MCDONALD

All about Hadley!

2012-02-03T15:25:00.000-08:00

I'm so proud of this girl! She passed off her 100 challenge at school. She counted to 100 all by herself and earned 100 m&m's. She asked me one day to help her learn to count to 100. I told her not to worry, she'll learn when she's in school when she is older. Well she walked in the other room and I hear her counting, so I went in and helped her count to 100. She was so excited and wanted me to come with her to school to show her class. I told her not to be a show off, I had no idea her teacher had challenged them to it! After I found out I felt so bad and then helped her for a week to get it down! She amazes me when she puts her mind to something and she is so determined she can do anything! I wish she could grasp this!

Hadley at 4 1/2:

- Favorite colors: purple and black

-Favorite songs: Mike Posner "cooler than me" and Sugarland "stuck like glue." She loves music and makes up her own songs.

-Favorite foods: pizza, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese and spaghetti
and chocolate.

- She loves to learn. She is learning to read some words. She works on her sight words every night.

-She LOVES animals, especially dogs. This is her new friend Bisquit.

-Loves her brother.

-If you ask Hadley about Nakelle, she will tell you she is her best, big friend. To say she loves Nakelle is an understatement! Nakelle is great with Hadley and Grayson and helps so much when we are at my mom's! (side note, these two love birds are getting hitched in April!! We couldn't be more happy)

-Things you hear Hadley say, "This is so boring" (usually out of context), "This is the worst day" (when she doesn't get her way or gets hurt), "I love you mostest" or "I love you more than the universe", "actually...".

she is very observant and knows details.

She can be the sweetest person to be around, she can cry over the smallest things, she likes things her way and can be very particular.

She is content and can entertain herself.

She is hilarious!

Not my baby anymore!

2012-01-27T09:49:00.000-08:00

Grayson turned 1!! This was the fastest year of my life, I swear!
Here is a picture of every month. The last pic he's wearing one of his newborn outfits. I thought I had a pic of him in it when he was little but I can't find it.

His 1 year old stats:

weight 21.5 lbs / 50%
height 30.5 inches / 75%
head 18 inches / 39 %
(At his appointment, he walked along the furniture to get to the Dr. and just laid his head on her lap while she talked to me. It was so sweet.)

Things to remember about this last month:

-he got his 2 top teeth
-he stands for about a min but won't try and take steps
-says: ball, uh-oh, car, dog, go, hi, mamma, dadda, and he said pappa twice but hasn't said it again!
-loves music and bounces up and down to it
-is finally letting me read to him
-is a little lover, he will crawl up to you and lay his head on you or give kisses
-has to do whatever we are doing or especially Hadley. If she climbs up on something, he wants to. If she eats or drinks something, he wants some. etc.
-likes coke. I hate this fact! Hadley wouldn't touch the stuff til she was 2. He is so fast and grabbed our straw and took a sip and didn't flinch. Loved it!
-can go up and down stairs great now. loves to play in the loft.
-always carries a ball around the house or has something in his hand.
-won't eat baby food unless its fruit. He wants the real stuff now!

Good thing it was his first birthday and he won't remember because this birthday all came together like a few days before! Note to self: never have another baby close to Christmas! I was so over parties and gifts! I hope he doesn't get jipped his whole life!

We decided to go to St. George and have a small little party. My grandparents came, my aunt and uncle, my friend Ri and Brittany. My unlce Jule who lives in Atlanta was in town for a few days so him and my cousin Justin stopped by for a min too. It was fun!

For Christmas, Grayson's buddies Nate and Ryan gave him an Elmo. He loves it and sleeps with it so we thought he'd love an Elmo party. It might be a tradition for first birthdays because Hadley had an elmo party as well. My mom, Hadley and I made the cake and cupcakes. We made his elmo cake with 2 round cakes and he ate half of it! He would've kept going but we were getting sick watching so we pulled him away!

On his actual birthday we met up with Lindsay, Nate and Ryan for some lunch. He had a good day if I do say so myself. Nate and Ryan spoiled him and then his daddy brought him home a birthday cupcake.

Christmas time!

2012-01-26T14:53:00.000-08:00

I love the holidays! I still can't believe they've come and gone! At the beginning of December the kids and I drove up to St. George to see the "real Santa", he is the same one my mom took us kids to see every year when we were little. Sydney and Nakelle were good sports to put up with us getting a picture with Santa!

Friday the 23rd- Christmas eve round 1:
We asked my family to do an early Christmas so we could be with both families. So on Friday we drove up to St. George and had an early Christmas eve. My mom always makes prime rib and it was delicious! We made our reindeer food so Santa can drop off our jammies. We played left-center-right and opened our gifts from each other.

Sydney and Grayson

Oh this little lady makes me laugh! She is so mad in this picture! She thought she would get to see the reindeer drop off her jammies. Big miscommunication!

Trying to see Rudolph in the sky. Luckily Nakelle saved the night and saw a red flashing light.
Saturday the 24th:
We opened our gifts from my parents and had a nice breakfast. Hadley got a bike!

Watching Hadley play with her bike before we headed to Salt Lake for Christmas eve with Brandon's family.

Nakelle and Grayson

We had a wonderful dinner with Brandon's family! Then we went and looked at Christmas lights before we put the kids to bed.

Hadley was funny this year. Every time we'd ask her what she wanted for Christmas she say, "mom, its a surprise."

Sunday the 25th - Christmas!!:

Caitlin woke us all up at 6,( its the only day I will wake my babies) and the party begins!!

Caitlin and Hadley

It was a great weekend with our families, we were lucky and got to see a few of Brandon's friends and their families too. I wish I had taken more pics!!

Salt Lake

2012-01-04T10:24:00.000-08:00

Salt Lake Nov 4-6th, 2011

This was a very special weekend! Brandon's sister Kristen and her husband Thomas were sealed in the Draper Temple and had their daughter sealed to them. It was so neat being there. What a spiritual weekend it was.

Hadley loves playing in the snow with her Grandpa and his dogs!

Hadley looking for Grandma's ring.

On our way home we were able to see one of Brandon's good friends and right by their house is the "UP" house. It was closed but it was still fun to go show Hadley and see it.

Halloween

2012-01-04T09:49:00.001-08:00

Halloween 2011

We had a fun October doing lots of things to get us in the Halloween spirit!

We went to the Springs Preserve one night with a few friends and they had trick or treating for the kids and little games and booths.

Hadley had a Halloween party at school. Thanks to Miss Erika for lending Hadley her Ariel costume!!

We had our ward's trunk or treat. The kids look forward to the train being there each year and was Hadley's highlight!

On Halloween night, it was pretty low key. We had dinner with the Crouch's and then went trick or treating. After a while, Hadley says to us that she is tired and ready to go home! Fine with us, that worked out better than we had imagined.

Thanks to Britney for sending us this cute costume! Grayson was the cutest little lion you will ever see!

This shows it was a success, they both slept great that night!!

11 Months!

2011-12-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

11 months: He is 20 lbs 9 oz (as of 2 weeks ago)
He has 3 teeth and almost 1 more!

He is all over the place, can open doors, is getting better at standing all by himself, will walk around the living room pushing his train, gives kisses, is finally starting to clap, will FINALLY cuddle with us at bedtime, he pats your back when he hugs you, is a big tease and loves to make you laugh (when I change his bum he will turn to his side so I can't get his diaper on and just giggles) he is in the copying stage and will click his tongue or stick it out if you do it to him. He got his first haircut and loves music.

I love him so much! I can't believe my next post about him will be when he is 1! Where did this year go?

another month...

2011-11-18T14:17:00.000-08:00

10 Months! and is now bigger than his moose!

These are a little blurry because this kid does not hold still for a min!

This month:

* loves to explore and checking out new things
*just give him a box of stuff for him to empty and he is happy. Box of toys or my make-up bag
*loves climbing into the dishwasher, taking the utensils out, licks them and then throws them on the floor and grabs a new one (don't worry I clean them again!)
*loves food, he ate one of Had's chicken nuggets and loved it.
*starting throwing tantrums. He will throw his head back and fall then rolls on his belly and puts his head in the carpet and just kicks his legs. Its kinda funny but after a few more times it won't be:)
*he plays with my hair when I'm walking around just holding him.
*when you feed him at night he'll just reach up and rub your face.
*the last 2 weeks he's finally crawling "normal". No more army crawl.

He is so dang sweet and puts up with a lot from his sister. We love him so much and I can't believe I will be planning his first birthday so soon. Where did this year go?!

Happy birthday!

2011-11-09T16:06:00.000-08:00

Oct 19th: Brandon's day.
Hadley loves to help bake, so we surprised her daddy with a cake and a basket of his favorite treats and a movie. It was a fun day and his boss let him out early so we had a fun evening spending his birthday money! I felt bad because after I bought something for me Hadley started singing, "happy birthday daddy and mommy."

Halloween Festivities

2011-11-09T11:57:00.000-08:00

{ Oct 14 -15th }

A few of my friends and I had a little Halloween lunch for our kiddos. We made mummy pizzas, decorated Halloween cookies, painted pumpkins and made spider plates.
Brandon had the day off so he stayed home with Grayson, so it was nice to just spend time with Hadley.

It was a fun weekend, our friends Jenni and Kelly were in town and then my family showed up as well! We went to the pumpkin patch for their son Bennett's birthday. I offered to make his cake for them, and with some tips/help from Whitney, it ended up being so dang cute!

Hadley, Grayson and Ava.

I forgot socks for my kids (cause who needs them in Oct?) and they wouldn't let Hadley on the slide with out them. But Papa saved the day and had an extra pair of his socks for her to wear!

Bennett and Hadley in the feeding zoo part.

Of course her favorite part, riding Blondie.

