The Halsey Family

My grandma

2012-01-29T18:58:00.000-08:00

My grandma passed away this morning in a car accident. It was a huge shock. I love my grandma sooooooo much! I had a very close relationship with her because we grew up less than a 5 minute drive from her house, went to the same church, and she was pretty much a part of my daily life when I lived with my parents and continued to be even into my adulthood.

Grandma was one of the most amazing people I have ever known. She was incredibly service oriented and willing to help anyone at any time. If I ever told her I needed something, she would be out looking for it at a garage sale or on some super sale at a department store the next day (she was a huge bargain shopper).

I have so many fond memories of cousin slumber parties at her house, eating popcorn (with cheese powder on it... yum), and watching movies. She also always had a fun new card or dice game to teach us. She was known for never wanting her granddaughters to cut their hair (funny since she always had short hair, even growing up) and always complimented me on my long blonde hair. She loved to hear me play the piano and sing and I always knew that in her mind I was a beautiful, talented person who could do anything. What more could you ask for in a grandmother?

When I went on my church mission, my grandma wrote me every single week. Her letters were always so sweet and encouraging and the fact that she took the time to write them was a true testament of her love for me. She knew that Byron was "waiting" for me while I was gone and she always claimed she prayed us together. She loved Byron and prayed the whole time that he wouldn't find someone else and we'd end up getting married when I got back. She never let me forget that she took credit for keeping us together through those 18 months I was gone. As soon as Byron got a job with Caterpillar, she bought a bunch of Cat stock (investing was another big hobby of hers) and was always trying to get the inside of info on the company's performance.

Since I have become a mother myself, I've loved watching my grandma interact with my kids. She was so hands on with them, going straight to the playroom at my parents house to sit on the floor and play with Lila and Miles whenever we came to visit. She was always on the lookout for toys she knew they'd like at garage sales and they were pretty much guaranteed to get some little gift every time we saw her.

Grandma was talented in so many ways. She was a very gifted artist and created portraits of many of her grandchildren when we were young. I wish I inherited that talent from her! She was a fabulous teacher even though she always claimed to be super nervous and never feel adequate for all of the many teaching positions she held in the church. She had a huge love of the scriptures and was such an amazing example of diligent gospel study. She was known for having the greenest of green thumbs and I swear she could make anything grow anywhere.

I've also never seen a harder worker in my life. She could outwork people decades younger than her, including me and Byron. Last summer she came down with my dad to visit and ended up working out in our yard so long that we had to ask her to stop since we were tired and felt guilty leaving little old grandma outside working while we rested! She pulled weeds, prepared soil, planted, tore out a huge wall of ivy (quite a job!), and tons more. She had a true love of work, something I know I need to strive harder to develop.

The joy of her life was her family and she has left us with quite a legacy. We have a lot to live up to with her memory to honor. I will miss her more than I can possibly express. I know that she and my grandfather, who passed away more than ten years ago, are having a joyful reunion along with their son Jeff who died in his 20's and many other family members.

Grandma had a hilarious sense of humor and one of her classic self-depricating jokes was that when she died, her grandchildren would all sing "Ding dong the witch is dead" at her funeral! That will definitely NOT be sung of course, but I'm sure she would have quite the laugh if we did sing it just to fulfill her request.

Our church children's songbook has a song called "Grandmother" that sums up how I feel about my grandma.

You give me a kiss.

You give me a hug.

You smile when you see me too.

I wish every girl in the whole wide world had a grandmother just like you.

You read me a book.

You sing me a song.

You whisper you love me too.

I wish every girl in the whole wide world had a grandmother just like you.

I'll try to be good; I'll do as I should.

I'll whisper, "I love you too."

I wish every child in the whole wide world had a grandmother just like you.

Thank you grandma for being someone I could always look up to, someone who always cheered me on and believed in me, and someone who was sincerely interested in my life. I always loved your little saying, "I love you the mostest." Miles says it all the time now and whenever we use that saying in our family, I'll always think of you and how much love I always felt when I was around you.

Go #2!!!

2012-01-22T19:23:00.000-08:00

Miles turned two yesterday and because he LOVES baseball, we of course had to throw him a baseball themed party. For weeks in advance we talked about his "bay-ball" party and how he was going to turn two (he still doesn't quite have the finger coordination to stick up just two fingers peace sign style) so he was definitely ready to celebrate.

Here he is already getting into baseball mode as we set up some decorations.

My party-planning assistant extraordinaire

(Ok, so maybe he's more of the financial sponsor and the menial laborer when it comes to events I plan).

We almost managed to get all our party guests to sign this souvenir ball.

And yes, I know it's a softball and that softball is generally for girls, but I figured it was better to give people more room to leave their autograph.

I've been waiting to use those cute Target dollar bin popcorn containers for quite some time and this was the perfect opportunity. Goodie bags!

Baseball cupcakes were a no-brainer. And I'm sure you've all been making amazing frosting for ages, but if you're still making the basic butter and powdered sugar stuff I've always made, settle no more. I found an amazing recipe online that you must try. It's soooo light and fluffy and just perfectly not-too-sweet but deliciously creamy. Kind of like whipped cream texture, but it's buttercream! Mmmmm... If you're like me and you don't even really like frosting, try this stuff. I know a lot of you probably already know about this "cooked" frosting, but just in case you didn't, I had to include the link.

Ballpark menu:

Hot dogs (Miles FAVORITE food... he got some birthday money and when I asked him what he wanted to buy, he said hot dogs)
Nachos (Who knew that fake cheese from Costco was so pricey and the ingredients are surprisingly somewhat natural... cheddar cheese is the first ingredient. Can you believe that? It does have a few chemical ingredients at the end though that I'm sure are the preservatives that make dairy last through the ages without refrigeration)
Cracker jacks (I bought a ton and not a single person ate any. I plan to donate them to the church nursery because I don't like them either... I guess I'll just justify them in that they did serve as a cute decoration)
Peanuts (don't think any were eaten either... another "decorative" food)
Red vines
Fruit (felt the need to include a "healthy" option)

The guests of honor. Miles and Roro wouldn't sit unless someone held them. I promise this is the best picture we could get. This was seriously the best out of five or six.

Birthday song and blowing out the candles.

He smiled through the whole thing and blew away right on cue... what a smart little guy.

Happy birthday my Miles!

P.S.--How do people manage to beautifully document their events and run the show/participate in them/enjoy their guests? I definitely still have not figured that one out. I can either focus on picture taking or enjoying the party, and usually I go for the latter as you can tell by this post!

Holidays with the Halseys

2012-01-12T21:55:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous Christmas in Maryland. It was SO much fun to spend almost two weeks just hanging out with the family, even if all the adults (4 couples + Byron's teenage sister) camped out in the basement together. Actually that turned out to be really fun, especially since Byron and I were the only ones who got real mattresses while the other couples were relegated to air mattresses and camping pads. I kept intending to give someone else a turn on the mattress... really guys!

PIES...

We started the trip off with some pie-making with the pie-making extraordinaire herself, Mary (aka Grandma) Halsey. It was funny that Libbi and I were the ones helping her since neither of us is a big pie fan. It was my first time having pecan pie however, and I must say that it was delicious.

Fancy clothes...

Christmas day the kids looked so darn cute in their Sunday best. I'm always jealous of those families that have the tradition of a fancy Christmas Eve or Christmas dinner. Since this Christmas fell on a Sunday we had the chance to semi-fulfill my dream of a fancy dressed up Christmas.

My absolute favorite part of the trip was watching the cousins play together. I grew up near many of my cousins so I have great memories of playing together often and it made me so happy to see how well the kids got along (...most of the time). I love that Marianna has her arm around Averett... adorable! Those two are just a few days apart in age.

Santa knows how to do stockings right at Grandma's house. These things are HUGE!

Best buds...

Ok, see why the cousins being together was my favorite part? Could they be any cuter? I love that little Hazel!!!

Sprinkles...

Nativity...

The kids had a bit of difficulty deciding what they wanted to play in the nativity (they switched costumes about 10 times each), but in the end, Miles was a sheep...

...and Byron and Lila were Joseph and Mary with Averett as baby Jesus.

Must have family shots...

I have to admit that yes, I was the only one bundled up like that. What can I say? I'm a California girl.

Aunt Libbi...

My kids were IN LOVE with the newest addition to the family, Aunt Libbi. They seriously couldn't get enough of her and I wish she lived near us so she could babysit every day. I guess that's probably one reason she's glad she DOESN'T live near us. Look how jealous Miles is in this photo where Lila is hugging Libbi.

Thank you Halsey family for having us for so long and making everything so fun. We love you!!!

I'm baaaaaack!

2012-01-12T13:25:00.004-08:00

Yes, that's right, I'm back to blogging. This must be quite a thrill for the two of you out there who still check my blog religiously only to consistently be disappointed. My father-in-law is one of those two and for Christmas I decided the best thing I could give to him and to my parents as well was a commitment to blog in the coming year.

Here's the little poem I wrote explaining the gift:

(Explanation: I made a Halsey Family Year in Review photo book for 2011 to go with it and one of the pictures was of the backside of a naked little Miles by the lake at the Halsey reunion last summer)

I better get going soon if I'm going to get two posts in for January... and no, this one doesn't count : )

Daily inspiration

2011-06-21T13:52:00.003-07:00

I just finished reading this talk by Jeffrey R. Holland (an apostle in our Church) about motherhood and it touched me so much that I thought I should share it in case any mothers out there need a little uplift.

Here's the link:

"Because she is a Mother"

Miss Lila

2011-05-20T13:42:00.002-07:00

An impromptu interview with my favorite little girl...

Favorites

Color: Pink
Show: Zoo Show (A "Baby Genius" movie that shows scenes from the San Diego zoo)
Food: 1st Answer-Spaghettio's (me: You don't like spaghettio's silly!) 2nd Answer: Meat (sad but true)
Friend: Tanner (little boy who just moved away... we love him, but Lila rarely actually played with him because of their age difference)
Toy: Emily (one of Thomas' train friends)

What do you want to do when you're a big girl?

Play with my friends.

Kids are so funny. I wonder what makes certain things come to their mind first, even if they aren't true at all (aka Lila's favorite show, food, possibly friend, and toy).

The many faces of Byron Halsey

2011-04-28T22:13:00.003-07:00

Byron has no problem growing a beard. If he doesn't shave for a few days, he's well on his way. So you can imagine what he looked like after a couple of months of not shaving.

Did any of you know that beards are stinky? I don't think it's a well-known fact, but they are. And I don't think it's really preventable unless the beardee washes it 5-7 times per day. That's a lot of washing. And you know what beards smell like? Barf. Yep, that's right. All the tiny little food particles and saliva in there smell like throw-up. I know it's gross, but I just have to explain why I kept begging Byron to shave his beard. It's not just that it makes him look a lot older, like a lumberjack, or even that it's scratchy, it's that his beard really stinks... literally.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a before picture, but here are some of the many faces of my handsome husband. I must say I prefer his usual stubble slightly growing in because he hasn't shaved for a day or two look.

And on to the photos...

Living out a portion of his dream to be a civil war reenactor:

This face is just SO Byron:

He was seriously considering leaving it this way.

Hmm... what could some pomade on the ends of the moustache and a little twisting of the fingers do?

Is it possible not to laugh at this picture?

Sorry for the semi-nude photos. He usually takes his shirt off to get a hair cut or shave his beard. Keeps from getting all those poky little hairs in his shirt and he can jump straight in the shower.

Just some pictures

2011-04-27T21:51:00.003-07:00

San Diego Zoo

2011-04-27T21:31:00.005-07:00

We've had passes to the San Diego zoo ever since we've lived here and the kids always have so much fun when we go there. I hardly ever take pictures since it's become kind of just another outing spot similar to going to the park. It's funny that we live in a place where major tourist destinations have become commonplace outings for us.

Although the kids and I go fairly often, we don't get to go with Byron very much since the zoo closes pretty early all winter. We went as a family a couple of weekends ago and had a blast.

Our beautiful girl with one squinty eye : )

This sheep makes Miles look so tiny!

The kids love the petting zoo. It always amazes how calm the animals are!

Lila feeding a giraffe! They had some sort of special event that week where you could pay $5 for some biscuits and feed a giraffe. I had never seen anything like it at the zoo before and wanted to shout out to all the tourists that they happened to be there during a very special time and should take advantage of it and pay the five bucks. It's funny, they made you wash your hands before feeding the giraffes. I guess humans have more/worse germs than zoo animals.

I'm no detective, but...

2011-03-09T15:30:00.002-08:00

The following evidence has presented in the case of the Icky Disgustingly Dirty Never-to-be-used-again Toothbrush.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B (basically just a close-up of Exhibit A):

Exhibit C:

Exhibit D:

Exhibit E (Just couldn't leave this one out... it doesn't actually add much to the case):

I think Miles might have been the one who ruined my toothbrush. The punishment for his crime: Lots of hugs and kisses and a big cup of milk. The judge was lenient since he's a first time offender.

In the market for an agent

2011-02-27T21:58:00.008-08:00

Miles is going to be a major hoops star some day. I know people are getting scouted younger and younger these days, so I think it's high time we find someone to represent him.

Just check out these moves.

Look at that intensity. That's the sign of someone who's not only talented but will give it all he's got to be the best.

Older sister teaching proper post-shot wrist flick technique. She could be a WNBA star if she didn't have her heart set on the San Francisco Ballet.

Ok, so Miles' flick could use a little fine-tuning.

Slam-dunk! Boo-yah!

Hanging off the rim. What a show-off. Humility will come with time.

You can't tell, but this one-handed dunk was done after doing two back-handsprings. Totally NBA Slam Dunk competition worthy.

