Alamo/ Fiesta Texas!!!

When we would tell someone that we were moving here, they would say, "You have the Alamo there!". Yes, I am a little stupid in the history department, (probably because I liked to skip that class (along with many others) quite often in High School) and didn't even know what this was. Well...maybe I will appreciate it a little more when I am older :). Jared would kill me to know I wrote that because he tells me how awesome it is that Davy Crockett was there, etc. So, here is the Alamo! We went! The building was pretty cool. I kept thinking of all these great places to take pics. Too bad it was super crowded.

Peyton adored Jordan! He was so cute with her and she ate it up.

Well, Jordan and I quickly did our rounds, then ditched the parents and kiddos to head off to Six Flags Fiesta Texas for the day! It was So MuCh FuN! One of my favorite days with Jordan in a very long time. We haven't been able to hang out and really chat for awhile. I loved it! The day before he had been puking all day so I couldn't believe that he'd even want to think about riding a roller coaster. Well, he insisted he was fine. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little nervous I was going to end up with puke all over me and he probably got sick of me asking him every 5 seconds if he was going to up-chuck on me. He was fine though and we had a blast!

Meanwhile, my parents watched the movies, toured some more and did the river walk with the kids. And of course got spoiled with ice cream.

Birthdays...Birthdays...We Love Birthdays

We got to celebrate Jared and my Dad's B-Days while they were here. It was fun. Jared was so sweet to spend it with us on our "christmas eve" instead of being with his family. Hallie was so excited to have him wear the birthday hat and was even more thrilled that he let her help him blow out the candles.

My Dad celebrated his bday by going to Corpus Christi Beach. He loves to go on drives and see nature and stuff. The kiddos and I unfortunately stayed home because Hallie was sick and a car drive with a sick whiny kid did not sound too exciting :). They had a good time though. We were sad we couldn't go.

That night we celebrated at the outback! YUMMY! Aaron was able to come too! It was great!

And the best part...CARD NIGHT!!! My mom and I had been trying for days to get them to play with us. We were so excited when they did! It was a blast!

Had to include this picture of my crazy bro and hubby. Love them both!

And just a few more random pics...

so proud of her reindeer antlers she made

Peyton LOVED Jordan and my dad. I caught them doing this a few times. She would just walk over to him and snuggle right up. It was so cute. She also loved to look at Jordan and my Dad to get their smile of approval after she did something fun. If they weren't looking at her, she would just wait, sorta tilt her head to the side to try and get their attention until they'd look at her. It was funny.

Hallie loves getting stories with Grandma!

A whole lotta Sayings...

Lots to read, but had to post these so I remember them all...
Christmas and many more posts to come soon...
P.S. I am so in need of a blog makeover. Anyone want to help me?

Peyton’s Captured Moments
December 2009
(17 months)

• Hallie was lying down and Peyton kept pointing to her bottom saying, “Bum! Bum!” We kept distracting her but she just kept doing this repeatedly.

• Finds body parts. Loves to find that little belly.

• Some of my family came to our house for Christmas. Peyton LOVED Jordan. She would just stand there staring at him until he looked at her and would smile from ear to ear when he did. Anytime she did something, she would look to Jordan to see if he saw and smiled.

• Still dancing away. Her latest move for this month is twirling in circles and rising up and down on her tiptoes over and over and over.

• We drove to the temple with my family when they came. Right as we pulled up to it, I looked over at Peyton and she had her arms folded and then bowed her head. It was so neat that she recognized this. I had not even said anything to her about it being a temple or anything. Then she just kept pointing to it and folding her arms. It was really sweet. So special. These little angels know more than we think.

• The sassiness is still going strong! We’ve really been teaching what a “time out” is this month. I think she is grasping the concept quite well considering the fact that she goes around the house with her finger pointed saying, “no, no, no.” If I catch her doing something she’s not supposed to, she looks at me really serious and says, “no, no”. Too bad she’s only doing it so that I’ll leave her alone and she can do it again.

• Has really started pretending with Hallie a lot. Loves to feed her babies, play with her kitchen and cook, etc.

• Saying a lot more words. “Done” is a popular word. “Mama, dada, ball, book, more, duck, fish,” and our least favorite, “AHHHHHHHH!”

• Loves purses. She always wants to take one with her whenever we go somewhere. Usually it is filled with stuff, heavy and huge, but it doesn’t stop her. She walks around with the purse on her shoulder and her arm raised in the air so that it won’t fall off her.