Uncle Kason bought Hadley the biggest pumpkin for them to carve. She was so excited!

A weekend with Grandma and Grandpa McDonald

2011-11-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

{ Oct 8-9 }

Brandon's parents came down for the weekend to see Hadley in her first primary program! She was all ready, knew her part and when she got up there she decided she needed to sing it! It was great. She sang "As I read the scriptures, I can become closer to Him."

Hadley got to go on a bike ride with Craig.

We took the kids (and their dogs) to the park.

Grayson does not like the dogs, anytime he'd go by them he'd scream. It was sad!

9 MONTHS!

2011-10-26T10:03:00.001-07:00

My little pork chop is 9 months!
It amazes me how fast it goes! Especially this time around.

Is he not the cutest thing or what!?

This was at his Dr. appointment the other day. (Its a bad pic I took with my phone.)
Weight: 19.8 - 47%
Height: 29.25 in. - 83%
Head: 17.75 in. - 52%

Lindsay took some pics for me the other day and I love his face on this one!
He is always thinking of what he can get into next, he is going to be my little trouble maker!

And this pretty much sums up what Lindsay was dealing with while doing his pics!A few things this month to remember:

*He is done with his binky. Which is good and bad! Good because there was no weening, he did it all on his own terms. Bad because this kid is so LOUD! Church sucks with no binky! He chucks it when you try to give it to him or he sticks his tongue out and refuses to let you put in in.

*He wants to walk, he has to be in a standing position. He walks along the couch and pulls himself up onto anything. Sometimes he will let go and shut his eyes likes he's hoping his legs will just get him to the next place and then he falls hard.

*He chews on everything, he is like a dog.

*He always looks so serious. He is going to have major wrinkles if he keeps this up!

*Loves any food except broccoli. He gags. He is so much more interested in what everyone else is eating. Hadley at his age could have cared less. Grayson sees you eating and will open his mouth every time you take a bite.

*Loves stairs.

*Loves being outside.

*Still has the 2 bottom teeth and waiting for his top ones to pop through.

*Is so ticklish.

*favorite word, "mamma"

*loves looking at pictures! He gets the biggest grin when you show him the pictures on the wall.

2011-10-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

Rodeo weekend

We had such a fun weekend with my family. It was my mom's class reunion weekend as well so that morning at Staheli farm, they had a big breakfast for the families to come eat and play on the farm. It was awesome! I want to live on a farm now, minus all the work.

Hadley LOVES animals so she was in heaven! We got to pet pigs, goats and horses. And she loved feeding them. We could not get her away from the horses, after she spotted them she could care less about the train or the giant trampoline or the swings.

Rodeo 2011

We love the rodeo! The kids were sick but were still troopers. Hadley got to go both nights, we were suppose to as well but it just didn't work out. I'm glad Hadley went the first night because the next night you could tell she wasn't feeling so good.

kiddos

2011-09-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

8 months......

This month has been pretty exciting for him with lots of firsts!
-he {army} crawls everywhere
-he had 2 teeth come in within a day of each other
-got his first cold
-says "goo"
-cries in the car when Hadley is not sitting back there with him
-threw his first tantrum, like on the floor-flinging himself back tantru
m because I wouldn't let him stand in the tub.

-he pulls himself up on everything, this kid moves ALL day long

-went to his first rodeo (a post of its own coming soon...)

-tried out the swings at the park

-had a major growth spurt and we had to literally cut off the feet of his jammies the other night. Pretty junky, I know!

He is so fun, can't hold still, so curious, hates to be left out and does not give up easily.

Hadley at age 4 and almost 4 months....

-loving school
-loves target
-is in this copying everything I say stage.
-loves learning
-loves surprises
-can remember someones name after hearing it once, and lets me know that I always forget
-can keep herself entertained
-is just starting to really ask for friends to come over or for her to go to their houses and play.
and asks for sleepovers. Yikes! (i swore my kids would never be allowed to have sleep overs...)
-is obsessed with ages and not wanting to get old.
she told me "i stop growing when I'm 5 silly."

Salt Lake

2011-09-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

Aug 19th- 21st

My cousin got married last month in Salt Lake so the kids and I headed up there for it. We were so excited to see our a lot of our family that lives far away. My cousin Kim lives in Atlanta and we had our babies a month apart, so we had a deal that we'd meet up for the wedding and meet each others babies! All my mom's sisters were there from Georgia and Arizona so it was a lot of fun! Wish we all lived closer.

visiting my mom at work when we got into town.

My brothers and Syd couldn't make it cause of work, so on our way we went and saw Kason who was working in Fillmore that week.

Hadley picked me a flower all by herself!
After being checked into our hotel for 5 min, we headed to the bridal shower while all the guys and Hadley went bowling!
My cousins: Kim, Hillaree, Karly, Amber and me.

Taylee did not know what to think of these two!
Katelyn 7 months, Taylee 1, Grayson 8 months.

On Saturday before the wedding we got up and headed to Park City. It was so fun and it is so beautiful up there. My dad and I took Hadley on the Alpine slide. She loved it and had her hands up the whole time.

Hanging out before the wedding started.

Kim, Katelyn and me and Grayson. Katelyn is adorable and is the happiest baby ever! She had a smile on her face the whole weekend!
The only pic I have of the bride! She looked so pretty and I loved that she had her mom walk her down the isle! So sweet!

This is my cousin Monique's little girl Chloe. Hadley had so much fun with her! She keeps telling me, "remember my new cousin Chloe, I miss her." We need some cousins to live closer. Hint. Hint.
One of our highlights of the weekend was surprising Grandma and Grandpa McDonald! I'm so mad I didn't take a single pic! We had Erin and Garrett in on our little secret so they were in charge of making sure they'd be home in between the wedding and the reception. So the kids and I waited on the porch while they were at dinner and surprised them when they got home. It was so fun! I love surprises! Their faces were great! Hadley was so excited. It was fun visiting with them and we were so happy that Erin, Garrett, Sylvie, Thomas, Kristin and Avery came by too!

So worn out that she fell asleep with her sucker in her mouth!
After the wedding reception Grayson and Katelyn SCREAMED the whole drive back to the hotel. It was pretty funny.

Saying goodbye! It was nice all staying in the same hotel. Kim and I stayed up late one night and just talked. I loved it. I love my family and cousins! We missed the ones that couldn't make it!

A new year

2011-09-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

Hadley started her 2nd year of preschool today at Miss Erika's. She was a little sad when she realized it wasn't kindergarten! She walked right in with no hesitations which made it so much easier! When I picked her up she was so excited and kept telling me about her fun day. It is going to be a little different this year without all her buddies, good thing there are 2 little guys from our ward so hopefully that will help. She told me her teacher is "adorable."

They had this little booklet all about the first day. They drew a pic of what they looked like the first day, how they wrote their names on the first day and then Miss Erika asked them what they wanted to learn this year in preschool. Hadley's answer, " to fly like a bird."
Hope she's not to disappointed this year!

She also started a dance class this week. She LOVED it! This is going to be a fun year!

I have a mobile baby!

2011-09-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

{ August 31st 2011 }

Look who is mobile! He started army crawling after Hadley's toys on Wed. I don't know who was more excited, Hadley or Grayson! Hadley yelled, "Look how awesome! He is a crawling baby now!" She's been looking forward to this since we brought him home from the hospital. I on the other hand, held him the rest of the day hoping he'd forget! Every day he is getting better and better at it.

Grayson at 7 months

2011-08-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

These pictures are cracking me up now that I have them uploaded on the computer. It pretty much sums him up. He moves constantly, jabbers, has his tongue out all the time, putting everything in his mouth, and then off to the next thing.

7 MonThS:

weight- 17 lbs 14 oz : 23 %
height- 27.5 inches : 57%
head- 17 inches : 24%

This is going to fast for me! 7 months means we are closer to him being 1 than him being my little newborn! He is just getting more and more fun and seeing his little personality and interacting with us is the best.

Grayson at 7 months:
- Said his first word, "mamma." I love it! Hadley's first word was dadda, so I'm loving this. He started saying it just when he cried but now he says it when he's happy as well.

-Moves his right foot in circular motions when he's happy or eating.

-Starting to teethe. His bottom gums are starting to get swollen but nothing yet.

-He doesn't like being in his car seat.

-Started doing this high pitched scream and gags himself when he is mad or not getting fed fast enough. (any tips on how to make a baby stop doing this?? Its pretty annoying and I get dirty looks from people if we are in public!)

-rolls everywhere and gets on his hands and knees and rocks. I think he will be crawling soon.

-does hand stands and head stands. He will do a headstand and then like swan dive forward!

-still takes 3 naps but I think that is almost over!

-puts EVERYTHING in is mouth. Hadley never really did this.

-gets mad when I walk out of the room.

-loves being held even though he doesn't really look at you when you hold him. He is so curious and loves looking at whats going on.

-hates sitting in grass.

-He is pretty stubborn.

-has the cutest, deepest laugh but the highest pitched giggle!

-And last but not least, he is saying "dadda" now. He just puts a 'A' before it though. "adadda"

Our July

2011-07-27T09:49:00.000-07:00

I'm slacking big time with the blog. I feel like I'm 80, I've been sick with pneumonia and it is kicking my butt! Who the heck gets pneumonia in July??? I've been down for 2 weeks and my my kids and house and everything else has been neglected! I hate that feeling, but I'm feeling better and better and hoping I will get my energy back soon. Thank you Kristine, Derek, Cara, Megan and Jen for all your help with me, the kids and bringing us dinner. You guys saved us! And to my mom, thank you for helping us with the kids!! Brandon, I'm sorry I'm the worst sick person to be with!