All this while wearing a button-down and English style vest. Anyone interested?

10 years later

2011-02-27T21:46:00.005-08:00

This year is my ten year high school reunion. I can't believe it! When I look at college students nowadays they look about 13 years old to me, so you can imagine what high schoolers look like.

Sometimes I forget I'm getting old. A couple of weeks ago I visited my sweet friend Shona who was due to have her first baby in a few days. We talked about the possibility of going to our high school reunion and texted about it while Byron and I were on our way home. When we decided that we might not go to the official reunion and instead just have a family picnic type gathering just for our group of friends, I texted "At least there's the 10 year!" Shona responded back with "Ashley, this IS the 10 year!" I don't know how I thought I managed to graduate college, go on an 18 month mission, get married, and have 2 children in a matter of 5 years or why I thought our high school was planning a five year reunion anyway. All I know is that I'm a lot older than I realized. I don't mind one bit.

As a side note, my friend Shona is simply amazing. I am absolutely HORRIBLE at keeping in contact with people. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't know anything about any of my high school friends. She's managed to keep me in contact with some dear friends and planned reunions for us every now and then. Thank you Shona!!! I need to be more like you.

Last week I went to see Shona's baby boy Milo. What a cutie! My friends Eileen and Shannon were there too. Shannon brought her adorable daughter, soon-to-be 3 year old Jaiden (spelling?). She was also due with her second any day and has probably had her by now. It was fun to see a new generation forming before our eyes.

Milo took turns leaning on Lila and then Jaiden. Shona was brave to stand back and let those two take charge of holding up her newborn baby!

Life is good

2011-02-23T13:45:00.000-08:00

What I love about Byron:

He is extremely patient with me. Even if I get upset for no reason, he puts up with me and helps to calm me down.
He wants to spend all his time with the kids and me. I know he could spend a lot more time watching sports with friends or doing other guy stuff, but he honestly loves just being with us and would rather hang out with his family than anyone else.
He is such a huge help around the house. He helps do dishes, sweeps, vacuums, and even cleans bathrooms once in a while. Sometimes I feel guilty because it seems like he never gets a break.
I love to see how much the kids love him. They literally dance for joy when he comes home every day. They love waiting on the porch for daddy’s car to drive up.
He is such a hard worker and never complains about getting up early for work.
He puts Lila to bed every night and goes to help her if she wakes up in the night. How many dads do that?
He loves sports and always wants to include me in his sports watching. If there’s a good play, he just has to bring me over to the TV so he can go rewind our DVR and I can watch it with him while he explains just how amazing it was.
He is so witty and always makes me and everyone else around him laugh.
He is really close with his dad and talks to him on the phone all the time. And I don’t mean for just a second. I hope Miles (and any future sons) will have a relationship like that with their dad.

What I love about Lila:

She loves to be a helper. She gets absolutely the biggest smile when she knows she’s doing something helpful. She seriously looks like she just won the lottery.
A girl after my own heart, she loves to sing and dance. Her moves impress me and make me laugh at the same time. She not only knows all the words to many, many songs but she also makes up her own songs all the time.
She has such a big vocabulary and I’m shocked multiple times per day by the amazing things that come out of her mouth.
The look she has on her face when she says, “Do you want to play with me mommy?” melts my heart!
Her imagination is amazing! I don’t know how she comes up with the little playtime scenarios that she does, but she definitely knows how to create her own world. Maybe she’s the next J.K. Rowling!
It’s absolutely adorable when I’m getting ready in the morning and I hear “Mo-mmy! Mo-mmy!” coming from her room and I know she’s up and ready for me to come get her.
She’s in such a cute (and sometimes frustrating!) phase where she wants to do everything herself. I love to watch her gain some independence even though it of course makes me so sad to see her growing up.

What I love about Miles:

As Byron once said: Miles is just such a nice guy. I know it sounds weird to say about a baby (or should I say toddler now… crazy), but it’s true!
Even though it’s exhausting that he wants me to be with him 24/7, I love how much he’s attached to me. I love that he wants me more than anyone else, especially since Lila can sometimes be quite the daddy’s girl. He crawls after me as soon as I leave the room and sometimes sitting next to me on the ground isn’t enough—he has to be right in my lap. I love it because I know it won’t last forever.
He is such a music lover and has the cutest little head bob and knee bend dance moves.
He constantly wants to be exactly where his sister is, doing exactly what she’s doing. I don’t know if Lila loves it, but I definitely enjoy seeing how much he loves her and wants to learn from her.
It’s so cute to see him reach for his favorite blanket and snuggle it up to his face.
I love the excited look he gets and happy dance he does when I come to get him out of his crib in the morning or after naps.
I love how he bashfully grins and nuzzles his head into my chest when someone waves at him or says hello.

What I love about my life:

I love that I have such great friends here. I never feel lonely or trapped at home because there’s always someone fun to spend time with. I definitely need to do a better job expressing to my Sa Diego friends just how wonderful they really are.
I love that we get to live in the city that I consider paradise. You know how people ask, “If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?” Well, my answer would be San Diego. Yep, that’s right. I would stay right here even if I had millions of dollars. (Ok, I might buy a bigger house and there are a lot of millionaires here anyway). How many people can say they live in their dream city?
I love that my husband has a good job that he actually enjoys and that he rarely has to travel or work late.
I love that we were blessed to find a house that we love in an area with fabulous neighbors at an amazing price. I know the Lord was definitely watching out for us on that one.
I love that I know who I am, why I’m on earth, and where I want to go after I die. I love that my life has purpose because I know who Jesus Christ is and what He did for me. I love that I know death is not the end of life and that I can be with my family forever.
I love that I always have my parents, sisters, and grandparents supporting me. I also two pretty great brother-in-laws.
I love that I have a husband who loves me more than anything in the world and two beautiful, healthy children. Who could ask for more than that?

Miles' first word

2011-02-10T12:03:00.003-08:00

Sorry this movie is so dark, but here Miles says his first word: Bubble. It was at the Baltimore Aquarium with Byron's family. He says it two times but you have to watch until about a minute in to see both. I think it's just about the cutest thing ever.

He now says "dada" for dog and daddy (interesting correlation), mama, and "ba" for ball. I think that's about all he can say right now, although he does sometimes imitate other words like he does in this movie.

Our dapper young lad

2011-01-25T13:38:00.006-08:00

Have I ever posted about Miles on here??? I promise we do love him and his life is important to us! Well he turned one year old last week so I guess I'll make a "Miles post" an annual event since I don't think he's been mentioned since his birth.

He is such a handsome little guy. Just look at him. It melts my heart!

Happy Birthday Miles! We love you!

My not so little girl

2011-01-09T19:57:00.002-08:00

Lila is sleeping in a "big girl bed" for the first time tonight. I can't believe it. Yes, it's about time that Miles get a crib in his room instead of a pack and play (hey, at least he got it before he turned a year old, right?), but this seems like a huge milestone for some reason. Somehow she still seemed like my baby when we put her to bed in a crib every night.

Is there any phrase less trite than "they grow up too fast" that has the same meaning?

She cracks us up

2011-01-04T20:49:00.003-08:00

Lila: I want to make cookies. Can we make cookies mommy?

Me: Sorry honey, you didn't eat your dinner so we can't have any cookies tonight.

Lila: No mommy, you say "uh huh."

...

Lila: Oh no! My shirt is all wet! That is not good for little girls!

...

Everything she talks about happened "last night." Last night just means sometime in the past whether near or far. It could have been earlier in the morning or it might be something that happened months ago.

...

Byron: Did you hit Miles?

Lila: Yes, Jesus told me to hit Miles.

...

Pre-Christmas Festivities #1

2011-01-02T13:31:00.003-08:00

Baking Christmas cookies. Lila had an absolute blast with this. I didn't realize how far one batch of sugar cookie dough can go but I think we cut and baked cookies on about 4 or 5 different days. We didn't frost them because I thought that might just get a bit too messy with all the food coloring. Lila loved to pretend to be a monster biting off the little men's heads, arms, and legs. It was quite the power trip for her and had her cracking up in an evil little cackle.

We even had a little impromptu cookie making party with our good friends Julie and Janey (or just Julie Janey as Lila calls them), which was a lot of fun.

I couldn't find my Christmas cookie cutters until the day after we finished up our dough (of course). Notice the ducks and turkeys?

Buying the tree. It never ceases to amaze Byron that we can buy our tree in t-shirts, shorts, and sandals. It was a little bit chillier this year so Lila wore capris : )

Putting up the tree. I was amazed the kids didn't get more into pulling on the tree or ornaments after it was all decorated. I guess it helps that we spend most of our time in the family room in back and pretty much just walk past where the tree was in the front (living) room.
I know they wind up being more expensive and it's less convenient and more messy, but NOTHING beats the smell of a real Christmas tree.

Christmas Card Lane--a family tradition as of last year. Lila LOVES the light displays and all the cartoon characters, but she especially loved the fact that we were looking at the lights with her friends. Every time we saw Christmas lights in the following days she would remind us that she saw the lights with her friends.

I love this guy's smile!

Lila, Janey, and Ella (clearly the stylish one)

Camping

2010-10-17T21:54:00.006-07:00

We went camping with some friends from the ward. It was so much fun that I want to go camping again very very soon. Unfortunately we didn't get many pictures and I'm especially sad we didn't get any pictures of our tents. Yes, we had two tents. One for Byron, Miles, and me and one for Lila. Yes, Lila had her own tent. What a lucky two year old!

We had a delicious pancake, muffin, egg, fruit, and bacon breakfast. I made the bacon. LOTS of it.

Sidenote: Bees LOVE bacon. I don't love bees. Yikes!

We had quite a few cute kiddies there. Here's Ella, Emily, Janey, Lily (hidden in the background), Tanner, sad I can't remember her name (she was the friend of a friend), and Lila. There are a number of kids missing in this picture.

At our campsite. The Jones' were stuck between us and the Swensons. The Jones' don't have a baby, we and the Swenson's do. Poor family was stuck between dueling baby cries all night. Kristi said she could tell which baby it was by the pitch of the cry. Miles was lower and louder and Claire's was softer and higher. Sorry Jones family!

Kristi still took a picture with me, so I guess she wasn't too upset. And by the way, who looks that good camping? No, I'm not talking about me despite how great I look in that picture with an old shirt, greasy hair, and no make-up or shower, I'm talking about my beautiful friend Kristi who looks like a million bucks even while camping. How does she do it??? Dan, you are one lucky guy.

The gorgeous view from our little drive up to a lookout point. Don't look too closely at the stains on my shirt.

No--I said DON'T look!

Can someone plan a camping trip soon and invite us?

Homeownership

2010-10-17T21:42:00.002-07:00

We bought a house. That we love. That needs work.

A few pics of a day working out in the yard. That's one of the fun things about not being in an apartment. We can spend a day working out in the yard.

Miles has turned into quite the daredevil as you can tell.

A third of the backyard (which actually isn't very big, but big enough for us) was concrete blocks put together into some sort of planters. We want to plant grass so we took a bunch of them out. Byron claims he broke this concrete trim with his bare hands. I think there must have been some sort of preexisting fissure or weak point.

The concrete block pile that has since gotten a lot larger and now includes many bricks that were randomly strewn about the front and back yards. Anyone need some concrete blocks?

P.S. Come visit us now that we have a house. We have a guest room that will hopefully have a bed soon. Who wouldn't want to visit San Diego? And if you live in San Diego, who wouldn't want to have a sleepover?

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-17T20:12:00.006-07:00

We went up to the pumpkin patch at Bates Nut Farm in Vista this past weekend. I've been hearing how fun it is for the past two years and it lived up to its reputation. We had a blast!

A lot of the pictures were just too cute not to share so I had to return from my blogging hiatus, even if only for a day.

Also, just FYI, they don't actually grow nuts there. They just pack them. Yes, we asked as I'm sure many people do. Apparently they did grow walnuts at one time though.

We did have a little "mishap" on the way up there. Miles fell asleep right away and Lila was happily reading books so we thought we were home free on the long drive when suddenly Lila said, "I smell something" and proceeded to vomit ALL OVER herself and her car seat. Do you think she actually smelled the barf before it came out? She inherited car sickness from both of her parents so we should've known better than to let her read while driving. We were already half way there and Lila was super excited about the pumpkin patch so we didn't want to turn back. We stopped at a Burger King parking lot, baby wiped the car seat the best we could, dumped Lila's barfy clothes in a Burger King trash bag in the trunk, and proceeded on our way. Of course it was a little too cold for Lila to walk around outside with no clothes on, so we called my parents who were kind enough to look up the closest Target on the internet and stay on the phone with us giving directions until we got there. Sometimes I really wish we had phones with internet!

It all turned out in the end though because our detour let Miles get the longer nap that he needed and Lila ended up with a super cute outfit for our pumpkin patch pictures.

Miles is meant to be a farmer. He loved chewing on straw the whole time.

Lila has always wanted to ride a pony every time she's seen them at the fair or anywhere else but in reality she's always been too scared. This time she was super brave and actually did it! We were soooo proud of her as she is quite the scardey cat. There are cuter pictures than this of her riding on Johnny the pony but her proud face is just priceless.

We also fed some baby goats, chickens, a pig, and a scary black sheep that was trying to hoard all the food and scare the kids (well I guess it probably wasn't trying to scare them).

We also got to hold a baby bunny. We got nervous the animals were being abused when we saw an animal control guy looking around but I saw him mouth the words "Everything looks ok" so I didn't feel bad buying a ticket to the petting area.

Hay ride.

Lila picked out the perfect pumpkin right away. Just her size.

Then Miles found one just his size.

And another.

What a fun family outing!