• Loves shoes. We have had a lot of tantrums about which shoes to put on every day. It used to be that she wanted her crocs and nothing else. Then it was that she wanted one croc and one polka dot shoe. Now she’s moved onto Hallie’s or my shoes. Some days, I let her win the battle and people look at me in the stores wondering if I know she has on two different shoes. But hey, at least she is pleasant in the store.

Hallie’s Captured Sayings

December 2009

• “actually…” “well…” are still common phrases she uses to start her sentences.

• Hallie had called Natalie to find out what Avery’s favorite colors were for her surprise picture she was making her. She hadn’t called back yet and it was time to go to bed. She came out of her bed 3 times to see if she’d called back yet. Finally she said, “I have the greatest idea! How bout I take your phone to bed with me case Nat calls and then I’ll bring it back to you in the morning. Just in case.”

• “I got the toots.”

• After a LONG day of Peyton tantrums and Aaron being on call, I put the kids to bed and went to take a bubble bath. A few minutes later, Hallie comes tiptoeing in and says, “Mommy, um…I heard you were taking a bath and I just wanted to let you know that you could use my rubber ducky in the bath. And..I love you. Oh wait! Did I already tell you that? Sorry.” Me: “Thanks Hallie! I love you too and you can tell me that as many times you want.” Hallie: “Oh, okay! I love you! Goodnight!” (and she tiptoed back to bed). I so need that right then and it was so sweet.

• When singing ABC’s, she says, “X Y sneak (instead of Z)” at the end. And she will NOT let us correct her. She says, “No, that’s not how it goes.” If we ever tell her that it’s a Z.

• “Did you get it yesternight?” (lastnight)

• “Why does Target talk?” (after hearing someone talk over the loud speaker)

• (While getting ready for a princess party) “Mommy, do princesses wear panties?” “Princesses don’t have mommies. But I do have a mommy so don’t worry. I’m not a real princess. I’m just pretending.”

• We were all having a singing/dancing party and I was singing, “If you want my body…” . I went into my room to get something and came back out and had the following conversation:
Hallie: “Mommy, aren’t you going to take a bath?”
Me: “No why would you think that?”
Hallie: “cause you were singing, (singing at the top of her lungs)“I’m gonna WASH my body!”

• Every time we go somewhere Hallie asks me if we are going to go on the freeway. If I say yes, she says, “YES!” while doing a Napoleon move by bringing her arm in fist into her body. If I say no, she says, “Oh…I really wanted to!”
Well the other day she said randomly while driving somewhere,
Hallie: “Mommy, can you please teach me how to drive?”
Me: “Sure, when you’re 16.”
Hallie: “Well okay. But make sure you teach me how to drive on the freeway!”
Me: “okay. Why do you like the freeway so much?”
Hallie: “cause you go REALLY REALLY fast! I can’t wait!”
(I am doomed! She is SO going to have my same driving record :))

Peyton’s Captured Moments

October 2009
(15 months)

• Gets super excited when she seems animals. Ducks and cows are favorites.

• Started jabbering a ton. Loves to especially hold up a phone to her ear and do this.

• Signs “all done”

• Loves Dancing! This girl has got some serious rhythm. Anytime she hears any type of beat, her body is moving and bouncing and going to town. As soon as we get in the car, she starts yelling and banging her head to inform me that she would like the music on. As soon as I turn it on, she moves and grooves the entire car ride. It's so cute.

• Likes to get a reaction out of us. If we laugh, she thinks she’s so funny and continues to do it multiple times. Example: She loves to put clothes over her face and walk around without being able to see. Running into our pillars is a regular occurrence.

• Recognizes and says the word “dog” and “duck”

• Has mastered tantrum throwing. A couple stomps, throw self on ground, roll around kicking, screaming….a few seconds of silence to see if anyone is watching or paying attention, and then the previous steps repeated.

• Loves to back up into us and sit on our lap.

• Blows kisses

• Makes huge cheese faces! All the sudden she will say “chee” (cheese) smile from ear to ear with her eyes shut. It’s so funny and so cute!

• Loves Baby Einstein. This girl can't sit still for 10 seconds. Until she discovered these movies. She will sit in amazement and watch forever. She yells at the TV every time a different animal comes on TV. Lately, she finds the movie case and carries it around the house following me while standing on her tiptoes and jabbering to me. She seriously will not stop doing this until I turn it on.

November 2009(16 months)

• Folds her arms for prayers

• Thinks it is hilarious to wait until I am looking and then rip her diaper off and run around waiting for me to catch her.