Grayson:
Grayson turned 6 months on 7/16. I can't even believe he is 6 months! He is getting so big. He is rolling all over, has the loudest highest pitched scream, has the cutest laugh, loves baby food, loves his sister, loves when his daddy gets home from work, almost has the sitting up thing mastered, still won't cuddle with his mamma, loves being outside, grabs everything, still takes 3 naps, sleeps on his belly lately, and has the biggest -cheesiest smile.

Hadley:
She is such a big help with her brother, especially since I've been sick. She keeps him entertained that is for sure! She loves animals, books, TV, when she talks about the past she says "last night", she has bad dreams lately, she has turned into a good little swimmer, loves her swimming lessons most of the time, loves primary, loves knock-knock jokes and she just makes me smile. I love this little lady!

June 30th

We celebrated Kade's birthday! I love my brother and it was fun to be there on his day.

So for the 4th of July, we went to Salt Lake to see Brandon's family. Its not very often the entire family is there the same weekend so when we heard everyone else was coming into town we changed our plans so we could be there!

We had a lot of fun being with everyone! Things to remember about our weekend:
*yummy BBQ's
*beating Brandon in Jenga
*playing games
*celebrating Jill and Jack's birthdays
*family pictures
*Grayson getting bounced off the air mattress and landing on his head
*the parade, getting hit in the head with candy, and all of us getting soaked including the babies!
*playing with all the cousins
*taking Hadley to temple square
*visiting and catching up with everybody!

making smores in the backyard

hanging out at temple square.

Caitlin painting Had's nails.

The big parade!

Me, Erin and Sylvie!

The 3 babies in their cute little 4th of July outfits from Grandma Jill.

Lucy-Hadley-Jack-Jared

After the parade we headed to St. George. We had a BBQ with my family, aunt and uncle and grandparents that night. Then Brandon headed back home and me and the kids stayed the week to hang out with my mom before school started back up!

We went swimming, saw Cars 2, went to Tuacahn and just played and had fun!

Grayson went to bed so my mom, dad, Kade and Sydney took Hadley to the new Carousel in town and watched fireworks.

My dad and his mini-me. My dad watched Grayson so us girls could go see the Little Mermaid at Tuacahn. It was so good until intermission and we got rained out! And then to top it off, in the parking lot we saw this man peeing in a bush and not being discreet about it!

Before the show:

And after! We were soaked! It was a fun night, thanks MOM!!!

5 Months!!!

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

He's 5 months now!

weight: 16lbs 4 oz (50th%)

height: 26 in. (75th%)
head: (50th%)

Oh, he is sooo fun!! I can't get enough of this little man!
He is so smiley now, laughs and makes all sorts of noises.
He's rolling from his belly to his back and almost back to belly.
He likes to play on his belly more and more.
He's grabbing things. Loves his bath.
He loves his rice cereal. Not very cuddly.
He's getting so much better with naps, still sleeps like a champ at night (most the time).
Laughs at Hadley.
So curious and looks at everything taking it all in.
Hates it when he can't see whats going on.
He's been swimming a few times now, and when its not nap time he likes it.
Does not like getting strapped in his car seat. When you start unbuckling he immediately arches his back trying to get out.

My quick get-a-way!

2011-06-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

My good friend Holley and I have been talking about meeting in St. George for a weekend with no kids or husbands. I haven't seen Holls for over a year so it was well needed! We've known each other forever and I've missed her so much!
My parents were out of town so we used their house, it worked out nice! We stayed up talking til 2 or 3 a.m every night reminiscing about the good ol' days! We slept in, shopped, ate and swam. It was perfect! Somehow, I only got one picture of our whole weekend.

We went to dinner with Kason one night and he's known to do anything if you offer him money. So we told him if he ate the huge jalapeno pepper we'd buy him ice cream. That sucker made him cry! It was hilarious.

I love you holley bo bolley, maybe next time you can bring your family so I can meet Hudson!!

Our fun filled weekend

2011-06-15T14:07:00.000-07:00

June 2nd, Hadley turned 4!! This makes me feel old! She is such a big girl and was so excited for her birthday this year. We wanted to make her day special, so before we went to bed we blew up a bunch of balloons and put them in her room so when she woke up she would be so excited. These balloons kept popping so I was so nervous that they would pop during the night and scare her to death. Luckily they didn't.

I guess this is our birthday tradition, we met up with Lindsay and her boys and went to chuck e cheese. The kids loved it and got some fun prizes just because it was Had's birthday!

Brandon always brings Hadley a cupcake on her birthday. She made him put a candle in it so she could turn 4 she said. Right after he left, she was outside waving to him and turned around and tripped and her cupcake went under my car. It was very devastating!! Thank goodness he brings me a cupcake too, because it came in handy this year.

I swore I was not going to do a birthday party this year. I was taking advantage of the last year before she would be totally into it. But I like making my kids cakes on their birthday, kind of our tradition. So the plan was cake and ice cream and a few friends and no actual party. Well she wanted a tangled/barbie birthday cake. So I thought I'd make pascal cupcakes and a barbie cake. This cake kicked my butt!! What a pain. The cake fell apart when I put the barbie in it so plan B was just a round cake with the sun from tangled on it. Well drawing a sun with frosting was harder than it sounded! So plan C the round cake with an "H" on it!

She loves playing Rapunzel and I have to pin a long piece of toilet paper or anything long like that in her hair. So I thought I'd make this long braid for the decor and then she could have it to play with. This sucker took over an hour to make and all three of us! It was fun though, she loved it.

Her cute little friends. We got lucky that Chase and Connor were visiting from Salt Lake!

I love my family!! After the party was over they all showed up!! They came down just to eat cake and ice cream and give Hadley her presents in person! My mom stayed with us for a few days and everyone else went home that night. It was fast but so fun! Hadley loves her uncles and aunt syd! She was spoiled.

June 3rd:

Hadley had her last day of soccer! We made it through it! They had a pizza party at the park to get their trophies. A few weeks ago Hadley even scored a goal!!!!
We will miss the Sharks!!

June 4th: We had a lot of fun while my mom was here. We took her to see Kung Fu Panda 2 and went to dinner after. She got a birthday treat, and after she blew out her candle she asked me if she is 5 now.

June 5th: Grayson started rolling! He is liking being on his tummy now, and rolled over 3 times that night!

I love you mom, thanks for staying with us and letting me and Brandon have a few date nights!!!

Things to remember about Hadley at 4:

She is 37 lbs and 42 inches tall.
She was so brave and did not cry when she got her 4 year old shots.
I asked her a few questions and here are her answers:
Favorite color is Orange. Favorite food is watermelon. Favorite thing to play is princesses or swimming.
She loves any animals and plays with stuffed animals over dolls.
She loves barbies, dressing up and watching movies.
She has the best imagination and is so smart. She has such a great memory.
She loves to pick up Grayson or pull him around the room by his feet. ( I'm in trouble!)
She is a big helper at home.
Loves primary.
Loves music.
She loves to color now or cut paper.
She says that when she is 5 she will like more foods and will know everything.
She is a big tease.
She has an imaginary boyfriend named Danny Phantom.

2011-05-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

Last night we gave Grayson rice cereal for the first time!
You could tell he didn't know quite what to think at first with a spoon.
Did great after that, no funny faces so I think he liked it!

Hadley's first year of preschool!

2011-05-29T09:50:00.001-07:00

Hadley finished her first year of preschool last week! What a fun year it has been for her. She has loved it. And it is so fun to see just how much she's learned!

On the last day of school Ms. Monaca did a luau and invited the mom's to come eat and watch the pinata. After watching Hadley and the pinata, I think its safe to say sports are not in her future:)

While we were waiting to go to the luau, Lindsay and Alex came over and we were preparing our stuff to take. Well, Ryan was climbing up my kitchen chair and didn't quite make it up. Lindsay picked him up and was cuddling him and when he lifted up his head we saw blood! His tooth had bit through his lip. This little dude is so tough! He stopped crying just after a min or so. We had Derek and Kristine, our very own house call Dr and nurse meet us at preschool. They told us to have it checked and he probably needed a stitch or two. Thanks to Megan and Alex for taking our kids so I could go with Lindsay to the urgent care. Needless to say, it was a long wait and no stitches!! They thought it would be more traumatic to hold him down for 1 stitch.

I'm bad luck for Lindsay, cause the next day we had a collision with Nate!

Who's Your Daddy?

2011-05-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

So Kiley and I were watching the Billboard Music Awards last night and we noticed a striking resemblance between the rapper Pitbull and our son Grayson. So I decided to compare a pictures of Grayson with a picture of Pitbull and a picture of me. Who do you think this kid resembles more?

4 MoNthS

2011-05-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

4 MONTHS

don't mind that he's giving me the bird.

He's a great little shopping buddy when Had's at preschool! After we got home he crashed on the couch.

I love and hate that my little man is 4 months. I know I say it every month, but it is just going by way to fast! I'm loving this age though!

We weighed him on the Wii and according to that he is 14lbs 9 oz. I think its off a little though, we will find out in a few weeks at his dr's app.

*he has been an awesome sleeper, until now. He has been waking up 2 times a night for a few weeks. I think its a growth spurt or something. Last night he slept a straight 11 hrs, so hopefully its over now!
*he has found his hands and eats them non stop
*he is spitting up more
*he is finally laughing, although it takes a lot to make him laugh and usually his mamma to do it.
*hates tummy time
*starting to fight the car seat. Ugg, I hope this is just a phase! He arches his back and growls when we put him in it.
*he is my sensitive child. Things freak him out and scare him and there is no consoling him!
*loves baths
*starting to not like his binky
*loves looking at himself in the mirror
*is very ticklish

Here will be one of his black mail pics in the future. After the kids baths the other night Hadley wouldn't put on her jammies so we told her Grayson would wear them. Sad that these 3T jammies were not huge on him! And I had to throw in a cute bow! I miss the headbands, I'll be honest!