Our sensitive girl

2010-10-17T20:07:00.002-07:00

The other day we were watching Jungle Book. I don't know how well you remember the story, but in the beginning a baby gets left in the jungle, found by a panther, and given to a wolf family to raise. When Lila saw the baby alone (and later with animals) she got so, so worried, sad, and upset, that she literally started crying saying, "Baby needs its mommy! Baby needs its daddy!" over and over again. When I tried to reassure her that the doggies/wolves were going to take care of the baby, she was insistent that no, "Baby needs another mommy!"

I had to skip over to the part where the Mogli (spelling?) is a young boy instead of a baby, but Lila was still upset and kept asking "Where'd baby go?" I finally appeased her by saying the baby was back with his mommy and daddy. She stopped crying.

Then a couple days later Byron showed Lila this musical montage with scenes from the Disney movie Tarzan (I've never seen it). Well, it's a similar story and Lila once again was super distraught about the baby being left alone.

Who knew our stubborn little girl had such a sensitive heart?

Prayers please!

2010-07-16T08:21:00.003-07:00

If anyone reads this, please, please, please say a prayer for my sister Lindsay. She is 22 weeks pregnant with twins and went into labor. The doctors are doing everything they can to stop it but nothing is working right now. As of this morning, there is only a 5-10% chance they will survive.

I know that God can work miracles through our faith. I am having a constant prayer in my head all day today and if you could take a moment to say a prayer for Lindsay too, it would mean a lot.

Opa!

2010-07-07T14:56:00.002-07:00

If you haven't been to the San Diego Greek festival at the Greek Orthodox Church downtown, go next year. It's a blast! You'll eat some great food, enjoy the festive music, and you might even enjoy a dance or two like these kiddies did.

There are pictures of me dancing too, but I'll refrain from posting those : )

Essentials

2010-07-07T14:45:00.002-07:00

Lila went through a short phase where she started wanting to bring "stuff" with us anytime we went anywhere. It started with her doll one day, maybe a blanket the next, then her doll and the doll stroller, and then... well, let's just say things got a little out of hand.

One day she decided she couldn't carry everything she needed to bring on our car ride so she decided to pack up in her laundry basket.

She was heading out the door to the garage when I let her know she needed to pare things down to just the bare essentials.

Here she is sizing up her load.

And here it is, only the necessities for a car drive to the store: 3 baby dolls, a toy dog and carrying case, and a bunch of other small random stuff in the bottom I don't remember.

What are we going to do when we go on family vacations when she's a teenager? I sure hope luggage fees don't go up.

Bonfire with Friends

2010-07-07T14:34:00.003-07:00

Oh the joys of living in San Diego! Some of our friends organized a fun Monday night family bonfire at the beach. It was a blast!

Lila loved the giant marshmallows the Palmer's brought and Janey apparently got thirsty.

Lily gave me this adorable grin!

Miles hung out in his jammies and stayed warm by the fire.

...and Lila ate some more giant marshmallows.

I love it here, especially because of all our great friends.

Lila Jane

2010-07-06T22:14:00.003-07:00

None of these pictures exactly fit in a post but they were just too cute to pass up. Doesn't every girl love to wear her mom's shoes? I know these are flats but she'll definitely impress you with her high heel walking skills too. Love that sassy face too. Don't exactly know why she's holding a water bottle and a mini tape measure.

"Cheese! Smile!" Lila LOVES to "take" pictures with this old disposable camera. Every time we get our camera out she starts asking "Where'd my camwa go?" and makes us get hers so she can snap some shots too.

Don't even remember what happened, but it's still funny to see that cute little dirty face!

Typical determined little Lila face. Marching off for some serious business with her bitty baby and broken dollar store bottle. She LOVES her baby. Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Halsey for getting it for her last Christmas.

Special Delivery!

2010-07-06T22:07:00.002-07:00

Every time she sees these pictures she starts looking for another box to put Miles in. Luckily she loves him enough that I don't think she really wants to send him away.

Lake Murray

2010-07-06T22:01:00.002-07:00

As I'm sure you can tell, I'm catching up on posts!

We went to Lake Murray back on the first day of June and had a blast. We'd never been before even though we've lived so close for the past two years. Byron taught Lila to skip rocks (she's still learning), we fed ducks and geese, watched/chased squirrels (or bunny rabbits as Lila calls them), and just enjoyed the beautiful sunshine.

Miles did his usual thing and hung out in the stroller.

Best Wedding EVER!!!

2010-07-05T21:58:00.008-07:00

Ok, so I guess my wedding was technically the best wedding ever because I married the best guy ever, but this was by far the most fun wedding I've been to. Byron's sister got married in Minnesota and we flew out for the festivities. The day before the wedding was a day-long party at the Taylor's house on the lake. No other bride would walk around in her swimsuit all day at her pre-wedding luncheon. I love Laura!

Don't worry, they don't have an illegitimate child. Laura's just holding Miles in the picture. Don't Dan and Laura make such an adorable couple?

Lila spending some quality time with Aunt Laura.

First canoe ride with her two favorite people: Daddy and Uncle Ryan. It's no secret Lila has a major crush on Uncle Ryan. That's not creepy until over the age of 8 or 9, right?

Fun on the lake with cute little Hazel, Lila's only cousin. Hazel was actually having a blast smiling and laughing, but unfortunately she looks sad in the one picture Lila looked happy in. Oh well!

Laura's father-in-law has major hook-ups and got us some awesome seats at the Twins game.

I think Miles gave Grandma and Grandpa a hard time. Sorry guys!

Geri made the flower girls' adorable tutus. She is super talented in the sewing department.

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous! Laura did all the flowers and bouquets herself! She's amazing.

And Miles got to meet his Aunt Melissa for the first time! He loved her of course.

I wish I had some videos of the dancing at the wedding because it was A-W-E-S-O-M-E. You would have thought people were drunk out of their minds by how much they let loose, but it turns out you really can have fun at a wedding without alcohol! The father of the groom did cartwheels down the dance floor!

Everyone should have this great of a time over their wedding weekend.

Clubhouse

2010-07-05T21:52:00.004-07:00

Instead of "No boys allowed" or "No girls allowed," in our house it's "No mommies allowed."

Double Duty

2010-07-05T21:40:00.005-07:00

Byron had double-duty this year: Mother's Day was on our Anniversary. I got breakfast in bed and flowers in the morning and a fabulous evening out to dinner and a jazz club in the evening. What could be better?

Addict

2010-07-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

I wonder if it's time to break her of the habit?

Lila-isms

2010-06-27T21:17:00.004-07:00

Byron: "If you don't lay down so we can change your diaper, you're going to go to time out."

Lila, walking toward her room: "Time out!" She shuts the door.

Time to find a new method of punishment.

Lila playing in the bushes on our way home from the pool: "Bye bye Mommy!"

Ashley: "Come on Lila, let's go right now. Time to go home."

Lila, continuing to wave good bye: "Bye Daddy, See ya yayta Daddy, bye bye Daddy."

Repeat for 10 minutes, then repeat on every walk we ever go on, ever

Oh and also repeat if she's doing her business. "Bye bye, see ya yayta" is our clue it will be time to change a diaper in a few minutes.

Driving in the car, pop in a Taylor Swift CD, after literally 3 notes Lila says: "Taya Swift!"

Quite a memory!

Lila: "I wanna watch Nemo."

Ashley: "Not right now honey."

Lila: "Just one Nemo mommy."

Ashley: "Maybe later."

Lila: "One Nemo mommy, please just one Nemo. One Nemo mommy, one Nemo. One Nemo mommy... (on and on and on and on and on)."

Shamu has been officially replaced.

Lila's friend Janey who LOVES babies comes over to hug Miles.

Lila, rushing over in a psychotic rage: "MY MILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Repeat every time we hang out with Janey and her mom.

Miles photo shoot

2010-05-15T22:01:00.010-07:00

My friend Alexia is THE BEST photographer, especially for babies/kids. Seriously. Check out her website. You have to use her if you can make it up to L.A.! I felt really bad that I never got newborn pictures taken of Miles so I finally decided it was about time I schedule a little photo shoot before he gets too old and loses he new baby look. I was lucky enough that Alexia could squeeze me in her busy schedule.

We met at a pretty park to take the pictures but unfortunately it was a very cold, windy day. Poor little Miles wasn't in the best mood and we soon discovered it was because he was freezing! How sad, his mama was torturing him in the cold just to get some pictures. He was in the middle of crying and as soon as we put a blanket on him, he closed his eyes and went straight to sleep! Alexia also got a crash course in what it's like to have two kids under two around. Lila was a little bit of a handful. She wasn't being bad, she just needed to be entertained of course so Alexia was kind of on her own trying to get Miles to smile. It's not easy when you have to get up close to get a baby to smile and then try to quickly back away to get an angle where you can actually shoot the camera! The shoot took way longer than expected, we ended up going to take more pictures inside at Alexia's mom's house, and by the end I figured it would be good if we ended up with 2 or 3 good pictures. I had a fun time visiting with Alexia and her mom and I thought I'd be happy with even just a few shots.

Little did I know that I highly underestimated Alexia's abilities (even though I already knew she was great). When she sent me the link to proof the pictures online I was so excited to see that she got tons of cute pictures! She is even more AMAZING than I knew!

Here are a few of my Mr. Miles:

This smile melts my heart!

You can't deny you love the bow tie. Courtesy of his Aunt Geri.

He's big on eating his hands.

One of my favorites!

He is such a smiley guy!

Miles

2010-05-02T21:21:00.003-07:00

Not the best picture (spit up and all), but it's the most recent one and it shows his jowels well

It's official. Miles has the cutest chubby thighs ever. Trust me, everyone says it. It's not just me. He is such an easy-going, smiley little guy. If you can catch his eye and he sees you smiling, he will smile back guaranteed. He also loves to laugh. He laughs way more than I remember Lila doing at his age. His little giggle cracks me up.

He's a fabulous sleeper and goes to sleep no problem by himself. As long as he's tired, you can lay him down and he falls right asleep. His only sleep issue is that he only sleeps on his tummy. Byron and I are amazed at how he can sleep while we're out and about since Lila would NEVER do that. Even when she was only a few months old, we had to schedule everything around her naps, otherwise we would erupt into total chaos. I can go do any activity with Lila and Miles will just nap in the stroller or on a blanket. Thank goodness for a normal baby!

He seems big for his age and people always tell me he looks older than 3 months, but when I use one of those online growth calculators, I think he's between 50th and 75th percentile, so I guess he's not huge. He barely fits in 3-6 month clothes... 6-9 months fit better, so I guess he is a little on the bigger side since he's not even 4 months yet.

It's so much fun seeing Lila and Miles interact and I can't wait until they can play together. It's obvious that they already love each other a lot. My kids make me so happy!

Lila

2010-05-02T20:43:00.003-07:00

The Children's Museum in downtown.

I can't believe how old Lila is getting. I know every mother says this, but seriously... where does the time go??? She's at the stage now where pretty soon she really won't be a baby at all anymore and I kind of wish I could just freeze her in time so she wouldn't grow up. Although I have to admit it'll be kind of nice when she outgrows the stage of throwing multiple crying fits every day! Although she can be tough at times, she is just so stinkin' cute! I love how she learns multiple new words every day, surprises me with how much she knows and remembers, and how she loves to be a little comedian and make us laugh. It amazes me how she's to the point where she can say just about anything she wants. Sometimes the girl never stops talking.

We went to the zoo the other day and she walked around talking for about an hour and half without taking a break and I am not exaggerating. She pointed out every animal, said what it was called, pointed to which ones were mamas, which ones were babies, commented on which ones were eating food, which ones were sleeping, etc., etc. When did she get so old? It's adorable how much she loves anything that has to do with music. She constantly sings and dances. She started dancing to the opening hymn at church today.

SeaWorld is one of her favorite places and she often walks around the house chanting "Shamu, shamu" while doing the "sham slam" (you'd have to see the show to understand, but trust me, it's cute). We bought her a toy shamu that she adores and she parades him around the house saying "shamu jump HIGH!"

Whenever I get off the phone, she always says the name of whoever she thinks I was talking to: Dada. Gamma. Mak (Mark, our realtor). It amazes me that she can tell who I'm talking to just by the context of the conversation and that she's actually listening to what I'm saying on the phone. She's probably right about 95% of the time.

Two of the funniest things she does right now are fake laugh and fake sneeze on command. If you're around her, ask her to do either one and I promise it'll make you giggle. It's hilarious! She also says "tootie" in a really funny voice anytime she hears someone pass gas. I'm never the one passing the gas of course.

Some of Lila's favorites are:

Songs: We are the Dinsoaurs (aka "Marching song"... this is one from storytime), Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, If You're Happy and You Know It, The Wheels on the Bus (Lila calls it "Wa, wa, wa" after her favorite verse in the song. She rubs her eyes when she asks for it.), Popcorn Popping.

Activities: Dancing, blowing bubbles, play kitchen, play house, ring around the rosies, library story/singing time, swings, going on walks and hiding behind the bushes, reading her animal book and naming all the animals.

Food: Nothing. She hates eating right now. Ok, I'll admit it, she loves "canny." Don't call me a bad mother!

She's just to that cute age when every parent thinks their child is a genius because they're learning so much so quickly. I love her sooooooooooooo much!

St. Paddy's Day

2010-04-18T21:12:00.002-07:00

My friend Kristi is in charge of our church's playgroup. We meet every Wednesday and I have to say it's even more fun for me than it probably is for Lila. I absolutely love all the other moms and have so much fun visiting with them for those few hours each week. Kristi plans the best parties for each holiday and here's our little green fest for St. Patrick's Day:

The cool wagon didn't belong to anyone in our group. We stole it : )

We also went to the St. Patrick's Day Parade downtown. We went last year and it's now officially a family tradition. If you ever go, you'll have the chance to see lots of Lions Club members, men in kilts, Irish dancing tweens, dog rescue groups, old cars, and much, much more. It's so much fun! Lila's a pretty intense parade watcher as you can see by the second picture.

