternal nature of families and how important being sealed is. We had a lunch afterwards at my dad's house, which was also amazing. You know when there is tons of good food and you can't decide what to have, so you eat it all? Yeah, I did that for sure! I was so stuffed! But you have to take advantage when you can, eh!

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. I don't have a ton of Sadie because she was so much in demand, but there are a few.

Uncle Mikey with the two girls. Sadie's dress was made by my mom. It took her forever and Dave teased her that it was like a wedding dress, not a blessing dress. But it was gorgeous.

Here I am with Camille, Anneka, Hallie, and Annie's two kids Hyrum and Addy.

Love these girls. I was lucky enough to have a lot of cousins go to high school with me and Anneka was one of them. We had such a great group of friends. I miss her a lot because she lives in Washington and we rarely get to see each other. Good thing we have telephones. Camille just lives down the road from me and we were roommates our whole college career until I got married. She is handy to have around. I will be in terrible shape this summer when she moves away along with my other trusty friend, my cousin Che'. I just try not to think about it. My child is definitely a ham. Check out that face.

My girl. She got this pretty dress from her grandma for Easter. And the sweater is Sadie's but it is too big for her still, so Hallie was borrowing it. As soon as we put it on her, she promptly threw up all over it, so um, yeah. Sadie may have a yellow hued sweater instead of a white one. Oops!Sadie in her dress. You can't see the whole thing, but it is quite ruffly.

The Grandma and the two little ladies. Doesn't Hallie look like a giant? I am pretty sure she was never as small as Sadie is.

Oh so cute! Hyrum giving Hallie a kiss. Well, kissing cousins are okay for now, but later in life, not so much. We don't marry cousins in this family.

And for good measure, Camille's traveling home outfit. Ha ha ha!! We had to stop at a gas station to meet her mom to get some stuff and here is how she rolled out. Gotta love it. I was embarrassed and didn't want to claim her. Just kidding! :)

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Calvin: "Who is that crazy lady singing and clapping in my face?"
Hallie: "I don't know, I am not claiming her!"

(Hallie had her friend Calvin over to play today and they clearly were not amused by me, but we had fun anyway!)
Oh PS- Calvin also would like to state that he does not normally sit in pink chairs.

A Plethora of Pics

Back by popular demand, photos of Hallie!! I sometimes hesitate to post all the pictures of her that I do fearing that it gets annoying for people looking at my blog. But, who cares? Also, I look at people's blogs that I don't even know sometimes (admit it, you do it too) and I enjoy looking at their kids, so what the heck. Modeling her SSS shirt. She proudly wears it because Uncle Lynn gave it to her.

She has an obsession with her feet these days. It is kind of funny.

Since the weather is so warm, we have spent some exciting times outside. We need to get a hat that fits her, as clearly this one is too large.
Yes, that is right, we are now using a high chair. I know she is drowning in there, but hey, it does the job. I got this on KSL.com for $20, I was quite proud as it is a nice high chair.

Again, loves to have the feet in the air.

It's so hard being pushed around in a stroller all day. She just has to have a nap!

Toe touches...a future cheerleader!? Ha, wouldn't that be funny!
And...as a bonus, some videos!! Be sure to take note of the thunder thighs!!

This girl is too funny. Sorry the sun is in her eyes.

Sitting up. The beginning of the video is a lot cuter than the end...she starts falling and the camera gets all shaky as I try to save her, but you know. We do what we have to do.

Observation

So, Hallie and I have taken to going on long walks. The purpose for this is three-fold.

1- So that I feel like I am getting out of the house
2- So that I don't spend money as I am getting out of the house
3- So I don't eat everything in sight as I am sitting in the house (Maybe I am the only one who does that...but when I have been bored, all the sudden I will realize that I just ate my 27th item and my stomach hurts.)



Ok, so anyway. Today we took a long walk to Sonic. I love Sonic. I decided that if I walked there I would buy myself a drink (which defeats numbers 2 and 3 on the list, not to mention the calorie-laden drink defeats all the walking I did, but oh well, right?). As I was walking, I made a very intelligent observation. And it is this: Pretty much ALL people look mad/grumpy/mean when they drive. I am pretty sure I am the same when I am in the car, but as I was looking at people today as we were walking, I am pretty sure I did not see one happy face sitting behind the wheel of their car. Perhaps driving is just too stressful for people to be happy about. Perhaps they have a screaming child in the back seat (that would be my case, sometimes). Or perhaps they really are just mean people (though I doubt that).



Due to this observation, I have decided that I am going to start looking happy while I drive. I think I am generally a nice person, so I think I ought to reflect that as I drive. So, from this point forward, look for me to be driving down the street with a grin plastered to my face. And I'll expect the same from you. :)

For my Daughter in a Future Day

"Relentlessly Lucifer attacks the sanctity of life and the joy of parenthood. God has revealed the eternal nature of celestial marriage and the family as the source of our greatest joy." -Russell M. Nelson

I am sorry to get sappy, but I fear I might. I have really been blessed a lot and I have been thinking lately how much joy being a parent has brought into my life. I love my daughter so much, it is incredible. I love her more daily. Sometimes I look at her in her chubby cuteness and the funny things that she does and I think I might just burst out of the sheer love that I have for her. I love the quote that I posted above. Little did I know before I got married how incredible it was going to be. Add to that a precious child and the amazing-ness of it all just increases. I am sure it gets more and more so with each child you add, but I am not there yet, so I can't say.