St. George

2011-05-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

{ May 6th & 7th }

Brandon's sister Erin and her family were in St. George and my Sister in Law Sydney graduated college so we went up there to celebrate both!

We always have a fun time with Erin, Garrett and Sylvie! Went out to dinner, got our butts kicked in games and just had fun visiting and playing with Sylvie! The boys even found time to go golfing and next time me and Erin get to go do something:)
Hadley LOVES Erin and was her shadow while we were there! When she was helping her get Sylvie to bed, she asked where Sylvie was going to sleep. Then she asked where the flat haired guy with her was going to sleep at. When Erin told her in the same bed as her, she thought for a min and said, "oh, my mom and dad sleep in the same bed too!"

Little buddies!

Pizza Factory!

Saying good bye at the condo. Erin, we need to do this more often and meet in St. George!!

On Sat, we went to Cedar to watch Sydney graduate!! She is officially a teacher Woohoo!! I couldn't be more proud of her and all her hard work! It was so great being up there on her special day. We love you Sydney! You are a great sister and aunt. After the graduation we went over to her mom's for a yummy dinner. It was fun visiting with everyone, she has a great family. It was a great day!

I had to throw this in, he is so dang cute!!

My 27th!

2011-05-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

{ April 30th }

Had the best birthday!
Woke up to breakfast and a cake.
Hadley kicked the ball at her soccer game for my special day.
My kids were on their best behavior all day.
I got some beautiful flowers.
Grateful for all the cards, texts and love I got from my friends!
Went to dinner with Brandon and our friends Lindsay and Wes.
Met up with Alex and Pat and went to a movie.
Grateful for our friends who watched the kids.
Thank you Brandon for making my day so wonderful, you are very thoughtful! xoxo

Bonjour!

2011-05-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

{ April 12th-14th }

Brandon's friends from France came to visit! It is always great to see them and hear Brandon speak French. Hadley loves them and remembered them from their last visit. They brought her a horse book and stickers so that helped her warm up really fast!

The Esmieus' are so fun and have way more energy than I do. We do the same things every time they come, its kinda funny : Eat at Chili's, shop at the outlets, go to the strip (but we can't go during the day we have to go at night), stay up late and shop some more! After 6 years of living here we finally got our picture taken in front of the famous "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas" sign.

It is such a great feeling and spirit having them in our home. I love that Brandon has kept in touch with them after 10years of being home from his mission. It is great to see how good they are doing.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-28T16:41:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter in St. George this year! It was great having my cousin and Aunt there from Phoenix as well. We decorated Easter eggs with everyone and we drove my mom crazy. I made the comment that I don't remember ever decorating Easter eggs when I was younger and when my brother Kade agreed it went downhill from there! So the rest of our weekend consisted of her throwing out memories from when we were little and us thinking she was nuts.

A few funny Hadley quotes from the weekend: during church she says to my mom, "Grandma, why are we singing? We do NOT sing at my church." and after dinner we usually read the Easter story and we were kinda being bums about it so we said Kason, you just tell us it. And Hadley says, "Kason, not again." in a bored and annoyed voice. It was hilarious.

So here is our picture of our first Easter decorating eggs!

Jessi, me and G.

Having fun with Robin Eggs.

My mom is so cute with Hadley and creative too! Here they are making little chicks.

Easter morning Hadley and Grayson woke up to a note and clue on the front door from the Easter bunny. After finding all the clues, she finally found her Easter basket hiding in the tub. (Apparently the Easter bunny sucks at drawing a tub, cause it took some time figuring that clue out!)

She thought it was so funny. She loved her kite, puzzle and Easter outfit.

Trying to get a pic before church. I love Easter Sunday! I love the spirit that you feel, the songs sung in church and the wonderful talks! The older I get the more emotional I get I swear!

After our yummy lunch we went to the school to have an Easter egg hunt and let Hadley fly her kite. I hope my cousin Jessi will come back after the surprise we left her in one of her eggs! Not the most appropriate but if you want a good laugh come to one of our Easter egg hunts.
I love her face in this pic. She is taking this seriously!

I love that my parents still make it fun even though we are all old! Yes she made us all hunt for eggs too!

Hadley loves her uncle Kade and aunt Syd! I'm sad I didn't get one pic of Sydney, she was there I promise!

3 Months!

2011-04-22T08:30:00.001-07:00

3 Months:
12lbs 8oz {50th percentile}
24 inches long {50th percentile}
and we were surprised his head is only in the 25th percentile!

Can I just stop time PLEASE! I love this stage! The toothless grins, the baby talk, not mobile and he still likes to be held! He really is the sweetest thing ever!

*He was very dramatic with his shots! Cried for a half hour non stop!!! And then I swear he wouldn't smile at me the rest of the day!

* cat napper and will give me one really great nap during the day

*sleeps from 8 -4:30 or 5:30 eats and goes back down til 8

*pretty much just on formula now and doing great

*can almost fit his whole fist in his mouth.

*snores

*smiley

*drools

*only likes his binky sometimes now

*very rigid, sometimes he's awkward to hold cause he won't sit, just stays straight!

*he is so gassy and smelly

*when he "talks" he flares his nostrils and just says "OHHH" over and over

*still gets swaddled when he sleeps

*still has a pretty chill personality

He got his first cough and we've been doing breathing treatments with him. No RSV, just a cough. These allergies are killing all of us this month!

Daddy time, he will just sit there and talk and smile to Brandon. It is so cute!

Salt Lake

2011-04-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

{ April 8-10th }

We went up to Salt Lake for a quick trip to see Brandon's sister's baby be blessed! She is a doll and her daddy did a wonderful job! It is so fun because we have 2 new babies on Brandon's side of the family and then our little guy! So we've been wanting to get up there to meet these cute little girls!

Of course the weather had to be horrible and freezing, but it didn't stop us. We had a good time visiting, playing in the snow(ok, just Hadley), going out to dinner, playing with puppies and babies, and playing games.

As soon as Hadley was ready on Saturday, she wanted to get out and play in the snow! She had fun with Grandpa Craig! They started making a snowman but it ended up being a T-Rex Snowman named Lisa with grass eyelashes.

Grayson and Avery

Sylvie - Grayson - Avery
Sylvie was born in Dec, Grayson in Jan and Avery in Feb!! They are going to have so much fun together, I'm excited! (Now we just need to recruit one of them to move down here so we can play more!)

Right before we were headed home she had to jump around in the snow one last time!

Go Sharks!

2011-04-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

We put Hadley in soccer this year and thought she'd love it! Or at least we'd have pure entertainment every Saturday watching a bunch of 3 year old's play! Well we were kinda off. She only likes soccer at the practices when she has her ball all to herself and she doesn't have to fight a bunch of boys to have a chance to kick it! Her first game we had a fun morning with my parents and then we got to the game early and she practiced for a bit so by the time the game started she was done with it. She played the first half and then when she came out for half time we couldn't get her back in. She just sat there and cheered on her team. Thanks to Wes yesterday who just picked her up and made her come on the field, saved our day!

Fun with friends

2011-04-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

When Brandon was in school every year for spring break we'd meet up with our good friends Britney and Travis for a little vacation. Well now that he doesn't get spring breaks we haven't gone anywhere with them for a while. We've been talking about doing something and it finally happened! They came down to Vegas for 3 days and it was sooo fun! To bad they brought the crappy weather with them!

We started things out by doing each others hair, going to lunch and taking the kids to the M&M and Coca~Cola Factory and to see the lions at MGM. Then after a yummy dinner we ran away to Target. My favorite part is when we'd put the kids down and have our late night chats!

Saturday the weather was awful so we went to the mall and then decided to be nice and take our kids to a park until we couldn't handle the cold and wind any longer. We ordered take out and had a movie night watching Mega Mind. Its so cute to see see Hadley and Nolan lay on the floor with their blankets and pillows and laugh and talk about the movie together. Hadley loved Nolan and Lincoln, they all played so good together.

I know Nolan was ready to get back home, but I was so sad to see them leave! I love ya Brit and Trav, come back soon!

Grayson's Blessing

2011-03-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

Grayson was so dang cute on his big day! He didn't make a peep which made Brandon so happy!
Brandon did a wonderful job, the Spirit was so strong. We are grateful for our family and friends who made this day special for us. My brother Kason brought my grandparents down for the day! My grandpa really wanted to be there and it meant so much to me! I know it wasn't easy getting them here. Its so hard for them to travel these days!

Fun day, but glad its over with, I'm not gonna lie!!!!!!!

getting him all ready for his big day!

{ March 6th, 2011 }

grandma and grandpa McDonald
grandma and grandpa Prisbreygreat grandma and grandpa pope
Nate loves Grayson and is so cute with him!

Grayson 2 months!

2011-03-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

I've been putting this off long enough... my baby is 2 months!

Things I need to remember:

* our porker weighs 11lbs 5 oz

*he started smiling on March 4th

*he was blessed on March 6th

*he always has to be sucking on something, hand, binky or whatever! I refuse to let him be a thumb sucker! good thing when he sucks on his cute little hand he tucks his thumb in and never gets it in his mouth

*the kid would eat all day if I let him and would drink anything. (he didn't poop for almost a week, so we gave him some apple juice. I kept waiting for him to make faces because it was cold and not milk, well it didn't phase him. He loved it)

*he is still not on a schedule and I'm looking forward to the day we will be again!