Easter

2010-04-18T21:00:00.003-07:00

We had a fun Easter filled with 3 Easter eggs hunts (Playgroup, neighborhood, and Grandma and Grandpa's), egg dying with grandparents, and lots of of, yes, you guessed, it... CANDY! Lila hasn't really ever had candy before now, but the prevailing thinking that kids love candy is definitely 100% spot on. If Lila sees any sort of wrapped object that looks like candy she starts screaming at the top of her lungs, "CANNY, CANNY, CANNY!!!!"

Fun finding eggs in Grandma's yard

Do I have to touch him? Come on Lila, it's not a date or anything.

Neighborhood hunt. Eggs were filled with: jawbreakers and gumballs. Perfect for toddlers!

Obligatory family picture. I dressed us in matching outfits. Aren't we cute?

2010-04-18T20:55:00.003-07:00

4/7/10
Miles went swimming for the first time. He got such a good workout that he was exhausted and promptly fell asleep once wrapped in a warm towel.

Drama at the zoo

2010-04-18T20:35:00.003-07:00

4/8/10We met up with my cousin Amber's family at the zoo. We had a blast, especially Lila who was personally carried around like a queen by Amber's husband Kevin. He was so sweet to hold her the whole time and listen to her chattering narration about the animals. She REFUSED to go in her stroller. I felt kind of bad because it was a mini-vacation for them and Lila stole all of the attention Nathan should have been getting from his dad. Lila had just met her cousin (first cousin once removed I think... but who actually says that?) for the first time (the weekend before at a family gathering and she was so excited when I told her we were going to the zoo with "Naysa" (pronounced like NASA, but with a long a).

It was a really fun day until Lila started throwing a huge fit. I decided it was probably nap time so I tried to put Lila in the stroller so we could head out. We were by the pandas--pretty much the back of the zoo, so we had a ways to go. Lila's fit was getting worse and worse. She wouldn't go in the stroller and she was screaming and flailing as I tried to keep her head from crashing on the pavement. Miles was in the moby wrap and I had a bucking bronco child falling off my hip and what did I do but decide to take the worst possible way back up to the exit up a HUGE and STEEP winding hill. I had a baby strapped to my chest, a crazed child on the verge of crashing on the ground at any moment, and I was pushing a huge double stroller for at least 30 minutes until we finally made it out of the zoo. I don't think I can describe the nightmare that it truly was in a way that gives is justice. I am being sincere when I say I consider it a miracle we all made it out of there alive. I was so close to asking someone to call security to pick us up and get us to our car pronto.

Many people gave me dirty looks, one said I deserved a super mom award, and two ladies who were pushing peaceful children in strollers behind me said they kept wanting to stop and take a breath for air since the hill was so tiring but since they were following me they told themselves if I could do it, so could they. That was encouraging. There was a nice little family walking near us for a good while. I looked at the dad and said loudly above Lila's blood curdling screeching, "Please tell me your kids aren't always angels." Luckily he appeased me by saying "definitely not." Also encouraging. Miles started whimpering a bit, probably because his ears hurt from Lila's screaming, and an old woman told me "your baby looks distressed." Gee, thanks for noticing.

People I've told this story to tell me every parent has experiences like this, but trust me, I have the worst child I've ever seen. I honestly have never seen any kid throw a fit like that in public in my life. Of course she fell asleep as soon as we were driving out of the parking lot. Wish I could have too.

Love you Lila!

2010-04-18T20:28:00.003-07:00

4/10/10

Lila pooping in the potty for the 2nd time.

She hasn't done it again since. I so want her to be ready, but unfortunately, I don't think she is. The first time I got her to do it by bribing her with a sticker. I didn't have a chart or anything, just a plain old sticker. I could tell she needed to poop so I asked her if she wanted to go on the potty. Of course she said no. I then told her she could have a sticker if she pooped on the potty. She hopped up, shouted "okaaaay" in the tone that only she can do (I don't even know how to describe it), and "sticka!!!" and proceeded to sit on her potty forever reading books until she pooped. I was so amazed and of course I thought all it would take was to offer her a sticker from now on. Of course I was wrong. I've even tried candy and it only worked this once at my parents' house (pictured above). Just have to wait until she's ready I guess!

Big sis and li'l bro

2010-04-18T20:17:00.005-07:00

4/17/10

Lila is such a good big sister. Every morning when I get her out of her crib her first questions are: "Dada?" and "Miles?", meaning where are daddy and Miles. Seems like she'd get the drift that dad is at work five mornings out of the week and Miles is usually still sleeping when she gets up. She likes it best when we're all together.

She gets diapers and wipes for Miles, gives him tons of hugs and kisses, lays on

top of him and squishes him lovingly, accidentally kicks him in the head when walking by, is very concerned if we step out the door for even a second and I don't have him with me, and she even pushes her little brother around in the stroller. She gets really upset when I tried to take him out actually.

Miles at 2 weeks old

Miles at almost 3 months old... he's getting so big!

2010-04-18T20:11:00.004-07:00

Obviously I rarely blog, but I just got on here and realized our blog header is sad.

"Byron, Ashley, and Lila"... what about Miles??? Poor little Miles.

Time to make a new header. Too bad I'm horrible at that kind of thing and it probably took me weeks to create the last one and get it to the right size, etc. I need to try to enter one of those free blog header creation contests some people have on their websites. Let me know if you see one.

Miles' Blessing Day

2010-03-14T14:41:00.003-07:00

Miles was blessed in church last Sunday. Once again his Grandma Halsey made the blessing outfit. He looked soooo cute in it! He also wore the bow tie that Byron wore as a baby when he was blessed. After the blessing we had dinner with the fam...thanks everyone for coming!

Introducing Miles!

2010-01-23T20:51:00.003-08:00

Miles Alden Halsey was born Thursday night, January 21st, at 8:06 p.m.

He weighed 9 lbs. 4 1/2 oz.--a big boy!

More details to come...

Four more!

2009-12-23T10:07:00.002-08:00

Lila has four more teeth through the surface! They're the four middle teeth on top. She may have been waaaaay late but she sure is catching up quickly... 6 teeth in less than three weeks!

Lila at 16 months!

2009-12-17T20:36:00.016-08:00

This is going out of order of my intended catch up blogging, but I just wanted to take a minute to record some of the things Lila has been up to lately before I forget. I know if I don't record it the months will just blur together and I won't remember all the cute things she was doing and when she was doing them. It seems like lately she's been learning at super-speed pace. I'm sure every kid goes through spurts where it seems like they're growing up really fast all of a sudden.

Here's a little bit about Lila as of late:

VOCABULARY:

Mama, dada, grandpa/grandma (sound the same), baby, dog, duck, ball, balloon, bird, bye-bye, hello, stuck, all gone, all done, amen, Elmo, Big Bird, cracker, popcorn (well just "pop" really), egg, shoe, bow, eye, cheese, hot, cold, uh-oh, night-night, bumbo. There are a lot more things she imitates after I say them, but I think these are most of the ones she comes up with on her own on a regular basis.

***Of note is one key word that is still missing: NO. Yay! If only that could last forever. She still shakes her head a lot meaning "no" but it's a lot better than hearing her say it every second like some kids do. I guess that's probably just a developmental stage we'll reach a little later! I'm also dreading the "my" phase that I know is soon in coming.

LILA-ISMS:

If we haven't left the house by around 9 am, she heads to the door and starts pounding her hands on it saying "bye-bye" over and over again. She doesn't like being cooped up in the house for long and she knows how to let us know she's ready for an outing.
She is OBSESSED with Elmo. We watch Sesame Street together every morning but the only part she really cares about is Elmo's World. If she hears the song playing from the other room she comes running in like her life depended on reaching the TV asap. I showed her some Elmo video clips on sesamestreet.org once and now anytime she sees one of us on the computer she comes rushing over saying "Emo, Emo" in a super distraught/desperate voice that basically forces you to let her watch Elmo on the computer for a few minutes.
She's still using the binky, but mostly just when she goes to sleep and in the car. I pretty much had her weaned from it (except for sleeping) until she started teething. The binky comforts her more than anything and I knew chomping on it really helped soothe her teeth so I started letting her have it more often. She ended up getting way reattached to it for a few weeks until her teeth came in and now she's doing better without it again. I don't know when I'm going to wean her from it completely. I'm afraid to try before our flight out to Maryland because I know it will save us a lot of grief on the plane, then when we get back we'll have a new baby around and I know that's not the best time for a traumatic change in her life. Maybe when she's 13?
She loves putting anything that resembles a phone to her ear (calculators included) and saying "hewo."
If she doesn't want me around or wants to do something I don't want her to do, she starts waving at me and says "buh-bye." Translation: Mom get out of here.
If she needs help with something, can't get something open, can't figure out a toy, etc. she starts repeating "guck" (stuck) over and over again. I honestly have no clue how she even learned that word.
She's basically over it now, but for at least a month or more she was infatuated with stairs. The funny part is that she doesn't crawl up them like most babies do, she just wants to hold on to your fingers and walk up like a regular person (she even did this when she could barely lift her leg high enough to reach the next step). If she saw stairs anywhere, you could guarantee she'd make a run for them. We probably walked up the three flights stairs outside our complex 3-4 times a day for several weeks.
She loves blowing her nose. We never taught her to do it, she just started doing it. I always just wiped her nose because I figured you couldn't teach a baby to blow. Then one day she just started randomly picking up tissues, putting them to her nose, and blowing. She's pretty talented at it and she does it all the time.
There are times when she insists on being set on the toilet seat (with it closed). She loves to pull the toilet paper off the roll and pretend to wipe and then throw the toilet paper in the bowl. It's amazing how much babies really do watch and learn because we never showed her anything about that (despite my one random attempt to put her on her little potty a few months ago), she just imitates what she's seen me do.
She rediscovered her bumbo and loves sitting in it. It's been stored under her crib all this time and she saw it one day and spent quite a while trying to figure out how to sit in it. The problem is her bum is a bit too big for it now so although she can fit in it, she gets stuck every time she does. She sits in it, gets stuck, asks for help to get out, sits in it again, etc... the cycle goes on and on until I force her to put the bumbo away.
She insists on feeding herself with an adult-sized fork and spoon. Even when she doesn't get any food to her mouth (which happens most of the time), she isn't concerned and still proceeds to chew the air.
We went to a Christmas concert on Sunday that was held in a church building. Apparently she's been paying attention in church because she said "amen" after every song. Maybe she just wanted it to be over?
At her 15 month check-up she was 50th% for height (22 lbs. 12 oz.) and weight (30 1/2 in.) and 90th% for head (18 3/4 in.). She's just got a big brain, that's all.
She knows two animal sounds on cue: lion and duck.
She can point to a lot of her body parts (she learned from the "Your Baby Can Read" videos my mom bought her) including: head, nose, eyes, ears, mouth, tongue, hands, fingers, belly button, foot, and toes.
She loves finding other people's belly buttons and sometimes demands that I lift up my shirt so she can touch mine. That doesn't go over so well when we're in public places like storytime at the library. She's VERY persistent.
She can kick, "jump" (not much air if any), and dance on cue. She LOVES dancing. I need to post a video of her dancing soon.

FAVORITE FOODS:

Peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, plain noodles, toast, bagels (especially with cream cheese), waffles, pancakes, apple sauce, grapes, bananas, raisins, cheese, goldfish, pirate booty, chicken nuggets, yogurt, boiled eggs (disgusting!!!).

I think we need to work on more variety in her diet. Notice any food group missing? Does everyone have as hard of a time feeding their toddler veggies as I do? I even bought special baby yogurt that has veggies mixed in to try to get her to be a little healthier. She did eat peas one time. That was a miracle.

Our baby is 1 year old!!!

2009-12-13T14:30:00.004-08:00

Lila had a very fun birthday party the day before her birthday. We had a bunch of friends and a few family members over to our clubhouse for lunch and a pool party. I made the decorations out of scrapbook paper and believe it or not I cut out all those letters by hand. It took FOREVER! I want one of those cutting machine things they sell at craft stores. I could have saved HOURS!
The cupcakes turned out super cute. I made some, my mom made some, we topped them with the cupcake toppers I had made, and my aunt let us borrow her cupcake stand.

Lila really seemed to enjoy herself at her party.
This cute cake was made by a girl from our church who is trying to start a cake decorating business.
We tried to get a picture of all the kids together but it wasn't easy! Lila actually stuck her hand into the cake before we could even snap a shot.
Then she REALLY got to dig in to her cake. She was not cautious or careful about it all. She pulled the number 1 right out and started putting her arm in practically up to the elbow and grabbing fistfulls out of the center of the cake. I loved it! Every mother's dream for that perfect "messy cake" 1st birthday picture : )
Yep, she was COVERED!

Lila got some awesome gifts. The little train/car thing my mom got her was a major hit... all the kids wanted to play with it and it really helped Lila learn to walk. The shopping cart we got her was also a favorite, but we had to hide it after a while to make sure the kids didn't fight over it! haha...
We had a fabulous time and it was so much fun to have our friends from church, my parents and Kelsey, and my Aunt Shelly and Uncle Ron at the party.

HAPPY (late) BIRTHDAY LILA!

Finally!

2009-12-13T13:42:00.003-08:00

Last Monday, 9 days before she turns 16 months, Lila got her first two teeth! We could see them poking through the surface and got super excited that our baby finally reached a milestone most arrive at between 6 and 8 months!

