Halloween

This year for Halloween, Halley was Strawberry Shortcake. A very talented lady in our ward made this costume for her daughter last year, and was nice enough to let Halley borrow it this year. Halley really wanted red hair, so I made the mistake of taking her to Party City and waiting in a 20 minute line for a can of red hair spray. I guess I would do anything to make her Halloween dreams a reality! So, the night of the trunk-or-treat she was Strawberry Shortcake with red hair, and she was very proud!

Coralee was a butterfly. It was so cute to watch her walk around in it. She had no idea what was going on, and would not leave her mask on. So, whatever pictures I have of her with the mask on took a lot of effort! Nathan was very excited to take the girls trick-or-treating because he ate all of Coralee's candy (actually he gave it away to people at the trunk-or-treat, I would have ate it). I dressed up as a witch, and Nathan dressed up as an Elder's Quorum president with tattoos. He even wore them to church the next day. I couldn't get him to take them off. I must admit, they were super cool. We had a fun Halloween, and got the stomach flu the week after. So, I guess it was perfect timing!

Coralee's Growing Fast

Coralee is 9 months

Her favorite thing in the world to do, besides nurse!

Coralee had her 9 month check up today. She is 20 pounds! Needless to say, she is not a starving baby. Halley weighed 19 pounds at 12 months. I am worried what the scale will say at Coralee's 12 month check up! She is also wearing 18 month sized clothes. Her thighs are so big, I can't fit them into 9 or 12 month pants! She is chunky, which is the only time in her life that it will be cute and adorable! So live it up Coralee!

She is a pure joy. We are having so much fun with her. She is crawling and getting into things. Anyday she will start walking. She is trying to keep up with Halley. Halley is a pro at getting Coralee to laugh. However, it can be a problem, like if we are at Stake Conference. Halley is learing not to grab toys at of Coralee's hands, but to trade. Other than that, they get along great! Also, Coralee got her first tooth yesterday. She has been a little grumpy, but popsicles seem to do the trick, thanks to Aunt Rachel!

Fourth of July

Halley and Aunt Stephanie getting ready to watch the fireworks.

All of the cousins waiting for the show to start.

Halley and Jacob. They are joint at the hip whenever we come to visit.

For the 4th of July weekend, we went to Arizona. Nathan's sister, Sonja, has a house with a great view of the fireworks. We couldn't miss the party! We had such a fun time being with Nathan's family. The firework show was awesome. We couldn't of had a better view. However, fireworks were not very exciting for Coralee. She fell asleep in my arms as soon as it started. Oh well, maybe next year she can enjoy them!

Halley is 3!

Halley and cousin Payton at Pretend City

3rd Birthday

2nd Birthday

First Birthday

6 months


Wow, it seems like forever since the last time I posted something! Well, Halley had her 3rd birthday. I cannot believe she is 3 year old now. She isn't a toddler anymore, and she is starting preschool in August. I am sad that she is growing up, but it is so exciting to see her turn into a little girl. She has such a silly personality. She always makes us laugh. She is also very altruistic to others. Her favorite things to do are read Princess books, play ballerina, have pretend picnics with her stuffed animals, watch Joseph the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and playing with her cousins. Also, her favorite part of the day is when daddy comes home. I think she is a real daddy's girl. Nathan is really good at doing special things with Halley. They go on bike rides, or he has her help him the little jobs around the house, like installing ceiling fans! She is a good helper...I think! Anyways, on Halley's birthday we went to Pretend City. She took some cousins with her and a few friends. Then when we got home we had a pizza party with cake and presents! It was such a fun party. I was going to do a big Wonderpets Party, but I tore a muscle in my chest that week, so I was pretty much useless, but thank goodness my mom and Nathan took care of the party. Halley had a wonderful time is even talking about what she wants at her next party! Yikes!

Easter

We have had such a great Easter season. Halley went to a total of 3 Easter eggs hunts! She now hides leftover candy all over the house and makes me find it. It is so funny. We enjoyed a nice trip to Arizona over Easter weekend. We got to stay with Nathan's parents. We enjoyed watching General Conference and spending time with the cousins. We even had an April Fools party at Sonja's new house. We ate Meatloaf cupcakes, frosted with blue mashed potatoes. It sure fooled Halley, her excitement quickly turned into confusion after the first bite. But, we got mud cake for dessert which made up for it!