*he's been sleeping one long stretch at nights

*he likes his car seat

*he's not a spitter like Hadley was

*he LOVES Hadley, he will just sit there and watch her play or smile at her

*he makes the cutest sounds when he's "talking" to us

*loves his daddy

*poops every time we sit down for church

*loves bath time

*loves to be held, he's a little more "needy" than Hadley was as a baby but we are loving it.

Hadley 3 yrs and 9 months:

weighs 37lbs

almost 42 inches

*she is being the best little helper lately. She loves helping with dinner and dishes.

*loves saying prayers. Our prayer tonight was "bless our dinner. Heavenly Father, well....... Grayson cries all the time. Amen"

*loves baths, horses, dinosaurs, soccer, her friends, bambi, school.

She makes me laugh daily and has the best little imagination ever.

Grandma and Grandpa Great!

2011-03-13T00:09:00.001-08:00

{ February 11th }

I have the best grandparents in the world and have been so excited for them to meet my little Grayson. We had a little scare with my grandma so I thought I better get my butt up there to make this introduction. The kids did great on our first road trip with Grayson and no daddy!

Meeting Kade and Sydney Grandma Pope
Grandpa Pope
Cousin Taylee
Hanging out with Grandpa Pris

My Hadley!

2011-03-12T23:28:00.000-08:00

Oh Hadley, where do I start?

This girl makes me smile, laugh, happy, crazy and she sure makes me mad!
This age is fun, exhausting and emotionally draining me lately. We are in the sensitive, competitive and gets embarrassed easy phase.

Funny and sweet things to remember though:

She was being so naughty while I was nursing Grayson and I asked her why she was so mad and her response, "I just want long hair like Rapunzel and my hair is just too short."

Her prayer the other night, "Heavenly Father, grateful for this day. Grateful mommy can pump to make Grayson happy. Amen."

While I was reading our Easy to Read Book of Mormon to her she tells me that the Holy Ghost protects us. I asked her who she heard this from and she said her primary teachers. She says the Holy Ghost says watch out you don't want to trip!

She then asked me why Jesus doesn't go to church.

She was naughty at preschool and cried most of the time, when I picked her up she said, "mommy I just missed you so much so I cried at school today."
And then later that day she told me she cried at school because she just hates the letter Q.

Oh I hope I make it past this stage! Mommies, if have some good advice I need it!

She is obsessed with her scooter and we've been taking advantage of this great weather before it gets to hot by going on some fun scooter rides!

Aunt Cailtin

2011-03-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

{ Feb 2-6 }

We had such a fun visit from Aunt Caitlin! She came down to help out after I had Grayson. She was soo helpful that I kept offering for her to move in. We had a lot of fun cooking, shopping, playing games (I made her and Brandon play every night since there was more than just us two) and going out to dinner. We even had time for the two of us to go have lunch and get pedicures. It was fun having girl time and hanging out, wish we could do this more!

Grayson is 1 month!

2011-02-16T20:05:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my little man is 1 month today! Is it sad I'm actually depressed about it?! Why does it have to go by so fast?

We have enjoyed this last month with Grayson so much. He is such a sweet little guy and brings so much joy to our family. There is nothing sweeter than a newborn and their little spirit!

Things to remember:

* as of last week he weighed 8lb 4 oz
* this kid is loud! His grunts, sneezes, moans and farts!
* he is always pooping compared to Hadley when she was a newborn!
* he was jaundice and had to get his heal pricked every other day for a week.
* most nights he sleeps 3 - 5 hrs. (wish the 5 hr stretch was more consistent)
* he sleeps the best in the swing or his bouncer/cradle thing.
* he lost a pound after he was born.
* we made it through his circumcision.
* he loves to be held and snuggled.
* sometimes he likes to be swaddled.
* he gets MAD when he is hungry and waking up.
* he is a chill little baby!

His little pose he does during diaper changes.

He is pretty patient and lets us girlies do what we want with him!

Hadley at 3 1/2
She is silly, fun, funny, sassy, sensitive and dramatic!

Things to remember about this little woman:

* When she came to the hospital she said, "Is this my brother? This is totally awesome! He is adorable!"

* We never had the "talk" of how Grayson would be eating. The first time I nursed she said, "Mom, what are you doing?" After we explained to her she said, "that is GROSS"

* For the first week she kept asking if he could crawl yet and that she wanted to teach him.

* It took her 2 weeks but now she talks to him, helps with his binky, burps him and loves wiping his butt.

* Does NOT like to hold her brother yet.

* One morning I pumped instead of nursing him, I asked her if she'd feed him while I did my hair. With a scared little face she says, "I don't want to pump milk out of my boobies!"

* finally she said to us the other night while we were driving to dinner, "I love being a big sister!"

*She says, "Chaa." Instead of "yes"

* She calls Grayson our chunky monkey.

* She tells people, "this is my brother Grayson, he has a big head"

*She calls the roads car tracks.
our downstairs closet a horse pantry. (we keep her toys and her horse bucket in there)

Grayson Bennion McDonald

2011-01-26T15:32:00.000-08:00

Birth Story:

Sunday January 16th, 1-4PM.: (At this point I've been at a 4cm for almost 2 weeks and having contractions, and been on bed rest until I made it to 37 weeks. I had been off bed rest for 3 days at this point) We are at church and I'm having major cramps and contractions the whole time. I kept telling my friend Kristine I think I peed my pants. Right when I get home and make it to the bathroom I realize my water broke. I called my sister in law Erin who is a nurse to ask her advice. I didn't want the hospital to tell me I'm just peeing my pants and send me home! She tells me to go in and get checked. Brandon calls my mom but we tell her not to leave until we know I'm in labor.

4:30 pm : I call Kristine to see if we can bring Hadley over. We drop her off and Brandon and I are starving, we are talking about going through a drive through before we go to the hospital. My contractions are getting worse so I tell him lets just go get checked first.

5:05 pm: We check in at the hospital, they send me to triage. They come in to check me. My water is broke and I'm at a 7 cm. I'm kinda freaking out praying that I get an epidural before my little man makes his arrival! They hurry and get me an IV and start all the stuff so I can get my epidural. Call my mom and tell her to get here fast if she wants to see anything!

5:45 pm: They take me to the delivery room. I'm having really strong contractions, still begging for my epidural, and squeezing the crap out of Brandon's hand!

6 pm: My epidural man comes on in!

6:20 pm: I'm dying still and having back labor. The nurses are telling me how great I'm doing and that I can tolerate pain. And how I better have him by 7 because that is when all there shifts end. I'm thinking no I'm going to die if this thing doesn't kick in and I don't want to push until I'm numb!

6:30 pm: I'm almost good and numb, they check me and I'm at a 9 cm. They call the doctor, we call my mom. They are both hurrying!

6:40 pm: My doctor comes in while we do a practice push, she immediately jumps in and I keep pushing.

6:54 pm: Grayson arrives! 3 weeks early, weighing 7lbs 11 oz. 19 1/2 inches long.

6:56 ish pm: Right when they put him on the scale my mom walks in! She heard him crying in the hall and barely missed it :(

Monday January 17th: My awesome doctor and one of our fabulous delivery nurses come to visit and just say hi!

My mom and Hadley came to hang out with me for a bit so Brandon could go home and have a break. I can't sleep in the hospital, I kept him up all night talking about how cute our baby was and what the heck we were going to name him. I had some friends come visit too so that made our day better too!

Jealous of our awesome view?!

I don't know if all hospitals do this but at ours they do a nice dinner for the mom and dad. (Since its at the hospital its probably the most expensive meal we will have!) So here is our date night in the hospital. Also this was the moment where we had to turn in the birth certificate so we had to decide on a name!

And late Monday night they let us go home!!!!!!!!!

Grayson brought Hadley a Jessie doll from Toy Story.
She picked out a giraffe for him but threw it on the couch when she noticed he brought her something!

This birth was completely different from Hadley's. It was just me and Brandon and everything went so fast! It was pretty cool. We had amazing nurses who were so much fun that whole night! We have been so blessed. I can't believe this whole thing is over, it was a long time coming trying to even get pregnant with this little guy and we are so grateful to have him in our lives. We are so grateful for our ward and our friends who have been so thoughtful and good to us through out this whole thing!

Its Christmas time!

2011-01-12T16:03:00.000-08:00

This was such a fun time of year with Hadley now that she is a little older. It is so fun having the "magic of Christmas" back, now that we have a child old enough to kinda get Christmas. Hadley's wish list was an orange scooter, pink camera with flowers on it, helicopter (at one point) and a big black horse. "And that's all" she'd say after she told ya what she wanted in a sweet little voice.
To get us in the Christmas spirit we:

wrote Santa a letter.
went to our ward Christmas party.
story times at the library.
watched lots of Christmas movies.
opened a new Christmas book from Grandma every few days.
decorated a gingerbread house.
visited Santa.
decorated a Christmas tree with dots.
Christmas party at school.
called Santa (aka my brothers, to threaten, I mean remind Hadley to be nice!)
drove around to look at Christmas lights.

This year was our year to be up in Salt Lake with Brandon's family. We new that wasn't happening with me being huge and pregnant. And now that Hadley is getting bigger we didn't really want to go anywhere. I started to get worried how this Christmas was going to turn out, if we were going to have a very quiet and lonely Christmas or what! My family told us they'd be down on Christmas day and wanted to try and make it here before Hadley woke up. We have the greatest friends here and a few invited us over on Christmas eve so we wouldn't be all alone.

We ended up having an early dinner with some friends and then that way we could all do our own things and traditions with our families that evening.

After dinner we came home and made our Reindeer food to spread across our front yard. So they can find our house for Santa.
Then we came in and read about Jesus' birth and tried to explain to a 3 year old why we celebrate Christmas.
Then we checked outside to see if Santa dropped off our first present and sure enough he did! It was Hadley's Christmas jammies!