I know most of you who I don't talk to on a regular basis probably assumed she had a dozen teeth by now, but seriously, these were her FIRST TWO TEETH. Can you believe it? Our pediatrician kept assuring us that one of his daughters didn't get any teeth until 16 months (something most people I talk to have never heard of) and I guess Lila decided to follow in her footsteps.

It's so funny when I feel/hear the spoon clinking against her little bottom teeth stubs when she eats. I think she's going to get a whole mouth-full of teeth super-speed style because we can already feel several more pushing their way through.

It's about time!

Ouch!

2009-12-07T14:31:00.003-08:00

Lila had her second major boo boo incident two days before her birthday. She was standing up at the table cruising around as usual and I was sitting on the couch right next to her when she suddenly lost her footing and fell and knocked her forehead right on the handle of a drawer on our coffee table. I immediately scooped her up in my arms and blood was already streaming (ok streaming might be an exaggeration but there was enough blood to scare me) out of her forehead and turning her hair red. I DO NOT do well in these type of situations so I immediately started freaking out and called Byron and my mom to ask them what I should do. I put pressure to her head of course, but it was really hard because naturally she didn't want me pushing on her owie. Byron rushed home from work to see how bad it was, but I guess heads just bleed a lot because in the end, it only left a little mark on her forehead. She did have little cut on her head for all her birthday pictures though. Good thing I didn't call an ambulance like I wanted to : )

Hopefully some day I'll learn to stay more calm when my kids get hurt!

First Ponytail

2009-12-07T14:25:00.002-08:00

My parents got us an awesome new computer for Christmas and gave it to us early. I can finally put all the pictures burning a hole in my camera's SD card onto the computer! Yay! Thanks mom and dad!

Now that I've got my pictures from the last 4 1/2 months on here, I'm going to catch up on blogging and I'm going to do it the hard way: separate individual posts. I'm doing it because I really, really want to make one of those cute blog books and so I need everything to be somewhat organized. Here goes!

First ponytail back in August. Lila was still deciding if she liked it. Ok, she wasn't deciding, she didn't like it. She HATED having me do her hair for several months, but now she's getting somewhat used to it and will usually let me do my thing if she's either distracted by a snack or the TV. Her little ponytail is so much longer and thicker already! Byron's family always comments on how much hair she has because their kids don't get any until their about 3 years old. Too bad I didn't get a picture of her first pigtails...they're so darn cute!

Yucky!

2009-10-22T11:04:00.003-07:00

I know I haven't blogged in FOREVER, but this story cannot go unrecorded. Yesterday we decided to go out and buy Lila a little potty. I know she's not ready for potty training yet and she won't be for a while, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to have one around for the while before we start trying just so she can get used to it, etc. Lila loves her little potty and keeps opening and closing it, but she clearly has no idea what it's for. It has a removable cushiony seat and she loves taking it out and carrying it around the house and trying to wear it as a hat. I'll have to get a picture of that.

Apparently I got a little overexcited about the new potty because this morning when I noticed Lila making her pooping face (if you're a mother, you know what I'm talking about), I decided to take her diaper off and to set her on the potty to finish. Why not, right? Then maybe she'll know what it's for (that's what I was thinking at the time). Well, she was NOT happy about me trying to sit her down while she was doing her business. Needless to say, having a baby flail around without a diaper while they're in the middle of pooping is NOT a good situation and the mess that was left was not very much fun either: Some poop in her diaper, some on the floor, some on the rug, some on the real toilet seat, and yes, some on the bottom of my foot and my jeans. As I said to Lila: Yucky! Oh the things we moms suffer through. That's what I get for trying to get a 14 month old to poop on the potty! Don't ask me what I was thinking.

When I called Byron to tell him about our first potty adventure (or should I say nightmare?), he asked if I took pictures. Are you kidding me? Yes, I left poop all over the baby, me, and the bathroom, grabbed the camera, got Lila to pose and started snapping away precious memories. Ha!

P.S.--I haven't been blogging because (a) I'm lazy, (b) Lila needs entertaining every waking hour, and (c) we can't fit any more pictures on our computer (we need to buy an external hard drive and haven't gotten around to it yet) and posts without pics just don't seem quite the same, and (d) it's overwhelming to start again when you get so far behind!

Lots to catch up on, but before I get to that...

2009-09-02T09:19:00.006-07:00

We found out what we're having! As Byron would say, he is no longer outnumbered.

Yes, it's a boy!

So for all of you who kept guessing it was a girl, sorry, your prediction powers have unfortunately been proven wrong. I think pretty much every one who ventured to guess guessed it would be a girl except for Byron's sister Laura. It's about time my family produce some male blood! We are really excited (especially Byron) and it was so fun to watch our little boy kick and wiggle around on his first big screen debut yesterday. Byron already has big plans for his professional sports career so we were happy to see he seems active and healthy.

Lila was also there for the big reveal but she didn't seem too concerned whether she was going to have a brother or a sister as long as the baby is healthy. I know she'll be a great big sister.

Here he is waving hello to everyone. I turns out what I thought was the ear on the side of the head is actually part of the brain...oops!

I hope no one finds this image offensive. I seem to remember my dad calling it pornographic, but can it really count when the baby's not out of the womb yet? It's just so funny how when it's a boy, there's really no doubt about it! Do they really need the arrow there? He wasn't spread eagle the whole time. The ultrasound tech actually had to work at it for a while to get him to uncross his legs.

Now the search for a name begins...

Thanks Alexia!

2009-08-20T19:53:00.010-07:00

My friend Alexia took pictures of Lila the week before her birthday and they turned out sooooo good! She is incredibly talented (as you can tell by these awesome pics) and I HIGHLY recommend her to anyone in the area. Go check out her website tybebe.com and you can see some of her other amazing photo shoots. Here are just a few of some of the many fabulous pictures she got:

I can't believe she's such a big girl now!

She BARELY fit in this tub

Nothing in the world compares to that smile!

She sure loves her daddy : )

Notice the birthday candle bow handmade by moi.

Alexia had this on her blog with the appropriate title, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to."

Profile is never my favorite shot of myself, but how could I not post the mommy & daddy kissy pose? Look how much Lila enjoyed it!

One word: A-DOR-A-BLE

Gotta love the daisy bow! My friend Kristi let me borrow some super cute accessories: bows, fairy wings, shoes, etc. Thanks Kristi!

Nothing makes me happier than being together as a family!

Happy Birthday Lila!

2009-08-16T15:51:00.002-07:00

I can't believe our little baby is well on her way to being a toddler. She turned one today! Her party was yesterday... pictures to come : )

A few tricks up her sleeve

2009-08-13T08:56:00.003-07:00

Lila is becoming quite talented, so I thought in honor of her almost first birthday, I'd tell you all about some of her many tricks:

She loves dancing and has some pretty good moves, including her famous head bob.
She can make smooching sounds with her lips (like a kiss) and click her tongue. She does it all the time just to make us laugh.
She loves clapping.
She's pretty good at waving whenever we ask her to or just when we say "bye bye."
She sometimes kisses her baby doll (well I'm not sure if she's tasting it or kissing it, but I like to think the latter).
I mentioned it in the last post, but she cruises ALL around the house. She doesn't even need furniture anymore, she'll just lean on a wall and then start walking from room to room through doorways and around corners holding on to the wall.
She has quite a sense of humor and makes the funniest "jokes" (like making weird noises and then laughing hysterically with us repeated over and over again).
She can throw and sometimes "catch" a ball.
Her first word is "duck," not dada or mama. She loves birds and especially ducks. You should see how crazy she goes over seagulls at the beach. She practically goes into convulsions and hyperventilation with excitement!
I think there are more...I'm going to ask Byron what I missed when he gets home from work : )

Finally!

2009-08-09T14:13:00.003-07:00

We've got a crawler! Yeah, I know you probably figured she'd been crawling for at least a few months now, but Lila just started crawling last Monday (Aug. 3rd...13 days before her first birthday). Finally! I'm actually not sure how long she's actually been crawling for because she's apparently been a closet crawler. Here's how the story goes:

Last Monday I was getting ready in the bathroom while Lila was sitting by our bed drinking her cup of milk. When I went to check on her, her little bum was sticking out of our walk-in closet. She had clearly crawled over there, although it wasn't much of a distance. I decided to watch her without letting her see me and I saw her crawl into the closet, all around it, and back out to get her milk again. What???!!! She can crawl??? I popped out and exclaimed with delight, "Lila, you can crawl!" That's when she fell to her stomach and started crying for me to help her move as if she was once again immobile. I think she was very disappointed that I had discovered her secret and she might have to start moving for herself once in a while.

I quickly grabbed a cracker from the kitchen and placed it several feet away from her to try to entice her to crawl a little more. "Lila, do you want to crawl again?" I asked her. She just whined a little and acted like she didn't know what to do. I left for the bathroom again and when I came back a minute later, there she was, eating the cracker in the exact spot where I had left it. Yep, a closet crawler. I think she probably knows how to break dance by now but only does it when we're not watching, maybe in her crib at night or something. Now that she knows the word is out, she's started crawling a lot more, but she definitely still prefers her personal chauffeur: moi.

I haven't mentioned it before, but Lila LOVES cruising. She's been doing that for the past few months and we have fun setting up little obstacle courses for her around the house with chairs, furniture, etc. so she can walk all around from item to item. I'll let you know when we have a walker on our hands, but it might be a few more months before she decides to reveal that ultimate trick to us. She does enjoy walking around holding onto our fingers and I think Byron and I might need chiropractic services pretty soon from walking around bent at the waist helping her.

Babies are so funny!

Anthony's

2009-07-24T09:44:00.003-07:00

I've never like seafood. Byron loves seafood. Since marrying Byron, I've slowly started liking certain fish, shrimp, etc. I'm actually pretty proud of myself for branching out. I always feel bad for Byron though because I very, very rarely make any fish or seafood at home. I honestly don't really know how to prepare it since I never grew up eating it. I'm always happy when we go out to seafood restaurants so Byron can actually get something to fulfill his seafood taste buds.

On Saturday, we went to Anthony's Fish Grotto, a family-friendly restaurant right in the harbor. It turns out some people don't understand that babies are allowed at family restaurants, particularly at lunch. Some old guy commented loudly as he was passing our table that "babies have no sense of propriety." Can you help but laugh at that? I mean...seriously, no sense of "propriety"? And how can you say anything negative when confronted with this little face. The funniest part is that Lila was actually being really good and hardly making any noise at all other than the occasional squeal of delight.

The food was really yummy, the view was great, and the company couldn't be beat.
After lunch, we went for a walk around the harbor past all the ships that have been turned into museums.

I LOVE spending time as a family!

Beach Day

2009-07-24T09:30:00.004-07:00

Last week we were lucky enough to head to the beach with these lovely ladies and cute kidlets. We didn't get to stay for long due to Lila's napping needs, but it was a lot of fun to hang out at the beach with friends for a little while. I love the girls in our ward...they are so much fun!
When Byron got home from work, he decided that he wanted to go to the beach too (he gets home around 3). Luckily I hadn't changed out of my suit yet and Lila's always up for a beach trip, so we headed out once again for the sea.

We had a really fun time until disaster struck. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it, but a rogue wave, I'll call it a mini-tsunami, put our fun afternoon at the beach to an abrupt end. I was sitting under our umbrella on the beach blanket watching Byron and Lila walk out of the water up towards me when I noticed a huge wave behind them, towering over Byron's head. Luckily I've got a sure-footed husband and he didn't fall down with Lila, but our "stuff" didn't fare so well. The swell from the mini-tsunami went about ten feet higher than any of the waves before it, soaking our blanket and towels, and washing all the sand toys and our sandals back into the ocean with it. Luckily some kind bystanders rushed to help us gather our lost belongings before they were sucked all the way out to sea.

Somehow in the chaos that followed, Lila's wet little body managed to land face-first in the sand. It did make for a cute picture though.

That's what happens when you park your stuff too close to the water. Make sure to give yourself at least a 12-foot buffer beyond where the typical waves are washing up in case you ever run into a rogue wave like we did.

Aunt Laura!

2009-07-24T09:21:00.002-07:00

Byron's sister Laura came to visit a few weeks ago. We were sooo excited to have her come because it's the first time we've seen her since before her mission (she got back in March) and it was the first time she met Lila! Laura is a VERY adventurous type, and although we didn't go skydiving or white water rafting, we tried to keep her busy with more low-key adventures like the beach, hikes, etc. These are some pictures of our hike from the cliffs down to the beach at Torrey Pines State Park, near Del Mar. It's an absolutely gorgeous hike, and actually super easy, so if you're down here, you should definitely check it out. Lila loved riding with Aunt Laura in the moby wrap. It was the first time she'd been in it in a long time.This beach was so pretty and it was nice that it wasn't very crowded since you can only get there by hiking down. Lila loved the water and didn't want daddy to stop helping her "ride" the waves in.

We had so much fun having Laura here and hope that she'll come back and visit again soon!

4th of July

2009-07-24T09:09:00.006-07:00

Ok, ok, I know I'm behind, but at least it's still July, right?

My parents, my sister Kelsey, and her boyfriend Jared came down for the 4th of July weekend. It was so much fun to have them all here, even though we had six adults and one baby in a two bedroom apartment. We slept on an air mattress in Lila's room, we gave my parents our bed, Jared was on an air mattress in the living room, and Kels took the couch. Yes, it was just a little crowded, but it was definitely worth it. My mom and I stayed home to watch the fireworks on TV while Lila slept (it would NOT be worth keeping her out that late) and the rest of the group enjoyed the great view of the fireworks over the bay from downtown.

Lila mostly enjoyed just having so much attention, well at least when everyone wasn't busy checking out some website on the internet that has pictures of embarrassing family photos.