• Saw Uncle Dustin’s picture in her book and kept turning back to it, pointing at him and saying, “Dus, Dus!”

• Mastered the stairs! Yeah.

• Loves sneaking into the pantry to get treats. Lately, she goes in and closes the door (there’s not much room in there) so she won’t be seen, eats the treat and then comes running out to show me the wrapper or the fact that she took a few bites without getting caught.

• Hates getting dressed. She has hated this since the day she was born. But lately, it is so bad. The funny thing is, she gets clothes from Hallie’s drawer all time and just wants to carry them around or take them to bed with her.

Hallie’s Captured Sayings
October/November 2009

• “I think we need to have a garage sale and get rid of all our stuff.”

• Aaron got out one of his tools to fix the door and Hallie said, “Hey wait! Handy Manny has one of those!”

• “It’s a mystery!” This was a reoccurring phrase this month. She said it quite often. Like…
    Me: “Hallie, why aren’t you’re shoes on? We need to go.”
    Hallie: “It’s a mystery!”

• (While I am vacuuming) “Mommy, can you please turn that down a little? It’s kinda loud.”

• When she begins to tell us something she quite often starts it off with, “Actually..” (sounds like Act choo aly)

• Hallie: “Where’s Daddy?”
   Me: “He had to go in to do another surgery.”
   Hallie: “But Daddy already did a surgery!”
   Me: I know. But he needed to go help someone else that got hurt.”
   Hallie: “Oh. (pause) Know what? Daddy is a way cool doctor!”

• “I said Amen! That means I liked your prayer!” (Often says this after family prayers.)

• “Heavenly Father thank you for the greatest day today.”

• “Thank you for the greatest night today. Please help me to fall asleep…cause I just not able to fall  asleep.Thank you for everybody in the whole world. Thank you for everyone in my family.” (her prayer)

• “I’ll try to not pick my nose this time.” (while walking into church)

• I accidentally got her wet and she said, “Hey! What’s the big idea!?”

• “I gonna be awesome! I gonna be fancy!” (as she was putting her dress-ups on to have a tea party with me.)

Visit to Santa

We went with our friends the West's to some "christmas adventure" that was not quite all it was cracked up to be. Of course we went the one night that was FREEZING! I know, I am such a baby! I should have been so used to it after living in Iowa for 4 years. Well, we weren't. After about 5 minutes of being outside, Hallie was ready to go. The two benefits of this night were 1. We got to hang out with our friends and 2. Santa was there with NO line. Hallie of course didn't want to go near him but after seeing her friends get excited and that Peyton was going to go she decided she would, "go with Peyton but NOT get by him". Well that lasted two seconds. Santa offered her a candycane so she figured she would get close enough just to snag that and let him know that she really wanted a rolling pin (silly girl) for Christmas. I was so surpirsed that she sat on his lap! Good girl Hallie!

Quite excited that she was told she was on the "good list".

Happy Turkey Day

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving. Aaron was on Radiology last month and was able to take some time off. So, we went home to Utah for a week. It was great. We hadn't been home for Thanksgiving in 4 years.

We did so much stuff, didn't even fit everything in, but I have no pics to show! I forgot my camera in my friends car who drove us to the airport. BIG BUMMER! Luckily my fam snapped a few shots and I will hopefully get some soon. UPDATE: Got a few pictures below.

I did snap one pic while Hallie was testing my patience majorly asking every five minutes when we were going and "helping me pack". She stood in this suitcase and said, "mom, take a picture of me and we can tell Grandma and Grandpa that I'm coming on the airplane REALLY REALLY soon!"

Here are some highlights we enjoyed:

Having Aaron fly with us on the airplane! Can't believe how much better it is with help :). Although a cranky ol' man shushed Hallie. It was ridiculous. We had just boarded the plane (one of the first to do so), and still getting situated. I was standing up putting some stuff in the overhead and Hallie said all excited, "Daddy! Guess What! There's an animal on our plane!" Before she could even finish, a lamo man behind us said, "SHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" (probably louder than Hallie was even talking). Since I was standing up, I witnessed his expression and all. It was great. I just looked at him with a big smile/crusty. Then I sat down and thought of all the things I should've said. Oh well.

Peyton finally learning how to do all Grandma's stairs.

Aaron going to the BYU football game with his brother Nate

Having a sleepover with cousins, at Grandma and Grandpa's house making build a bears and watching UP

Staying at Aaron's mom's house. Hallie and Peyton had a blast over there! We were sad that it got cut short because Hallie got croup and Bill is super amino-suppressed so we had to leave for fear of him getting sick.