Then we made our treats for Santa and left some carrots for his reindeer.
After Hadley was in bed... the fun began! I loved it, we wrapped presents and set up everything, watched a Christmas movie. And my parents surprised us and made it here late that night!

Here's how it looked before we went to bed.

Here we are before the madness began.

Santa hid her scooter by the TV to see how long it would take her to find it. It was so funny when she finally found it. She gasped and said, "my scooter! See I told you guys I wanted a scooter!"

She told me one day that she wanted to get her daddy a black stone. After a few days of talking about it we went out front and found a black rock and painted it for him. She was so excited to wrap it and give it to him, it was so dang cute!

We had the BEST Christmas this year and I have to admit it was so nice staying home! Brandon spoiled us, we had yummy food thanks to grandma and grandpa and now we are ready for baby boy to come!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. It was our year to be with my family in St. George.
Here are a few pics of our fun day.

Brandon brought Toy Story 3 for the kids to watch while we set up dinner and so he could crash.

We had a few things planned before dinner to keep the kiddos entertained since we were all at my grandparent's house. We didn't end up doing them until after dinner but they still had fun!

Making turkeys

Decorating faces with all sorts of things we found in the pantry! This was a hit with all the kids, I don't know why I only have a pic of Brandon making his!

Hadley and Beckam hitching a ride down the hall on grandpa's walker!

The best part of the day was watching the kids play in the leaves like we did when we were younger! We piled them under the tree and tried talking the kids to jump out into the leaves. Safe, I know. We gave our parents a hard time for letting us all do that when we were younger and unsupervised! Dawson was the only brave one who actually jumped. We got Hadley into the tree but she kept saying, "its to high." Then we had a huge leaf throwing party and then cleaned them up into several bags!!!! I'm glad I don't have to do that every day!

Me and Hadley stayed for 4 days to help with my grandparents. My grandpa just had his 4th knee surgery and my grandma isn't doing so hot these days. What an experience. I was glad I could stay and spend time with them and give my mom a few days off since her and my dad pretty much take care of them. But wow, it is HARD work!!
I was at my grandparents house in the morning til late at night when they went to bed, so I couldn't really go see anyone plus we weren't feeling so good. So I was so grateful for the friends who stopped by to say hi!!! I love ya Brit and Jeanie!!!

Our October...

2010-11-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

Things to remember about October:

*Had a great conference weekend. My family came down to watch Sunday's session of conference. This was us playing games after. Every time Papa needed his glasses so did Hadley.

*PBR with some of our favorite people. *Hadley's preschool had a Halloween party and parade. Here is her cute little class. She LOVES preschool!!

*Had a fun surprise baby shower for Erin. (Thanks Caitlin for putting it together) Wish we lived closer so we could do girl things more often!!

*Saw some good friends while we were in Utah. We actually had a minute to meet up for lunch with the Gardners. Hadley asked for the camera and if she didn't I wouldn't have gotten these ones. Wish I would've thought to take pics when we saw the Phillips, the Richards and Drages! It was fun seeing all of you, thanks for letting us intrude!

*We went trick-or-treating in Brandon's parents neighborhood with our little "girl" pirate. She has to make that clear to anyone who asked her what she was dressing up as. Forgot how cold Utah Halloweens are! It was fun though even though Hadley made Brandon say, "trick-0r-treat" for her.

* My sister in law Kristen got married!! It was great and we had the best weekend! That one gets it own post once we figure out the picture situation!

*I'm 28 weeks now! And the nausea is coming back. I'm feeling quite large. This pregnancy is flying by. Poor kid is still nameless and probably will be for awhile. Pregnancy #2 is bringing on different pains I never had with Hadley, like charlie horses, major right rib pains, leg pains, braxton hicks and killer heartburn. I'm for sure more hormonal this round and is willing to pay someone to come organize my house!

Pumpkin patches

2010-11-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year and all the festivities! We were able to do a few pumpkin patches in October (actually all with in a week) which were so fun for the kids! Our play group gets together a few times a month and for one of the activities they arranged for just our group to go play! They had a few rides, the big blow up slide, a train ride, chickens, rabbits and they got to feed a goat and take home a pumpkin.

Pumpkin Patch #2, was the same one as the first. I just intruded went with Lindsay and her ward so we could go again since it was so fun! (and so much cheaper with a group!) Thanks Linds!

Pumpkin Patch #3: Since the first ones didn't have the pony rides open during the day I promised Hadley we could go and take dad and ride the ponies one night. This one was more on the scary side for pumpkin patches! Good thing Brandon came with! I'm pretty sure we were the only ones without a cigarette behind our ears. This one had a little ferris wheel, a maze and a few different rides. My dang camera broke though so this is all I got!

Happy 30th Brandon!

2010-10-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

Yes this day finally did come. Sad but true. He's been dreading it all year and he survived! I think its safe to say it was a good birthday. He is truly the best. I love him so much and wanted him to have a great day. It actually was a few days of celebrating.

Some things to remember:

My mom came down for the weekend and took Hadley so Bran and I could spend a day together just the two of us.

I told him our first stop was shopping and it would be so nice to just walk around and shop with no toddler. I know he wasn't as excited as I was. So when we pulled up to town square I told him he could open his first gift. It was a framed pic of a TV and some birthday $. After years of him wanting a new TV and Lindsay and my mom talking me into it, I caved! This was the ultimate surprise and perfect for his big ol' birthday. I really thought he might cry! So we went across the street and picked it up.

Of course when we brought it home to drop it off, it couldn't just sit in the box. So we had to put it together and watch football for a bit before we could head on our way.

We had a nice dinner at Maggiano's, his favorite Italian place.

We did actually enjoy some shopping with no Hadley.

Went and saw "Social Network".

On his actual birthday {oct 19th} Had and I took him to lunch and brought him a little goody we made. Its kinda junky but its the thought that counts.

Also my brother celebrated his birthday 2 days before Brandon. While my mom was down we ended up getting some Barry Manilow tickets. It was going to be Brandon and my mom going cause Barry's not my thing but we ended up talking my dad into going. So Kason and my dad drove down just for the night. So we had a little birthday party for the 2 birthday boys.

And talked them into helping Brandon put together our new Ikea purchases.

Well Kason helped, my dad just.... observed. Late night at the concert I guess.

Girl time!

2010-10-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

This trip has been in the works for a while! Lindsay and I were talking about running away for her birthday back in June and making an Ikea trip out of it as well. Getting pregnant definitely threw off our plans and plus summer is just busy anyways. So it finally worked out for us to get the heck out of dodge!

Two of our friends moved back to Utah so it was so fun to see them and catch up without our kids! Thanks Leslie for letting us crash at your place! Its been way to long since I've seen you guys! And Nancee, thanks for taking time out of your weekend to come spend the day with us! We miss you guys so much!

Here we are at Ikea with our 4 carts!!! 5 hours at Ikea = Kankles for me!

Rodeo Time!

2010-10-04T17:18:00.001-07:00

{ Sep 18th }

Anyone who knows our family knows we take the Dixie Roundup pretty seriously! I don't think I've missed one year my whole life! Its a fun family tradition we look forward to with my grandparents and a few of our cousins and we sit in the same seats every year. (wish our other cousins could join us too!) I'm pretty sure this is what started Hadley's obsession with horses.

Hadley's morning started earlier than ours. She had a "sleep over" on grandma and papa's floor. And early Sat grandma took her to the rodeo breakfast they started this year. Hadley got to feed some animals, pet horses and sheep and talk to the clowns. (pictures are on my mom's camera, dang it)

Its been a while since we've gone to the parade but I knew Hadley would love it so we took her this year. She loved catching the candy, getting a balloon, all the horses, cowboys and cowgirls and especially the rodeo princess!

Had's big day!

2010-09-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

{Sep 9th}

Hadley started preschool, I still can't believe it! She LOVES it! She's going to Flying Colors preschool with Ms. Monaca. Hadley loves her and her classroom is adorable! Its so cute when she tells us about her day and what they learned. That morning she was so excited. We ate breakfast and got all ready, then she wore her back pack around the house for 30 min before we left.

Here are some attempts of getting the "first day of school" pics.

I love this picture of her and her buddies! Nate-Harrison-Hadley

Then after school she got the best surprise, her papa was down for work and had an extra hour to kill. He came to visit, eat otter pops with us, look at her homework and let us play in the diesel which she calls "mac".

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-20T08:17:00.001-07:00

{Sep 4th-6th}

We had a great long weekend with the family! (To bad Kade and Sydney couldn't make it.) They were suppose to come down Fri night and Hadley was so dang excited. After a very long day for my dad and Kason, they decided to come Sat morning. When we were putting Hadley to bed Fri night she asked where grandma, papa and kason were. When we told her they would be here in the morning she said in a sad little voice, "you teased me." Which translates to " you lied to me!" It was so cute and so sad!

So once they got here, our friends Lindsay and Wes let us all come crash at there fabulous pool! It was wonderful, thanks guys!! We had a fun night at dinner. When we were leaving the restaurant, Hadley saw a lady with long very pink hair. When we were right in front of her table Hadley freezes and stares and says loudly, "mom, look! She has pretty pink hair. Like my ponies!" Oh man, I'm not ready for these innocent, honest comments that will embarrass me!

Monday we went bowling and out to lunch before they left us. Of course I take no pictures until the last day! And most of these pics turned out bad cause our camera sucks and Brandon will give me a hard time for not fixing red eye but I can't figure it out today, oh well.

Had and papa bowling.

Waiting so patiently for her turn.

Cheering everyone on.

She loved having the air blow her hair.

After she would let the ball go, and it took 5 min for it to reach the pins she would do dance moves or a head stand while she waited. This is all I could capture though.