Splashing

2009-07-21T21:06:00.003-07:00

Lila LOVES splashing. Whether it be in the bath, the pool, or even the ocean she can't get enough of it. Watch out if you're nearby though, she'll manage to get you even at several feet away.

Father's Day...a little late

2009-07-21T20:45:00.004-07:00

We got back from Yosemite right before Father's Day, so we were at my parent's house on the actual day. Lila wouldn't really cooperate for a picture, but she's wearing a cute shirt that says "Light of Dad's Life." Byron is such a wonderful dad. Lila doesn't know how lucky she is yet, but she will some day. I'm so happy that my children will get to have a dad who loves to play with them and puts them above everything else since that's what I was blessed with my entire life...my dad is the best!

A few days later, Byron and Lila accidentally dressed as twins. I promise I didn't see what Byron was wearing to work that day before I dressed Lila.

Can you beat a dad who can peel a hard-boiled egg in two perfect halves? I bet you can't.

Just in case you were looking for a close-up.

Sunset Cliffs

2009-07-21T20:37:00.004-07:00

Yet another beautiful spot in San Diego. We are so lucky to live here!

Lila's Big News

2009-07-13T09:10:00.004-07:00

That's right...that little cutie with the cheerio on her face is going to be a big sister. And not just hypothetically sometime in the future. Her little brother or sister is expected to arrive sometime around January 23, 2010 to be exact. We are soooo excited and so is Lila! Look at that shocked look in her eye when we told her. I'm 12 1/2 weeks along and my long blogging hiatus was due in large part to, yes you guessed it, morning sickness, which has still yet to subside but hopefully will soon.

I know a lot of you already knew Lila's big news since she just couldn't seem to keep a secret and kept accidentally telling people, but to the rest of you, now you know! Just in case math isn't your best subject, I'll let you in on the fact that they'll be 17 months apart. Pray for me!!!

Phil's BBQ

2009-07-12T20:47:00.003-07:00

This is a great place to eat if you love meat, which we do. It's also great if you love to wait in line for a hour, which we don't, but oh well. My sister Kelsey came down to stay with us for a few days and we got to go on a not quite double, I guess single and a half, date, thanks to our friends the Zundell's who watched Lila. Let's put it this way: one rib was the size of my forearm, maybe bigger. Just try it if you're in San Diego.

The people who live in the box

2009-07-12T20:45:00.002-07:00

That's how Lila knows Byron's parents and sister. They're the people who live in the white box that has fun keys to smash. She loves her box family and I think it might burst her bubble when she realizes they're not that special, they're actually just normal, "real" people like the rest of us and bigger than she is. We'll see what happens when we visit Maryland next month.

Lila's Interests

2009-07-12T20:39:00.002-07:00

One of Lila's favorite pastimes is "pulling everything out." Whether it be my wallet or purse, her diaper bag, or just a random box or bag I throw stuff into, it keeps her busy and entertained; at least until everything is out. Some day we'll work on "putting everything back."

Yosemite Trip

2009-07-12T19:11:00.007-07:00

Yes...I am FINALLY posting! (That is, with a little help from my hubby who put all the pictures on the post while I was gone at a fireside and we all know getting the pictures up is the hardest part)

Back in the middle of June, went on a trip to Yosemite with my parents and my sister Lindsay, who came into town from Virginia Beach. Unfortunately, her husband Matt couldn't make it and Kelsey was working. The weather was perfect and Lila was an angel, even on the 5 hr. drive there and back. We stayed in a spacious cabin next to the Merced river and not far from the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias. A few highlights of our trip include:

1. Cleaning the cabin furiously when we arrived. We discovered that it was a "pet friendly" cabin, which sounds like a good thing to animal lovers like us, but was actually a curse for Byron who has bad allergies to animal dander. Poor guy! Luckily my dad is an awesome vacuumer and cleaned the place right up.

2. Hiking to Chilnualna Falls, only about 15 minutes from our cabin. It was beautiful, but the water was FREEZING. Only our manly men were brave enough to swim in the treacherous waters and I think they might have suffered from some mild hypothermia because of their courage. Byron loves announcing to everyone that he is an official member of the Polar Bear Club (P.B.C.). He got up early each morning to take a dip in the icy, two-foot deep, creek.
3. Lila enjoyed finding pine cones, like the small one pictured here. We learned that they're called "widow-makers"... I wonder why? Lila liked that they were just her size.
4. Aunt Lindsay and Lila got to bond. She has always been AMAZING with kids and Lila took to her immediately. Lindsay took care of her basically the whole time and was her playmate the whole ride home in the back of my parent's mini-van. Here they are on the Sugar Pine Railroad.
5. Lila spent her days in this handy dandy backpack that my friend Bobbi was kind enough to let us borrow. This thing is awesome! I don't know what we would have done without it. And as you can tell by her smile, Lila liked it too.
6. We walked around in the Mariposa Grove and saw some super big trees like this one. A trek that seemed like it shouldn't have taken very long turned into hours as we noticed that mile markers pointing to sites 0.3 miles ahead seemed to have a funny way of sending us on 2 mile long hikes each time.
7. We had a fabulous picnic in the best spot in the park: a gorgeous meadow next to a lake surrounded by mountains and waterfalls. Ok...so that describes basically every part of Yosemite, but it really was a beautiful meadow.
8. We enjoyed dozens of vistas just as gorgeous as this one.
9. We hung around the cabin just a little bit when we needed to relax.
10. Lila loved the swing set in front of our cabin. She LOVES swings. I wish we could get one!
11. We visited the swinging bridge where Lila found a cool stick.

12. We visited Glacier Point, a spot that offers some of the best views of the valley and its many waterfalls. Behind us you can see Half Dome, Nevada Falls, and another falls I can't remember the name of. We looked through some binoculars and it was really fun to see all the people hanging out by those falls and at the top of Half Dome. My dad hiked it once but my height phobia will definitely prevent me from ever hiking up anything that looks like that...EVER. We also hiked close to a lot of falls, but I won't put those pictures up because there are already a lot on here.
We had such a fun time and want to thank my parents and Lindsay for making the trip so great. Vacations are the best!

Don't get too excited...

2009-06-25T21:19:00.002-07:00

...I'm just posting to say that I will start posting again soon. I have A LOT to catch up on so there will be many posts to come in the near future. So if anyone has been anxiously awaiting pictures of our little cutie, sorry you still have to wait a little longer but at least you know we didn't fall off the face of the planet!

Our budding genius

2009-05-14T22:51:00.002-07:00

They say to start children early so we figured, why not now? My dad is teaching Lila to play the piano.

I've actually tried to get her to play before, but this was the first time she figured out how to press the keys hard enough to actually make noise : )

It must be all that Baby Mozart and Baby Beethoven she's watching. I think it's rubbing off on her musical talent.

Bland Tooth

2009-05-14T22:41:00.003-07:00

You know how most of us describe ourselves as having a "sweet tooth"? I know I have one. Well I've always said Byron has a "bland tooth." He'll eat sweets but definitely isn't tempted by them and he doesn't really care about having sauces or seasoning on foods. In fact, he loves eating plain noodles for a snack. Now you might have a little bit of explanation for his handsome figure.

Well I've recently discovered that Lila did not inherit her daddy's bland tooth. In fact, even at nine months old, she likes her food flavorful and well-seasoned. I first discovered this the other day when we offered her a taste of some refried black beans we were eating. I thought they would definitely be too spicy for her, so I just gave her a teeny tiny taste. She loved it so much that she refused to eat any more cheerios or grapes and couldn't get more dip fast enough. Luckily her tummy didn't seem to get upset and she already passes so much gas that I didn't notice any difference.

My discovery of her love of flavorful food was confirmed today at lunch. I was trying to feed her some beef and green bean baby food that she didn't want to have anything to do with. I remembered how much she had loved those spicy beans the day before and decided to season her food with some onion powder and Mrs. Dash's (salt-free). Once her food was seasoned to her liking, she ate it right up no problem and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the meal. I tasted the food and it was a little too peppery for my taste, but Lila loved it! What a funny baby.

My first Mother's Day!

2009-05-14T22:23:00.004-07:00

Lila, with a little help from her daddy, made me a fabulous mother's day card.

(Mom, I know at times I'm difficult and stubborn)

(Fortunately, I'm CUTE enough to make up for it. Happy Mother's Day!)

Thanks sweetheart! You definitely are cute enough.

See how happy she is to have me for her mom???

I must kiss those little cheeks at least a hundred times a day. They're just too kissable!

Phew! There's a smile...I guess she is happy I'm her mom.

And I'm so happy I have my mom! She's THE BEST! I'm learning to appreciate her more and more now that I have a daughter of my own and am realizing just how much work, love, and patience goes into raising children.

Happy Mother's Day to all you fabulous moms out there!

Happy 2 years to us!

2009-05-13T21:41:00.006-07:00

Our anniversary was on Saturday and we had an AMAZING weekend. We drove up to my parents' house on Friday and dropped off Lila for the night and headed out to West Hollywood for a nice romantic getaway. We stayed at a fabulous hotel, the London West Hollywood. Yes, we splurged. We've realized that people don't spend mega bucks to stay in a nice hotel just because they want a fancy room; it's because of the service. It's amazing what service you get when you pay for it!

When we got to the front desk, I just happened to mention that it was our anniversary since the person checking us in asked what brought us to L.A. Well when we got home that night, what did we find, but a complimentary bottle of wine (don't worry, we left it all for housekeeping to enjoy), a yummy plate of fruit, and a handwritten card. Talk about service!

This is the super cool room we stayed in. One entire wall was beautiful intricate inlayed wood.

Have you ever seen this guy? It's the famous chef Gordon Ramsay, the star of "Hell's Kitchen" the TV show. Well his restaurant in L.A. is inside the London. We didn't go since the prix fixe menu was just a bit out of our price range at over $80 per person. Since we splurged on the room, we went budget-style on dinner and ordered some DELICIOUS pizza from a place across the street called Panini's that was recommended by the concierge.

The whole hotel was gorgeous and felt very luxurious. This is the rooftop pool.

All of the signs in the hotel were embroidered on different colored leather. Cool, huh?

That night Byron got in some "robe time" as he likes to call it. It makes him feel pampered and relaxed I guess. He loves hanging out in hotel robes.

Any hotel that has a giant chess set is clearly the height of luxury (ok just kidding).

Byron trying to take a sophisticated high-class shot of me.

These pictures got out of order, but as soon as we checked into the hotel on Friday, we dropped off our stuff in the room and headed out immediately to Sunset Ranch for a horseback ride through Griffith Park. Here's Byron on his horse Aslan, who we found out is the head honcho around the ranch. He loved to eat and no amount of kicking or coaxing was going to convince him not to grab a snack anytime he found a nice patch of grass. Byron eventually just gave in and let him eat when he wanted and gallop back to the front of the group when he was ready.

The gorgeous views on our ride. This is the observatory.

...and downtown L.A. I know it's smoggy, but it was still pretty.

Here's the two of us. I'm on Mouse, a sweet horse who only had one speed. I know that's typical for these trail horses.

Yes, they made us wear the helmets. That wasn't a personal fashion choice.

Our guide was really nice and had his sweet golden retriever with him the whole time. He had a lot of funny stories about celebrities coming up there (I guess the ranch was even featured on that show "The Girls Next Door"--never seen it). He was also about the fifty billionth person to tell Byron that he looks exactly like Ryan Gosling. You see it now, right? I think Byron's much cuter though.

Our anniversary was definitely one to remember and I'm sooooo grateful to my parents for watching Lila and so thankful that Lila was good for them! Byron is the best husband EVER and the past two years have been pure joy starting our family together. I'm so excited to see what the many years ahead have in store for us.

What a view!

2009-05-13T20:26:00.005-07:00

Last week we went up to Mt. Soledad, a high point in San Diego where you can find spectacular views of La Jolla, downtown San Diego, out to Coronado, and just about everywhere else. It was absolutely gorgeous! I can't believe we haven't visited here before! It's definitely going to become a go-to tourist spot when we have visitors.

We got a lot of cute pictures of Lila that day:

New hat

Just hanging out on a bench

Our little cabbage patch doll

Checking out the view

Too cute...sucking in that little upper lip!

Please can someone find us an affordable house in a good area of San Diego with good schools so we can stay here forever? PULEEEEEEEEEASE!

The baby whisperer comes to town

2009-05-05T21:33:00.007-07:00

My friend Brittany and I were inseparable our freshman year at BYU (well except for the times I was inseparable with Byron). We lived in the same hall and became friends pretty much immediately. We had so much fun playing practical jokes, jumping out of closets to scare each other, eating A TON at the Cannon Center (dorm cafeteria), and just hanging out in each other's rooms. We even once shared a twin size bed for a night (from what I remember it was because I was too scared to sleep in my own bed because of a movie or something...). She already posted about this on her blog, but there were numerous times where we wouldn't see each other until the middle of the day and then realize we were wearing seriously the exact same outfit. I mean it didn't just happen once or twice, it happened A LOT. She came to visit my family in L.A. when we had a break during the Salt Lake Olympics and we even went to a taping of the Price is Right with some friends (I'm still bitter I never got asked to "come on down"). As you can tell, Brittany and I were meant to be friends.

Well I went home the summer after freshman year and Brittany stayed up at school to take some classes (She's a major overachiever who finished a bunch of college courses during high school so she could graduate from BYU nursing in 3 years. It takes lots of people 5 yrs. to finish. I know-she's amazing.) Anyways, she met her hubby Ryan that summer at school and when I came back up in the fall they were engaged (well either that or seriously dating) and they got married the next Spring. I saw them a few times the year they were married at BYU but then they moved to California and have since moved to Texas and what do you know but 4 years has gone by without me getting to hang out with Brit!