What the world tells us will bring us joy are things that are actually very inconsequential. I was rocking Hallie to sleep tonight, which is what spurred all these thoughts. Usually she just falls right asleep when it is bed time, but tonight she didn't. When I heard her crying in her crib, my first thought was "oh no! Go back to sleep!". I didn't want to take time out of my "busy" night to have to rock her to sleep. But, then I went in and as I was rocking her, I just thought to myself that I really need to count my blessings instead. Why not take time to enjoy the moment? She is growing up so fast and before I know it, her days of rocking will be long gone. Why not take that precious time to enjoy my daughter? Nothing else is as important at this time in my life. As we rocked, I just stared at her in wonder. This little babies are such beautiful creations and it is such a marvel that we are able to create life that comes out so perfect. I started to cry as I held her (I know I am such a sap these days) and thought about how full my joy is with her in my life. I understand the phrase "my cup runneth over" now more than ever before.

As I sat there, I prayed a silent prayer that my Father in Heaven will watch over and protect my baby. I don't know what the future holds and maybe I am just overly worrisome, but I want so badly for her to have a happy healthy life. It occurred to me that I could honestly be happy living in our small apartment, on a small budget, wearing old clothes, driving old cars, and not having many of the "things of the world" if I can just have a happy family. All I need is Devin and Hallie and I could be happy for the rest of my life. Not that I hope that everything is taken from us tomorrow, but I know that the most important things in life are my family members and cultivating and strengthening those relationships.

Maybe someday Hallie will read this and get a glimpse of how I feel for her. I know there are not words to express the love that I have, but I felt the need to write these things down. I know I could have done it in a journal, but I also want my family members to know how I feel and that I acknowledge my everyday blessings.

My gorgeous girl- I love you so much!

A real problem

So, I know this is odd, but I have been losing hair like crazy. I believe I am going bald, in fact. I know it has something to do with the fact that I gave birth four months ago and my hormones are wacky or something of the sort, but let's be honest...four months later and the problem is worse than ever!! I am sorry if this disgusts you, I just need some serious advice before I am hair-less. I find my hair all over, and clumps of it. It appears on my blankets, all over my clothes, in my child's armpit*, etc. Anyone had this problem before? What do you do? Maybe give up the crappy shampoo? Use some other product? Just resign myself to being the spectacle of the bald woman (I guess if I could amuse other people, that's worth something...). Well, tell me, tell me!!

I am sorry for such a terrible post. I will try to think of something great to post to make up for it.

*True story. How it got there, I have no idea.

FHE packet update

A while ago Jen and I posted a little blurb on our blogs about doing a Family Home Evening packet exchange. So far we have 8 people who are interested in participating: me, Jen, Ashley, Chelsey, Cortney, my dad, Tracie, and Megan. If there's anybody else who is interested, please let one of us know by Monday, March 9. Then we will be able to get a final count of how many packets everybody needs to make. The deadline to have them done will be by the end of April. Let us know if you have any questions!

4 months!

Today Hallie is four months! It is crazy how fast it has gone, but at the same time, it is hard to remember what life was like before she was born.
She is now 15 pounds 1 ounce (95%) and 24 inches long (75%). We thought we were going to have a tall, skinny girl, but each time we go to the doctor, she goes down in height percentage and up in weight percentage. So instead, we have a chubby, average height baby. We'll take it! Here are some recent pictures and of course some tid bits about her.


*Hallie loves nap time! NOT! This is what she looks like during nap time at least half of the time. It is also about the only time she will sometimes take a binky, when she is going to sleep.
*The girl is funny, she will suck on anything BUT binkys.



*This is what I was talking about before, when she wants to sit up (which is most of the time), she will do sit-ups until we get the point and sit her up.
*She is sooo determined. It is funny to see how her personality has developed. She for sure will let us know what she wants and also goes out of her way to get what she wants on her own as well.



*Speaking of sitting up, she is getting there. You can't fully tell in this picture since I was too close to her, but she can sit up on her own. She does not do it for very long, but she can do it. We will get better soon I am sure.
*She already has taken to drawing. Whenever I have her on my lap with a pen or a pencil writing something, she tries to grab it. So the other day, we gave her the pencil and put some paper in front of her and she went to town. Masterpiece, I have to say.




*She has recently started eating Rice cereal. She quite likes it. Oh, but she likes EVERYTHING that is put into her mouth, medicine included. As the nurse was giving Hallie her oral immunization last time, she said "Don't worry if she spits out at least half of it, all babies do." Oh, but not Hallie, she slurped it right down and wanted more.
*She LOVES pounding on tables whenever she is sitting on our laps close to a table. I am not sure why, but hey, whatever keeps her entertained.



*She HATES tummy time, though this picture doesn't show it. She usually doesn't last long as she cries and cries. She still can't roll over, probably because Devin and I chicken out and don't make her stay on her tummy since it is hard to hear her cry.
*She loves going on walks in her stroller. We have taken to doing this almost daily as the weather has been nice. Usually she conks out after a while too. She can't be layed down in the stroller though, she has to be sitting up and able to see the world.



*As Che' pointed out to me, she has the "I'm annoyed with you" look perfected. Like I said, she is sure to let us know what everything isn't just so in her world.
*She lately has been sticking out her tongue all the time. She must get this trait from her Aunt Jennifer. Growing up, my sister would always stick her tongue out when she was concentrating on something. Perhaps Hals is just concentrating on life.



Also, here is a cute video of Hallie and her cute cousin Sadie last weekend when we were in Idaho. They are going to be best friends, I just know it.

We love our Hallie. She is the joy of our lives and brings so much happiness and love into our home. We are so lucky to have gotten such a wonderful baby who is full of life and personality already. Heaven help us when she is two!!