6 years!

2010-09-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

{aug 20-21}

I'm so behind on blogging! In August we celebrated our 6 year anniversary! It was so much fun! We decided to do a stay-cation. We live in Vegas, so we thought we'd enjoy it the way we would if we came here to visit!

A huge THANK YOU to my parents who came down to watch Hadley for the night.

It ended up working great because our good friends Kelly and Jenn were trying to plan something in Vegas that same weekend. So we ended up all staying at the Red Rock Casino, swimming and going to our favorite buffet at the Paris. While Kel and Jenn went to a show on the strip we ended up going back and seeing a movie. It was the best time doing whatever we wanted with no kids, relaxing and spending time with our friends who we miss so much!

And I am horrible with our camera, I had to steal these off Kelly's blog. I guess this is what happens when you are married 6 years you stop taking pics of your anniversary!

We weren't the only ones having fun that weekend. Hadley loves her grandma and papa and gets so excited when they sleep at her house. They took her to dinner and played a ton and even took her to see my dad's friend's fire truck. She thought she was so cool!

Its a....

2010-08-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

BOY!!!

We couldn't be more excited and still in shock.

Our reaction: "Are you serious?!" "No way!" and maybe some happy tears!

Hadley's reaction: LOTS of not-so-happy tears. "Say its a sister" "I need a sister" "i don't want a brother"

We told her Heavenly Father gets to choose and her response: "Heavenly Father wants a brother but I need a sister"
Whenever one of us would tell someone on the phone she'd say to the other, tell mom/dad to say its a sister! Followed by more tears!!

Good thing we have til Feb! We need all the time to get her excited!

Our family of 3....

2010-07-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

will be a family of 4!

Its true, baby #2 will be here Feb 3, 2011

I'm 11 weeks, still pretty sick but we are just so dang excited!

Wedding Time

2010-07-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

{ June 19th }

These two love birds finally tied the knot!! We couldn't be more excited for them. The wedding was beautiful and they had so much family who traveled far to be there to share this day with them.

We love you Sydney, welcome to our crazy family!

(Unfortunately I took no pics with my camera, so these are just some I took from facebook that my cousin Justin took)

I love this picture of Hadley and her cousin Davis dancing! And props to Hadley for being the cutest flower girl! and actually participating!

He's Baaack!

2010-07-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

{June 10th}

Welcome home Elder Prisbrey!!!! This was by far one of the coolest days ever!!!
He flew in at 12:30 pm and it seemed like the morning dragged on forever! Then the plane was late, then he took his sweet time getting off the plane. St. George is the BEST place to be to watch missionaries come home. Our airport is small and you can see them as soon as they step out of the plane.

For fathers day Brandon and I surprised my dad with round trip tickets to Salt Lake. So he could surprise Kason at his gate in SLC and they could fly home together.

Its so nice to have my buddy home again.
(brandon had to work so thats why he's not in any pics, their reunion happened the next day)

Hadley's party!

2010-06-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

{ June 5th }

All she wanted was a "horsie" birthday. So we did a horse/cowboy party.
It turned out cute, she got spoiled by her friends, glad this only comes once a year!

3 years ago...

2010-06-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Hadley,

Three years ago today, we were happier than we could ever imagine and loving our new baby girl! You came earlier than planned and the Dr.'s had prepared us that you were going to be little and not be able to come home right away. But you have to do the opposite of what people tell you since day 1 and you came out bigger than expected. You were 5 lb 14oz 19 inches long.
Daddy thought you would always have a cone head and a crooked nose, but mommy always thought you were so dang cute!

Had at 1 month

It has been so fun to watch you grow, learn, play, and talk. You bring us so much joy!

Had at 1 year

2 year

And today! Took her to Chuck E Cheese to play with a few friends. Then off to Cafe Rio and Nielson's! And to top if off, a little shopping!

She has the best daddy, he surprised us both by coming home early and bringing us our favorite cupcakes!!Had, mommy loves you! Hope you had a fun day cause I know I sure did!

A few things about Hadders at 3 yrs.

-you make us laugh
-you tell me that you are funny
-you love to play hide and seek
-you like to say prayers (finally)
-you said your name is not hadley anymore but "halle"
-you love horses, princess's, dress ups, cars, movies, playing outside, playing with friends, you love your grandparents, aunts and uncles, animals
-you think babies are cute but never want to touch them
-you told me to "shut up" for the first time yesterday and it broke my little heart
-you can be the sweetest thing always telling us you love us
-you can be the biggest stinker ever and throw a good fit
-you love to sound out words and have us repeat them, then you say "yeah, thats right"
-you went to a baptism and now you are so scared to get baptized even though its years away
-when you don't get your way and cry, you say something like "mom, i'm sad cause i want more m&m's"
-you pretty much don't take a nap anymore, but sleep in so much better now
-you are so dang tall, you are a lefty, and you have the funnest little personality!

Some FUN times!

2010-05-31T17:27:00.001-07:00

I'm slacking off with the blog thing. We have been having fun though! We love that it is warm now!! We got most of our backyard done, been swimming a few times, getting ready for Hadley to turn 3 on Wed, and having fun with visitors!!!

Grandpa Craig has stopped by a few times lately and its been so good to see him!!!

Our friend Cassie is getting married so her and Riley, Crew and Mama Jew came down to shop for dresses and of course we all had to go to Cheesecake Factory!!

We love the parks in Las Vegas. There are tons to choose from so here we are exploring a new one with the girls from the ward. This girl loves snakes lately. Its freaking me out a little bit. I took her to the dentist for the first time (she did so good!) and out of all the toys she chose a fake snake. It scares the crap out of me constantly. I hate that thing even though its plastic.

Our good friends Jason and Sammy and their cute kids came down so we got to meet up with them for some shopping and dinner! Hadley loves London and had so much fun playing and dressing up with her!!

Here is cute little Camden. (I don't know why this picture is flipped sideways and it won't let me turn it.)

My birthday

2010-05-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

You know how as you get older your birthday just seems like another day? Well this year I was pleasantly surprised! It was a good week thanks to Brandon, my parents and a couple of friends!

I have the greatest family I tell ya!
The week of my birthday my parents decided to drive down to vegas after work one night. I was at my friends house cutting hair and when I came home my cute mom and dad were there with a birthday cake and presents! And then they took us out to dinner before they left to head back home.

Brandon is the best and knew I needed a little break, so for my birthday he got me plane tickets to fly to Salt Lake by myself for a little get away with my friend Britney and go to a hair show!! It was perfect timing cause my good friend Holley is moving to Virginia and I had been so sad thinking I wasn't going to see her before she left. (Thanks Holls for picking me up from the airport and kicking your husband out of the bed so we could have a sleep over old school style and stay up and talk!) I had a fun lunch date with Brandon's mom and sisters! (Thanks girls for taking time out of your Saturday to come meet up for lunch!) I wish I could have stayed a little longer to see some more friends that I don't see as often as I'd like!

Here we are at the hair show, I was so happy Heidi joined us!! Its been forever since we've hung out and it was such a fun day!

This is my other cute friend Brittany! I'm so happy she was working on a Saturday so I could see her at her store!!

Thanks Brit and Trav for letting me crash at your place and for taking me to the airport! It was a great weekend!!

Where did April go?

2010-04-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot how time is flying! It makes me a little sad! Just 2 years ago my baby was getting ready to turn 1!

Brandon was graduating law school.

And Kason was getting ready to leave us! It was so sad and exciting and its crazy to me that he will be home in just 6 weeks!!!!

And now, my baby is getting ready to turn 3! She loves horses, dogs, princess's, playing dress up, the park, her friends, nursery, teasing, rhyming, coloring and watching movies. She is potty trained and has been since the Feb. We got really lucky with her and she was caught on pretty fast and has done great. And she is officially signed up for preschool in the fall...so weird to me!

A fun surprise!

2010-04-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my good friend's sister asked me to come cut their families hair and have dinner. When we knocked on the door much to our surprise my good friend Jenn and her daughter Ava answered the door!!! It was the best surprise ever! We miss them so much and love it when Jenni and Kelly come to vegas. Dang jobs/school moved us apart so good thing we live close to her sister so we can see them quite often.

Hadley had so much fun with her little buddy!

Easter 2010

2010-04-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

Our Easter started the weekend before while we were in St. George. We had a fun BBQ at the park with my parents, kade and sydney and our grandparents. Hadley loved finding eggs and presents that grandma hid! During our Easter week, we met up with a bunch of friends from the ward at the park for a potluck and easter egg hunt. It was a lot of fun! Thanks Toni!!

For our actual Easter, we all slept in which was nice and then the Easter bunny realized she didn't put out the Easter stuff. After that was thrown together we enjoyed a nice relaxing Sunday and watched conference. It was so good this year I thought. It seemed like there were a lot of talks to mothers, I loved it.

My mom has The princess and the frog movie as well, so when Hadley saw it in her basket she said, "oh good, grandma gave it back."

The Marz family invited us over for Easter dinner. It was GREAT food and fun company! Marliyn and Barbara, thank you for Hadley's treats and prizes!

The Earl kiddos, Nate and Had

Our visitors from France

2010-04-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

Brandon met this awesome family on his mission in southern France and we were so lucky to have them come to the States and stay with us for a few days! They love America and kept telling us they were like kids at disneyland! They both speak English pretty good so it was great for me and Hadley! They are the nicest people and we had so much fun with them.

Corinne and Philippe Esmieu and Brandon

He wanted to see a Gold's Gym, go shop at the outlets and get some souvenirs.

Enjoyed a nice lunch Chili's!

Then finished our night down on the strip! Hadley thinks all the casinos are her castles so she loved showing them to Corinne and Philippe. They love the Bellagio and Caesars Palace so we spent our time there watching the fountain show and walking around the forum shops.