Well last Monday I get a call from a number I don't recognize and whose voice do I hear but Brittany's! Her husband travels a lot for work and it turns out he had a free plane ticket he had to use in the next week and he asked her if there was anywhere she'd like to go and I was the lucky winner! Being the awesome husband he is, he offered to watch their two boys while she was gone. Britt's not AT ALL the spontaneous type, but I'm so happy she decided to not be herself for a weekend and plan a last minute trip.

She got into San Diego on Friday afternoon and I picked her up from the airport. Even though we hadn't seen each other for so long, the minute she got in the car it was like no time had passed. Isn't that the best? Byron came home early Friday so he could watch Lila so we could go out (thanks honey, you're the best)! I had thought of Thai food because my first time having it was with Brittany's family during our freshman year (her dad served his mission there). We went to go to spot in Hillcrest called Amarin (look it up on Yelp...if you haven't checked out that site yet, you should) and it was delicious.

The next morning we had a hilarious experience. You know how I said that Brittany and I would unintentionally dress alike? Well, apparently not much has changed. I was getting ready in my room when I heard Byron telling Brittany that she and I are twins. I didn't think much of it until I came out of my room and saw what Brittany was wearing! We both had on the same colored shirt, same colored jeans, and black flip flops. Seriously... again???

First thing on Saturday we went to take some pictures of the gorgeous San Diego temple. It never ceases to take my breath away.

Then we headed down to La Jolla Cove so Brittany could go see the beach and the seals. I guess the tide was really low so there were only a few seals out, but at least we still got to see some. Unfortunately, we didn't have a bottle to collect some sand for one of Brit's friends like she had promised.

After La Jolla, we picked up Byron and Lila so we could go get some lunch. A few weeks ago we looked up all the restaurants from the Food Network show "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" that are in the area and we've been trying to stop by all of them, so we decided on the burger joint Hodad's. You could tell there was something good there since the line was out the door and down the street.

We got ours to go and ate it out by the beach. Hodad's makes quite a mean burger. It was definitely Triple-D (that's what the host calls the show) worthy. After Hodad's we went home to put Lila down for a nap and Byron had to go to work. Brittany was happy just to hang around the house for a while and relax since she's used to chasing after a very busy 3 year old while trying to get a 7 month old to perhaps take a nap or two during the day. Byron came back from work again that night so we could take a trip to the mall. Brittany was excited to find out that we have an H&M nearby and she got some cute new clothes.

On Sunday Brittany performed a serious miracle at church. Hence, the title of this post: the baby whisperer comes to town. Yep, Brit is the baby whisperer. I left Byron alone with our primary class so I could go to Sunday School and Relief Society with Brittany. Lila NEVER sleeps in church. Even when she was a newborn she would rarely nap during the meetings. Needless to say, Lila was EXHAUSTED (church is during her nap time) and really fussy. I kept taking her out and walking the halls to no avail. When Britt offered to take her out and try to get her to sleep, I thought, why not? Well she came back five minutes later with a sleeping baby in her arms and told me that she didn't even cry. WHAT??!!! I couldn't believe it.

I also forgot to mention before that despite Lila's stranger fear, she took immediately to Brittany, kept wanting her to hold her even when she was in MY arms and that Britt even taught her to wave. Brittany is definitely deserving of her new title. Maybe she should get her own show. She should at least do a guest appearance on Oprah or something.

Lila and the Baby Whisperer

The weekend was so much fun! I wish Brit could have stayed longer, but I know she missed her kids and her husband probably wanted his wife back. Now I'm trying to figure out how I can plan a trip to Texas sometime soon...

(Just so you know, I have to give Brit credit for about 75% of this post...I seriously copied it right of her blog. Yes, I'm the laziest person alive. To see the original version, click here!)

P.S.--I just corrected some of the MANY spelling and grammatical errors that were in the post. How embarrassing! I'm sure there are still more, but oh well...

Bad hair day

2009-05-04T20:13:00.002-07:00

Swimming with friends

2009-04-24T20:42:00.002-07:00

Ella, Hallie, Bennett, Lila, Alivia

(don't worry, two of us were standing very, very close to where the picture was taken to snatch Lila up in case Alivia chose to ignore her baby holding duties. She's only 3, but she did a great job!)

I don't know where our beautiful weather went the past few days, but last week was absolutely GORGEOUS and we took the opportunity to spend a fun day at the pool with friends. Lila loves the water and couldn't be a cuter little swimmer kicking her legs and squealing with delight.

t of many more pool days.

Sewing Exploits

2009-04-21T20:32:00.008-07:00

Lila's first cousin, Hazel Dollie Halsey, was born last month! Lila's not the only grandchild anymore (at least on Byron's side). I'm so excited to be an aunt and I can't wait to meet her sometime soon. Isn't she a beauty?Since Byron gave me a sewing machine for my birthday last October, I've been trying to teach myself to do some little projects. I decided to make a few things for little Hazel and I was pretty pleased with the results:
I added a little jean patch to the bib and embroidered an "H" for Hazel (or Halsey I guess). I also added a decorative ribbon. The back of the bib is terry cloth (from a dish towel I bought at Ikea) and it has a velcro closure.
I've made these little shoes before (three pair for Lila-two pairs never fit her-and a pair for a friend's baby shower), but I think these are definitely the cutest ones yet. I added a lot more detail with the ribbon on the front and back and used two materials instead of one. The jean is actually from an old pair of pants I don't use anymore. I was pretty proud of my recycling skills. Green baby shoes!

Underneath the shoes is a super simple burp rag I made by sewing ribbon and quilt binding onto a cloth diaper.Here's a close-up of the onesie. I drew these little birdie pieces and made my own applique. The eye is a little black button.I found instructions online for making this cute bow clip out of ribbon. It turned out so well that I made a light pink one for Lila to wear on Easter.I tried the outfit on this cute little model. She wasn't the most cooperative subject, so this crazy eye shot is the best one I got.

My next project was a present for my sister. I forgot to take a picture before I gave it to her, but I designed a cute bow applique and put it on a white shirt. I'm also working on a matching purse right now and I'll remember to take pictures before I send it to her. If you have any other ideas for simple sewing projects, let me know...I'd love to try something new!

Happy 8 months little one!

2009-04-15T22:50:00.005-07:00

I can't believe Lila is already eight months old! Here are a few tidbits about our favorite gal:

She loves licking her lips and always has her tongue out in an irresistibly cute manner.
When she's excited, she scrunches her face up and sniffs hyperventilation style through her nose.
She still has no interest in crawling.
She's great at sitting and can theoretically do so for hours without falling over, but she much prefers standing and has a killer knee locking maneuver that stops us from sitting her down when she doesn't want to.
She's already getting sick of baby food and will eat any adult food she can get her hands on. Don't put a plate anywhere near her or she'll snatch something off of it faster than you can blink. We've started giving her cheerios and little bits of cut up fruit. I think she just wants to feel like a big girl.
She still wakes up once in the early morning (4 or 5 a.m.) for a feeding. I don't think she's really hungry, she's just on that schedule and I'm not sure how to get her off of it.
She wakes up at 7, takes a nap between 9 and 9:30, another one between 1 and 2, and goes to bed at 7. Her naps are pretty much and hour and half on the dot each. Babies' internal clocks are amazing! I never thought we'd be on a schedule but we are! It's not perfect every day, but it's soooo much better when I'm strict about it--we're both happier that way.
As previously mentioned, she doesn't like anyone but her parents holding her, something she'll hopefully outgrow soon.
She's only had a babysitter once and that was after she was already asleep. We don't want to leave anyone with a scared, screaming baby! We'd probably have to pay at least $50/hr and we can't afford that.
She's super ticklish on her neck, sides, and legs. I love making her laugh!
She still extremely alert and wide-eyed and people haven't stopped asking if she ever blinks!
I call her bubbas, boo boo, bubba booboo, stinky binky, stinker bummer etc. Aren't silly names fun to use for babies?
Still not a stroller lover and thank goodness for the moby wrap.
She loves being outside, going on walks, and swinging. We go on a walk around the neighborhood almost every morning and I like to think she looks forward to that time we spend together : )
She starting to love bath time and kicks all around like a little swimmer every time she's in the water.
She still LOVES her binky, but mostly uses it just when she's tired.
Still no sign of teeth.

I love you Lila Jane!

Lindsay!

2009-04-15T22:28:00.003-07:00

My sister Lindsay came into town from Virginia on Monday, so when Byron went back to San Diego for work, I stayed with Lila in L.A. until Wednesday. She teaches at a Montessori school and it was her Spring Break. Her birthday was on the 9th, so we had a little celebration for her on Monday night.

On Tuesday we went bowling (I was AWFUL!), went to the park, played bocce ball in the backyard, ate at Marie Calendar's, and just had an overall fun time visiting. Lila was super funny at Marie Calendar's. We recently bought one of those baby chairs that hooks to the side of the table (we don't have room for a regular high chair in our apartment) so I brought it up to L.A. and we used it at the restaurant. She LOVED being the center of attention (we were sitting at a round booth surrounding her) and couldn't stop staring at our waiter Reuben. She was seriously looking him up and down every time he came to our table and she even turned around to look at him if she heard his voice at another table nearby! What a funny baby. She loved eating some little pieces of cornbread and avocado off our plates too.

Lindsay has always been the best with babies and Lila took to her pretty much immediately without her standard "breaking in" time. It was so much fun to see her and I wish she lived closer!

Easter Fun!

2009-04-15T21:36:00.007-07:00

Lila and I drove up Saturday afternoon to spend a long weekend at my parents' house for Easter. Byron had to work Saturday, so he drove up REALLY late that night to meet us up there and arrived around 1:30 a.m. The weekend started on a yucky note with this disgusting find in my parents' living room. Gross!!! Neither my mom or I had ever seen anything like it. This bug seriously looked like it came from the rain forest. My mom was brave enough to pick it up on the end of a fly swatter and carry it outside, but when it dropped in the middle of the room, she started screaming, triggering Lila's crying and my screaming. Luckily we eventually got it out of the house.

Actually, the weekend started out fabulously because Lila greeted my mom by reaching her arms out to her for her to hold her. Seriously a miracle! Lila has major stranger fear and never wants anyone holding her but me and Byron. It usually takes her a day or two to warm up to my parents, prompting my dad to refer to his relationship with her as "50 First Dates" (only makes sense if you've seen the movie). Apparently she remembered them from the weekend before in Utah because she took to them immediately and they had her laughing and smiling all weekend! It was so much better than worrying if she was going to get scared every time they picked her up.

Church was really great on Easter and celebrating the resurrection was even more powerful because of a recent tragedy in my parents' ward. We of course had to take the obligatory Easter pictures in the front yard. Lila is becoming a daddy's girl...she gets excited every time she sees Byron. (I made the bow...isn't it cute?)

I made Lila an Easter basket filled with a new Baby Einstein DVD, a Baby Bible, baby mum mums (a rice cracker thing), and an empty easter egg. Sorry Lila, no candy in there! She was happy just to chew on the egg.

Lila loves Easter...look how excited she is!

I feel so lucky to live close to all of my grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Hackett, Grandma Carter, and Aunt Deanna and her family (Uncle Ralph, Kendra, and Jordan), all came over for Easter dinner. I never want to move far away again! It's always so great to be with family. Here's a four generation shot:

Grandpa Hackett

Grandma Carter (Lila has her tongue hanging out like this about 75% of the time lately)

Easter Party

2009-04-15T21:29:00.002-07:00

Our ward's playgroup had a fun Easter party last Wednesday. It was at the park in our neighborhood, so I went down early to help hide eggs, but unfortunately, Lila woke up from her nap too late to make it for the egg hunt (not that she could've found any anyways). I knew my friend Kristi, who is in charge of playgroup, was going to dress her little girl up in an Easter dress, and since we weren't going to be at our ward for Easter Sunday, I decided to dress Lila up in her Easter dress too. She look absolutely adorable in her white dress, matching bonnet, pink tights and shoes, and little pink shrug with bows on the sleeves. Dressing up a little girl is just way too much fun. I was trying to rush off to make the end of the party as soon as Lila woke up, but Byron thought she looked so cute that he couldn't help but take a few pictures before we left.
Here's Kristi's daughter Ella telling Lila something about her eggs. I think she may have thought they were her's : ) Don't you love that blue polka dot dress?

Utah Trip

2009-04-15T21:03:00.005-07:00

Lila went on her second plane ride two weekends ago. We decided to go up to fly up for my mission reunion (I served on Temple Square in Salt Lake City) and my parents also went up so we could go to General Conference (our church's conference held twice a year where the prophet and apostles speak to us broadcast throughout the world). I felt so lucky my dad got tickets so we could go to Conference because there's always a special spirit when the leaders of the Church, special witnesses of Jesus Christ, teach us about his gospel and help us recognize ways we can come closer to him. I felt like it was a privilege just to be there. We also got to visit with my sister Kelsey who is going to BYU. It's always so much fun to see her.

