Monday, March 16, 2009

Big News


We are so excited to share the news that Hali is going to be a big sister come September 30! It came as a surprise to us in that it took us two years to get pregnant with Hali, so we thought we should probably start sooner than later with baby number 2, and to our surprise I was pregnant after only one month with this baby. We feel so blessed, and can't wait to welcome this little one into our lives! I have been sick with this baby which came as a surprise because I NEVER felt sick with Hali. However, I think I am finally over that stage. I am 12 weeks today and we were able to get an ultrasound at 10 weeks which is when we saw a very wiggly baby and a strong hearbeat. Travis is sure it is a boy, but I am thinking girl, I guess we will see soon enough.

Valentine Scavenger Hunt

Our first clue




This year for Valentines' Day Travis set up a scavenger hunt for Hali and I (something his family does every year). We had different clues on heart-shaped red paper the led us to a new place with a surprise or treat. Hali got some new princess sippy cups, socks, a puppy book, and finally her new red wagon (which she loves). I got new socks, some candy, and my favorite a gift certificate for a one hour massage. I am very grateful that both Hali and I have such a wonderful man in our lives, who takes such good care of us. We love you Travis!

Fun Surprise



Now we may not have any close neighbors, but how many of you can say you have had one of these land right next to your house? We had to wake Hali up to see, and she was sure excited. She kept pointing and saying “balloon” the whole rest of the day. The pictures make it look kind of far away, but it really was just right there.


The New Do

I am no longer a blonde as of the beginning of January. I have only done this one other time in my life and so far I am really liking it.

Hali's Christmas Dress

Classic Hali squealing face
We just love those dimples
Daddy and Hali all ready for church

Christmas 2008

Our family Christmas tree with a falling star!

Opening Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve.
Almost ready to see if Santa came. Hali can't figure out why I am so excited.
Santa brough Hali a baby set.
Travis and his new golf clubs.
Opening presents from Grandma and Grandpa Barney (her pink wiggle car).
Daddy helping Hali open presents from Santa.
Hali loves her new doggy from Grandma and Grandpa Hoopes.
Ready to open night presents with her pink cheeks.
" What?" He was very surprised!
Travis with his surround sound, and me posing with my wedding ring!

This is always such a hard post for me to do, because there is always so much to tell. So instead of giving a play by play I will just give some highlights and a fun story.

*Hali got spoiled this year from Santa and family. Santa brought her a baby with a stroller, carseat, and bassinet. She also got a wiggle car, clothes, Baby Einstein 26 DVD set, a pound puppy dog that wags it's tail, and many other fun toys.
*I, along with Hali was very spoiled. Santa brought me two new nightstands that match my bed, a large Christ pictures, and clothes. I also got a large deep chest freezer.
*Travis got his new golfclubs and other fun things that guys get.

Both Travis and I were very surprised at the end of the night when I received my wedding ring, and Travis got his surround sound system.
THE BACKGROUND STORY: Travis LOVES surprises, and there is nothing worse to him than finding out what he is getting for Christmas. Well he happend to accidentally come upon his gift (a surround sound system) hidden in a closet at his parents house and was devestated! So I had to come up with a plan B. We decided to have Clint (Trav's brother) receive the surround sound on Christmas morning, and Travis would be getting the golf clubs - the plan B (however, really wanting the surround sound). Everything went perfectly, and I could see all morning just how envious Travis was for Clint about receiving the surround sound system. In Travis's family they save one present for Christmas night, before everybody goes to bed. So I decided that I would give Travis the surround sound system that was in reality always his that night.
In the mean time he had a surprise of his own. In October my main diamond on my wedding ring broke! You heard me right it broke. Yes it is a real diamond, and yes a diamond can actually break if it is hit on the right angle (it doesn't even have to be hit hard). Now you all know, be careful with your diamonds. Ironically enough I never remember hitting it at all, but one evening I looked down and it was all foggy. We sent it to Travis's uncle (who is the jeweler we got it from) to see if there was anything that could be done. To make a long story short, Travis just kept telling me they were trying to figure out a solution. I just wanted my ring so I kept telling him to have them put a fake diamond in it and I would be happy, I just wanted to wear something on my finger again.

Fast forward to Christmas evening opening night presents... Travis' mom was filming and I was worried that Travis might get the hint that something more than just giving a little present was going on, apparently he was worried I might think the same thing. So he started opening his surround sound system and the picture above speaks for itself he was shocked and everybody was laughing. After he opened his present, it was my turn which turned out to be like twenty boxes all wrapped in each other, with each one smaller than the previous When the boxes started getting about ring size I started to wonder and was so surprised and happy to finally get to the jewelry box with my diamond ring. Surprisingly they were able to reshape my diamond and take off the broken part making it about .2 smaller than it was before. I can tell, but I don't think anybody else could. I love it and finally feel like Iam married again!

Overall, it was a very memorable Christmas filled with surprises. However, everybody knew about our suprises except for Travis and myself. It was so fun to see our little Hali start to grasp the concept of Christmas. What a great time of year, we were and are so blessed!

Jubilee of Trees

How cool is this? The tree is actually haning out of the Grinch's bag on an angle decorated to the max.
She really liked the Mickey Mouse tree we are standing in front of.
Just a happy girl!
Of course she loved the lights.
This tree was decorated by the school I use to teach at. They did a great job, very cute!
The famous 'cheese' pose.

Just before Christmas we took Hali to see all of the cute Christmas trees at the annual Jubilee of trees. She just loved it, and I am so impressed every year with how creative people are with decorating Christmas trees! My favorite this year was the Grinch Christmas tree - so cute.

Winter Wonderland

It is a good thing is doesn't snow more here. As you can see Trav had a hard time getting up our steep driveway because it was so slick.
Trying to catch the snowflakes - she loved watching it fall.
Checking out the snow in the backyard before she had to go to bed.

Talking on the phone and making a snowman!
Here is Hali trying to figure out what her dad is doing out there.
Final product!

Yes I am still finishing up November, but I am making some progress (three more posts to go and I will be up to date). Back in November, St. George got the best snow storm I have ever seen since living here for over six years. Although I love living in St. George, I do miss the snow during the winter, so it was a lot of fun to finally get some. Travis was even more excited about the snow than I was. Before going to work he made Hali a cute little snowman. She wasn't so sure about it up close, but loved watching her daddy make it for her through the window.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Things To Remember





Because I am not great at writing things down, I wanted to remember these special events in Hali's life.
*Just before her first birthday on November 10th she got her first haircut from our cousin Riley. Her hair wasn't terrible, but we just had her trim off all of the long baby hairs she had.
*On November 18th, just two days after her first birthday Hali decided she was big enough to start walking on her own. Ever since then she has been very busy on her feet.
*Some of my favorite words Hali was saying at her first birthday were thank you, please, clean up, mama, dada and uh oh.
*For whatever reason Hali was just not interested in clapping for the longest time. However, when she was about a year she finally figured it out, and now claps at everything.
*Not so much a fun fact, but Hali has had three ear infections in her first year of life, but other than that has been a pretty healthy girl.
*At the year mark she had mouth full of teeth, including four on top and four on bottom.
*Hali's favorite food was mandarin oranges, and she would sometimes eat three little cups in one day.
*Hali had the cutest funny face she would always do to everybody (the picture above)