We compared to see which eiffel tower was better the Vegas one or the Paris one. They said their's trumps ours.

Hadley loved them and if they would walk out of the room she'd say, "where are daddy's friends?" They were so cute with her and spoiled us all with gifts. Its always hard to say good bye to them not knowing when we will see them next.

CaLifOrniA

2010-04-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

Day 4-- Last day at Disneyland

This was a sad day because we did not want our vacation to end! We used our early morning pass so we could do all our rides that Hadley couldn't go on. She is so dang tall we were hoping she could go on some of the big ones but next time we are there she'll for sure be able too. We promised she could meet the princess's while we were there, we were kinda dreading it because its such a long line!! Seriously we waited for almost an hour and a half. There are some freako's in that line too! I don't know why people who don't have kids would wait and be so excited to meet disney princesses but whatever, kinda creepy.

Ignore my new dorky friend in the background.

We had to go on the matterhorn one last time!

Small world. I swear every line we stood in some old man was singing this dang song or humming it.

She was star struck!! She was so excited but as soon as we saw them she became so shy! She would just stare at them. She loves Snow White and Sleeping Beauty right now so she was in heaven! She did tell them she was 2, blew them kisses and gave them hugs. It was definitely the highlight of her trip! (even though it doesn't look like it in the pics)

caLiFornIa

2010-03-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

Day 3-- Newport Beach

We were so happy the weather was so nice and warm so we could do a beach day! Hadley has never been to a beach so we were excited to take her and see what she thought. Well she fits in our family perfectly cause she was a natural beach bum! She loved it and wanted to be in the freezing water the whole time. Or picking sea shells and playing in the sand.

CaliForNia

2010-03-22T15:40:00.000-07:00

Day 2-- Disneyland

We woke up to hear we slept through an earthquake! And to Hadley saying, "No more Disneyland." We were shocked. We kept asking her if she liked it and she would say yes, but no more. But off we went anyways. We went to California adventures and spent our morning there. Then we decided we were beat and hot so we went back to the hotel, got our swimming suits and went swimming! Then that evening we went back and did a late night at Disney. It was great.

Right when we got there we got to see Elastigirl.

Had, loved the monsters inc. ride. It was so slow and no one was in line so we went on it a couple times.

She was so funny, she kept saying she wanted her picture taken and then she'd come back and look at it in the camera and run back up there. She just needs to learn to smile!!

So, while we were in line at Bugs life Brandon was trying to teach her to smile for a camera. He kept telling her to show her teeth.

Here is the pep talk and the practice..

And here is what we got..

Hanging out at Bugs life..

This is later that night on the Matterhorn. Her face in this one cracks me up! She kept saying "wee" and after we got off she kept saying, "Dad that was so fun!" She was holding on for dear life partly cause it was fast and also the fireworks were going off and scaring the crap out of her!

caLiForNia!

2010-03-19T16:58:00.000-07:00

Day 1--Disneyland
*warning.. tons of pics*

Brandon got a new job so it worked out that he had a week off! Its been wonderful! So we took advantage of it and planned a Disneyland trip. Hadley was so excited and talked about it the few days before so it made it that much more exciting for us to take her!

We got up early Monday morning and headed on our way. We went to Disneyland as soon as we checked in our hotel. Hadley's first ride was Pinocchio and it scared her a little! We thought she'd love all the little kiddy ones but they are so dark and I think it scared her. Her favorite ride was actually the Matterhorn, toy story mania, tea cups, monsters inc, and all the bugs life ones in California Adventures.

She got this brochure from our hotel and saw Mickey on it, so she said she wanted to take it to disneyland to give it back to him.

After we scarred her on Pinocchio, we took her on dumbo and she loved it! It made up for it!

Waiting for the pixar parade. It was so cute!

Of course we had to take her on a carousel cause she's obsessed with them! Even better when its King Tritan's carousel!

Playing in Toon town.

She was so excited to meet him and then she got so shy!

We love the tea cups in my family. You haven't had a real "tea cup" experience until you've been on it with my dad! I promise no one can make it go faster than he can! So in honor of him we had to take her on it.

As soon as we got back and I sat her on the bed she was OUT! It was awesome. This must mean day 1 was a success!!

Our February

2010-02-25T08:46:00.000-08:00

This month has flown by! We've had a fun month though. We started some house projects. We are moving Hadley into another room so we've been painting and making her something for her wall. I'm glad Brandon is patient and just goes along with my crazy ideas. Hopefully this turns out!

{this is really propped up on something, he's not just cutting straight on our rug!}

We've been on a few cool dates including La Reve and Lance Burton.

The best Valentines present ever is when my parents and grandparents showed up to surprise us and babysit so we could go on a date with our friends! We have like 6 young women in our ward and a million primary kids, so if you need a sitter you have to call fast or they are taken. Well this is what happened to us so we thought we'd just take Hadley with us to dinner. Well, they had different plans for us! It was so nice of them. They just drove down that afternoon, told us we didn't have a choice that they just wanted to play with the kids and we needed to go have a break. Then they drove home that night, they are crazy I tell ya but are always so thoughtful.

{ I'm the worst at taking pics, so i have no pic of my valentine. I do love you bran, thanks for our fun date night and for my awesome gift}

2010-02-02T19:54:00.000-08:00

I finally got my Christmas pics, so I thought I'd post them. To get us in the Holiday spirit we went with my parents to the Bellagio and Town Square to see the Christmas decor. We also had a quick, fun visit from my aunt and unlce who live in Georgia. Its always fun to see them! She made Hadley her pink hat which was just what we needed for our Christmas in Utah!!

We started a new tradition in our family now that we are getting some grandkids on my dad's side! On Christmas Eve we always have a big progressive dinner but this time after dinner we went outside and spread some sort of mixture that Aiden made in preschool, all over the grass for the reindeer. Then we look in the air and find a red light, and lie to our kiddos and pretend its Santa. Then we go inside and the guys go put a present out on the lawn for each kid. And its their Christmas pajamas! It was a hit and Hadley keeps saying Santa brought her a red balloon.

We had a fun Christmas with my family and they spoiled us. Grandma and grandpa saved Hadley's christmas by giving her a rocking horse and making her a cinderella blanket. Brandon and I had to open all her other presents cause she could have cared less. The princess was not a hit, but hungry hungry hippos was.

Our highlight of the day was talking to my brother Kason, who is on a mission. We're excited for him to come home in June!

Then we took off to Salt Lake to see Brandon's family! We had such a great weekend and Hadley loved the snow! Grandpa Craig took us sledding and aunt Caitlin almost killed my daughter on a sled but we loved every minute of it. We played lots of games and saw lots of family and friends and it was great!

Our friends Dustin and Audra planned a fun get-together. It has been way too long since we've all been together and we were sad for the families who couldn't be there. But we had an awesome night visiting and catching up.

2010-01-25T09:06:00.000-08:00

Disney ON Ice

We took Hadley to see Disney on Ice and it was so cute! My parents came down to hang out and come with us. We had a fun weekend with them! All week Hadley was telling us that Grandma and Papa were coming Friday and we were going to see ice skating on Sat.

We went early to see the new Princess and the Frog princess. And see Cinderella! Hadley loves Cinderella even though her face in these pics says other wise! She is seriously the most un-photogenic person ever!

Cars:

Little Mermaid:

Lion King: This one was my Favorite!

I think Tinkerbell should stick with Peter Pan, I don't like her as much. But Hadley LOVES her so I guess thats all that matters.

Hadley kept bumming off ice cream from Grandma. She won't use a spoon, just her fingers good thing her grandma is a good sport! She wore this dress all day and to bed including the heels! But when she wears it she only answers to Cinderella. (At least she is not a horse) The funniest part was when she said, "Grandma, make Cinderella some dinner!!"

We hate goodbyes! She gets so sad when these two goons leave us! They are the best and we love it when they come see us!

2009-12-24T08:52:00.000-08:00

What I am Thankful for...

I thought the 2's were going to be scary, but I have to say I LOVE this stage! She is constantly cracking us up and saying new sentences. I have to jot these things down or else I will forget them.

-She tells me, "you're not funny, I funny"
- She'll call me mommy, mom, or honey
- She's obsessed with her daddy
- As soon as Brandon comes in she yells "mommy, daddy is home!"
- Then she has to take his tie off for him and help him with his shoes.
- When she wakes up from her nap she has to close her door and then before she comes downstairs she says, "mommy, I awake"
-She always says please and thanks to me and Brandon
-She's the best encourager and tells us good job or be careful
-She has the cutest imagination! but thinks she's a horse
-Her favorite #is 5 and always asks for 5 eggs or 5 chicken nuggets
-She likes circle cereal (fruit loops)
-When we take her up to bed and she's trying to stall she'll say, " Haddy be funny" and fall down or hit her head to try and make us laugh
- She loves her papa and always says " papa get Hadley" Or "grandma and papa funny"
- She's good with everyone's names
- She tells us Santa gets stuck in chimney's and he's bringing her a horse
- She love to count things and can count to 15
-she loves the casinos and thinks they are her castles
-and she 's a big tease!

That time of year again!

2009-11-17T08:24:00.000-08:00

Here is a little preview of our family pics. I'm so excited! I love getting new family pictures even though it stresses me out. I hate picking out outfits and wondering if Hadley is going to cooperate.

Usually my cousin Jaime does our pics around Thanksgiving when we're driving through St. George or while we are there for the Holiday. But this year I can't talk my husband into driving to far. So I asked my friend Lindsay to practice on us. If you look at her blog every pic she takes is cute and creative or the style or color are different. So thanks Linds for putting up with us and for some cute pictures.