The mission reunion was sooooooo fun! I just wish I could've stayed longer because I didn't even have time to talk to everyone I wanted to. I have so many wonderful memories of my time on Temple Square and the great sisters I served with there. It was a very special time to dedicate my life 100% to serving the Lord. I highly recommend a mission to anyone who is considering it! Here are a few of my favorite sisters:

Krista Cockerill from Scott City, Kansas. One of my three American companions and pretty much the kindest, most thoughtful people I've ever met. Plus she has a HILARIOUS sense of humor! You just can't beat that. She's going to BYU right now. I didn't know my "baby" (a sister I trained) was going to be there from Germany! When Kaja (Sister Trachmann) walked in we seriously ran over to each other like long lost family members or something! I guess it was a last minute decision for her to come and I'm soooo happy she did! We got to hang out at our hotel the next day too and can I just say, I love that girl! I trained her in my last transfer, so we only served together for 6 weeks, but I feel like we've known each other forever and we'll definitely be lifelong friends.Sylvia (or is it Silvia?) Ascione, from Italy, down from BYU-Idaho. She is an amazing pianist, has the most gorgeous accent ever, and was such a blast to serve with.
Lila did a great job keeping herself busy for the most part (with a little help from Byron). She sat on the middle of this table eating a slice of mango for a long time. Sister LeBaron, my mission president's wife, said she was the cutest centerpiece she'd ever seen : )

So many babies were there! I can't believe we're all starting our own little families now. I don't know married names (or even a few first names!), but here are Sis. Abe (U.S.), Sis. Lee (U.S.), Sis. Petion (France), me, Sis. Pong (Hong Kong), Sis. Maldonado (Guatemala), and Sis. Andersen (U.S.). They're all so beautiful and what a bunch of cute little ones!

We said a big prayer of thanks when we got home for a great trip and for a nice flight...Lila didn't cry at all! Truly a miracle.

The mummy is freed

2009-04-15T20:55:00.002-07:00

A few weeks ago, Lila learned to sleep without her arms swaddled...yay! I know it seems a little late to be swaddling, but she seriously couldn't fall asleep without her arms strapped to her sides (in the mummy pose as we called it). We still swaddle her legs, but it's so nice that she doesn't wake up when her swaddle pops off! Next goal: Not having to put binky back in multiple times per night and cutting out feeding between 4 and 5 a.m.

These pictures are just too cute!

Grandma and Grandpa

2009-04-09T22:20:00.003-07:00

My parents came to visit a while ago and we actually did some touristy things with them for the first time. I guess we haven't done any of that with them yet since they live so close that we figure we can do it anytime. We went to La Jolla Cove and Coronado. It was a beautiful day and I never tire of seeing the beauty San Diego has to offer and it's such a blessing that my parents live close so we can see them often.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

2009-04-09T21:42:00.004-07:00

I know it was a while ago, but I've gotten WAY behind in blogging and didn't want to pass up posting about the awesome St. Patrick's Day parade we went to near Balboa Park.

There was a biker dude with a million tattoos wearing a kilt and doc martins in the street directing pedestrian traffic;

a group of adorable rescued westies (the type of dog I grew up with);

literally hundreds, if not thousands of shriners (many clearly pushing 100 yrs. old) driving classic automobiles, riding around in clown cars, and dressed up like an "oriental band" among other things;

lots of irish dance groups, etc. It was a blast and really hilarious. The best part, however, was the old couple next to us who brought a large dog to watch the parade wearing a little girl's sweater and a gold necklace and even set a carpet square down on the sidewalk for the dog to sit on. Needless to say, people here really, REALLY love their dogs.

What a fun St. Patrick's Day! Definitely my best one yet.

Wild Animal Park

2009-03-18T21:28:00.008-07:00

When we moved here I found out that pretty much everyone has annual passes to the San Diego Zoo/Wild Animal Park but we held off buying them until Lila was a little older and could handle a few hours at the zoo on a regular basis. I actually feel like it's just been in the last two months or so that I've reemerged as a full-blown (almost) member of society again. I guess it just took a while to adjust to having a baby, nursing on the go, getting Lila on a nap schedule, etc. I'm of course still a slave to her nap times, but things have definitely improved A LOT.

Well we went to the Wild Animal Park a few weeks ago and bought our passes. I'd been there a long time ago with my family but it was Byron (and Lila's) first time. We had a lot of fun, especially on the safari and it was great not to feel pressured to stay all day since we have passes and can stop by any time for a few hours. We also went to the zoo a few days later and I was sooo excited that she actually noticed some of the animals! She even seemed to get excited about watching some of them and started waving her arms around like she was trying to grab them. She probably wanted to put them in her mouth like everything else, she just didn't realize they were at least 50 ft. away and a little out of reach.

Here's Lila on the safari tram. There was another cute baby sitting in front of us and they kept staring at each other (and taking turns whining and grunting of course).

It was a beautiful day, not too cold, not too hot, and our guide told us we came at the perfect time (mid-afternoon) because the animals get more active then.

Look at the lion on that truck! I seriously thought he was fake at first.

Lila prefers the moby wrap to her stroller any day. She even goes on walks in it every morning.

Our big little girl

2009-03-12T21:02:00.006-07:00

Lila is getting so big! Look at her sitting on mommy and daddy's bed like a big girl.

She knows what she likes and what she doesn't like when it comes to food (this is actually a "smile")

Is that another bite I see?

A satisfied customer. Give her anything orange and she's happy. Don't try to sneak green stuff in there (unless it's avocado... avocado is on her good list).

Can you beat that half-smile?

Rosy cheeks!

Our little jumper

2009-02-19T14:00:00.004-08:00

She was tired and a little delirious... too cute!

6 Month Check-Up

2009-02-18T23:19:00.003-08:00

Lila made it!!! Happy 6 months to her (two days ago). Yes, we sang the "Happy 6-months to you" song multiple times that day. Anyways, I just wanted to quickly post her stats:

Height: 26 1/4 in. (75th)

Head Circumference: 17 1/4 in. (75th)

Weight: 14 lbs. 9 oz. (25th)

When the doctor was going over her measurements with us we realized either something was wrong with the measurements at her four-month check-up or she's been shrinking (not only in weight, but also height). The doctor decided that the nurse definitely measured wrong last time and he even re-did her measurements this time and came up with different numbers than she did (she needs to be more careful!). Anyways, her height and head circumference match up with her two-month check-up (even if the four-month was crazy) and we're not sure about her weight. He didn't seem very concerned that it's a lot lower than the other two measurements, so I guess we shouldn't be either. He said she's probably just going to be tall and thin like her daddy and also that as babies become more active, all their calories go first to height and brain growth (head circumference) and then the leftovers go toward weight gain. She doesn't look really skinny or anything, but I'm still hoping she'll pack on a few pounds now that we've started solids for real. I'll be posting about that sometime in the near future by the way.

Valentine's Day!

2009-02-18T21:55:00.009-08:00

Valentine's Day was really fun this year. It actually started on Wednesday when Kristi organized a fabulous playgroup V-Day party at the park in our neighborhood. Everyone dressed in their Valentine's best, the kids decorated boxes/bags (we were late so we missed that part) and exchanged valentines, we ate treats, and the big kids (2+ is "big" for this group) ran around and played. It was a blast!

I copied my cousin Amber and made these cute little feet-heart valentines to share at the party and also sent one to each of the grandmas.

Here are some of the kids (before we got there... picture courtesy of Kristi) Yes, Lila is definitely the youngest!

The cute bags and boxes everyone decorated (with some help from their mommies) to collect valentines.

Ella and Lila just happened to be wearing the same little "Love Bug" shirt! Lila got hers from Gammy and I found out it was from the dollar spot at Target, a place I'll be checking out very soon. The other moms were in shock that I didn't know what it was. Ella wasn't too thrilled to be taking a picture with a baby : )

A cute clippy I got off etsy (I know I could've probably made it...). Lila is getting so good at sitting!

I know she's not the happiest in this picture, but I just wanted to post a good picture of her sitting up.

Now on to Valentine's Day itself...

When I got up with Lila Saturday morning and we went out to the living room there were presents and cards waiting for us on the kitchen table from Byron. I didn't get pictures of our surprise, but Daddy got Lila a teddy bear and me some yummy Ghiradelli chocolates (the thin square ones with different fillings). What a great surprise! When Byron woke up, I had a card and a bag of mini-twix (one of the few sweet treats he actually loves) ready for him. We've got a few twix left, but the Ghiradelli's are almost gone... I have no self-control.

The best present of all was that Byron didn't have to work and we got to spend the whole day together as a family. We spent a good part of the day at Costco picking up food for the fabulous dinner we had planned. That evening we watched a beautiful sunset over La Jolla Cove from our car as Lila was a good girl and napped in the back seat.

The sun got a lot brighter as it got closer to the water... gorgeous! I LOVE living near the ocean.

Lila gave us the greatest present she could have: She was happy the whole day and went to bed easily. Look at that smile as we were putting on her jammies!

After Lila went to bed, we started preparing our yummy dinner: filet mignon, oven-roasted veggies (finger potatoes, asparagus, onions, carrots, leeks, and whole garlic cloves), crusty sourdough bread, and a poppy seed spinach salad we couldn't eat because we were too full (yes, we went for the main dishes first!).

The steak turned out absolutely perfect thanks to tips from my friend Shona who made us some great steaks a few weeks ago. Before then, I never knew you could cook such an amazing steak on the stove! Just cook over high heat in plenty of olive oil and butter. We also used her not-so-secret secret seasoning she was kind enough to share with us. Byron said it was the best steak he's ever had.

Just before diving in...

...we both finished every last bite (minus the salad).

To top it all off, we each had a slice of delicious cheesecake (Costco-made... who wants to go to the effort of homemade on Valentine's?) with chocolate sauce (it's actually that kind that's supposed to harden on ice cream but apparently the cheesecake wasn't cold enough) and fresh strawberries.

Are you hungry now???

I guess you can see where our priorities are because we got a lot more pictures of food on Valentine's Day that we did of ourselves! It was a great day to spend time together as a family and to remember how special it is to have a spouse who truly loves you. I'm definitely lucky to have such a wonderful husband who lets me know how much he loves me not only on holidays, but every day of the year.

Handmade fun!

2009-02-16T20:12:00.007-08:00

I don't know how many of you have already seen this on someone else's blog (it seems to be getting around fast) but I've seen it on a few friends' blogs and it seems like such a fun idea that I couldn't resist this time. I'll be getting something awesome from Angela and I'm excited to think of something to make for five friends! I promise I'll try to make it good : )

The first FIVE people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2- What I create will be just for you.

3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)

4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be a joke book, autographed picture of myself, handmade bag, or a little invention of my own! I may create you a blog header or paint something for you with my food. (That would be scary). I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows?

5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. Believe me... it may blow your mind!

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! Sounds like fun, right?

So let's play!

P.S.--I sure hope five people respond!

Lila Updates

2009-02-12T22:30:00.005-08:00

Lila will be 6 months old on Monday, so I'm sure I'll do another update post then, but I'm really bored tonight so I figured I'd spend a minute recording a few things. In the past few weeks Lila has:

Learned to sit up by herself...way to go Lila!

The first time she sat without any help we were i-chatting with my mom and I sat Lila on my knees facing me so she would be our laptop's camera. She sat by herself and I figured the way I had her on my knees was giving her extra support or something. My mom was impressed to see her sitting so as soon as we stopped chatting, I plopped her down on the floor and she still sat up all by herself! I think her sitting record is probably somewhere between 30 seconds and a minute, but I'm so proud of her. I think the first time she did it was last Monday, so I guess that would be February 2nd. I was so excited she reached this milestone by 6 months (I think every mom is very milestone focused for the first baby).

Discovered her feet and her right ear.

She's constantly playing with her feet and toes (aren't you amazed by babies' flexibility???) and she grabs her right ear a lot (no, she doesn't have an infection). It's fun to see her discover new parts of her body. I'm hoping it takes her a while to discover her hair because I love that I can still put bows in without her pulling them out.

Learned to jump in her jumperoo.

She LOVES that thing and boy am I grateful that there's a toy that actually entertains her for more than two seconds! She even gets upset sometimes when I take her out of it. The rainforest jumperoo was a great craigslist find (some of the parts still had cardboard and tape on them...brand new but 1/2 the price). She looks so darn cute jumping in that thing.

Tried banana for the first time.

I gave it to her in one of those little mesh baby food holder things (sort of like a pacifier with a ring to hold and a mesh baggy you can put food in instead of the silicone thing the baby sucks on) . I know I could've mashed it and spoon fed it to her, but I'm not really starting solids until next week (6 months). I'm happy to report that she enjoyed every last suck on that little banana filled mesh bag. She ended up with banana juice/mush all over her pants, shirt, and hair, so I can't imagine what kind of mess food that's not contained in a mesh bag will make. It'll be fun to watch her try new foods in the next few months.

Started taking semi-regular naps.

Phew! Well that's just been in the last few days, but I am soooooo excited that she seems to be making progress toward a regular sleep schedule. She's never been a good napper and I knew she was sleep deprived, so I finally bought the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" my cousin recommended months ago. Since devouring the book in one evening, I've been trying to keep Lila on a really strict schedule, follow her sleep cues, and even tried letting her "cry it out" (I was totally against it for months but it's a method of last resort in our case) and it seems to be paying off.

She seems sooooo much happier when she gets good, regular naps and she doesn't even need her binky when she's awake if she's well-rested (if you've noticed from the pictures, she's a total binky addict). Please don't think I'm a bad mother for letting her cry in her crib a few times...I promise I hate it and I wouldn't if I didn't think it was the only way to help her learn to fall asleep and get some much-needed nap time. She now takes a nap around 9, another around 1, and goes to bed a little after 7 (well those are our goals at least). I'm officially a slave to her nap schedule.

(I'll post this now and add pictures later...camera battery is charging for the night)

Wii Boxing

2009-02-09T23:01:00.001-08:00

So this is an old video (as I'm sure you can tell by the Christmas tree, it was taken in December), but I was just uploading a whole tape of video to our computer and this clip had me cracking up. It's good to laugh at yourself once in a while. Although it's pretty humiliating, I thought I'd share this hilarious video with the world. I have no idea how I thought my hips were going to help me beat my sister Lindsay in boxing. Enjoy!

P.S.--There will probably be more old "catch up" videos (of Lila) coming soon...