On our way into Mesa we stopped at the Phoenix Zoo. The weather was beautiful. We met Sonja and Warren and Cary there. We got to go on tram ride around the zoo see all the animals. It was so cool. They even had a petting farm with goats. It was a really nice zoo. Thanks Sonja! It is always a treat to spend time with family.

Currently, Coralee is growing like crazy. She went from 3 month clothes to 9 month clothes! I can't keep up with her! She is rolling over and smiling. She loves watching Halley dance and sing. Halley is being a great big sister. If Coralee ever spits up, Halley will run to the bedroom find a burp cloth and clean up Coralee and say, "It's okay baby Coralee." Right now, Halley is learning to use the potty. She is doing pretty good when we stay in the house. So, hopefully she will be potty trained when she turns 3 in July! That is our goal! Any advice, I would love to hear it! Nathan is finishing up his spring semester and is in the top of all of his classes. He loves creating ads and is really enjoying his classes. He will graduate in December 2011. Hooray!

Enjoy the pictures of Arizona and Easter egg hunts!

Sleeping Beauties

I love watching my girls sleeping. Her are some cute pictures I have gotten of them.

Binky Party

I should mention that Halley had a bye-bye-binky party yesterday and is binky free! Her cousins Natalie, and Sabrina, were over on Sunday night and gave Halley the lecture that binky's were for babies. She looked at me with wide eyes, and spit her binky out. She seemed really embarrassed. So, the next day we had a party with Natalie and Sabrina. Halley gathered up all of her binky's and put them in gift sack and gave them to her cousins. In return, Natalie and Sabrina gave her a present. We had chocolate muffins and even blew out candles. It was quite the party. Halley has been awesome ever since the party and doesn't really seem to care that they are gone. I am so proud of her and of me for finally letting them go!!! Bye, bye binky's!

Coralee's Crib

Well, Coralee is 4 months old now, and I thought it would a good time to get her sleeping in her crib. It has been set up for 2 weeks now, and she is still sleeping in our bed at night, but I can get her to take her naps in it. Hopefully, she will get the whole sleeping through the night thing someday.

Halley helped Nathan put it together in our room. Halley loves it! She was begging for us to put her in the crib with Coralee. It was really funny, so of course, I had to get pictures.

Laguna Beach

On President Day we took off to Laguna Beach. It was perfect weather, and it was Coralee's first beach day. I think she really enjoyed the fresh, ocean breeze! Actually, I don't think she noticed, but I would like to think she had fun. Halley enjoyed being with her daddy and running away from the HUGE waves. I went to join them after feeding Coralee, and we saw a whale jumping right of the water. It was seriously something out of a movie. There was a whale watching boat out there too. I bet they got a great view. It was so amazing.






After the beach we went to In'n'Out, but both girls were sound asleep, so Nathan and I enjoyed ourselves and ate in the car, listening to Dr. Lara. It felt like a date. Then, we went and picked up his Mustang at the shop. Nathan drove it all the way home, from Lake Forest, with the windows rolled down. I think he was heaven. It was a great holiday.

Haircut

I finally got a haircut after having Coralee. I was starting to get spit up in it and Coralee was pulling on it all the time. So, I thought it was about time to get a mommy haircut. I love my new hair style, it is so easy to fix in the mornings, and no more spit up!

Happy Valentine's Day to Me!

Nathan surprised me yesterday with an amazing bouquet of flowers. I don't even know what half of the flowers are in the bouquet, there were that many flowers! Plus, they smell like a garden. I can smell them in the other room! Also, I got spoiled with chocolates. What a guy! I am sad to say, I didn't get anything for him, but I did frost him a sugar cookie. Thanks for being my Valentine Nathan.

Pretend City

On Saturday we went to Pretend City with Calvin and Heatherlee. It is my favorite place to go now. The museum is a city inside, There is a farm, a beach, a post office, library, movie theater, fire station, doctor office, stage, restaurant, marina, grocery store, art studio, and more! We bought a pass because there is so much to do and Halley only lasts a few hours. It is nice taking Halley to places where she can learn and feel independent. I just loved watching her play. Her favorite thing to do this trip was garden and grocery shop. She also loved standing in line at the ATM to get her fake money. Coralee even enjoyed being in the Bjorn. Heatherlee got such a cute picture of us. After Pretend City we went back to my house to have dinner and frost sugar cookies. We even got a special visit from Aunt Pretty, Nathan's sister Stephanie, and Uncle Alex. It was great seeing them. It was a fun day!