Going to Dexterity Salon in SL to see all the Fashion Remix dresses on display followed by the yummy Olive Garden with my mom, sisters, aunt, Tammi, Steph and Kendra.

Are you wondering what Fashion Remix is? Well teams of interior designers (my mom and work were one) were teamed up with product vendors (like tile, laminate, carpet, glass,etc) to design and create a fashion outfit. All the proceeds went to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

My amazing and talented cousin Tammi helped them out and made the dress. Check it out HERE and HERE. She is awesome. Seriously, she has made such amazing things. I hate when I see her and I say, "where did you get that shirt, it is so cute!" and she says, "oh...I just made it real quick".
They won one of the three major awards - "Best Ready to Wear". They all did such a great job. Way to go Mom!
This website HERE shows all the professional pics of all the dresses. Check them out. They are so cool!
Temple trip with fam

Making our traditional Gingerbread houses. Remember last year? Well...Hallie didn't spill her candy all over this year or eat half as much! Probably had something to do with her being sick. Guess there is a benefit of being sick! She wanted to do it all by herself. I was instructed to put the frosting where she told me to and she would do the rest.

Aaron going rabbit hunting with his brothers and dad

Seeing Deanna and her boys

Going to The Blind Side with my parents and Aaron. SUCH a GOOD movie! I loved it.

Thanksgiving dinner at Nate and Audrey's house with Aaron's fam. It was great and so fun to see them all and their cute new house.

Running into Colleen and Collette in the Disney Store!!! Holy cow! My heart stopped. ha ha (only some will appreciate this one.)

Spending time with Dustin and Jordan.

Black Friday shopping! Sortof disappointed in myself :(. Little suitcase room and not much money was not suitable for me on my favorite day of the year! I am actually quite disappointed with myself. I had been dreaming of the ads and all the great deals I was going to find, being on my shopping high, running from store to store, going with my sisters and mom...! Well, I don't know what my problem was because I watched my sister Natalie take my role this year while I couldn't get my butt in gear. Aaron will be happy that I didn't spend much money. But may not care after he has to hear a bazillion times how disappointed I am in myself.

Having Chels and Jared come from Chicago too!

Cafe Rio, Bajio, and Pizza Factory~yum!

Games with fam

I think Hallie is allergic to Utah because every time we go there I swear she gets sick! Crossing my fingers that next time she doesn't. I was so sad I missed seeing Andrea, Beth, and Sarah's brand new babes!

We had a wonderful time!

Peyton and Kate decided to explore a drawer in the kitchen. This is Hallie's "we're caught" look. They are going to be trouble. They are only 5 months apart.

Our fav Rock Band.

Popcorn Movie Date Night

A few weeks ago we switched babysitting with some friends so we could go on a date. Well...Hallie was SO excited for her friends to come over. "Mommy! I have the greatest idea! (whispering) How about we make a little bed, pop some popcorn and have a (shouting) MOVIE NIGHT and watch DORA AND THE CRYSTAL KINGDOM!!!!"

Needless to say, she was a little excited. She kept looking out the window because she was "just checking to see if they're comin yet."

They had a blast! They each had to have their own blanket, own stuffed animal and popcorn bowl. So cute.

Can you tell Hallie was having a blast? I don't know what she watched more. The movie or her friends.

Halfway through the movie, Kesley said, "I think Peyton wants to sit right by me and watch the movie. Can you put here right here?" Peyton usually doesn't sit still for a second, but she sat there for quite awhile. And Kelsey was so cute with her.

Tinki and a Witch

We had lots of fun this Halloween! Hallie was our little "Tinkibell" (Tinkerbell) and Peyton our Witch. It seems like there is always lots of fun festivities going on around this holiday. They loved...

~going to story time and having a parade in their costumes,

~party at friends,

~trunk or treat at the church (minus the part that Peyton upchucked all over because her wonderful mother didn't realize she was taking candy out of her bucket and eating it, wrapper and all, the entire time),

~decorating cookies,

~reading fun stories,

~pumpkin patches/decorating, and

~our traditional soup in yummy bread bowls followed by trick or treating!

Hallie of course had to get a pic with "Baby Peyton"

Peeking at the dog

Notice Hallie's mark on her chest? She totally ran into a huge tree branch!

This picture makes me smile for so many reasons.
First...the CROCS! She had the cutest little black shoes that matched her costume but she was not having it! She LOVES these crocs with a bazillion jibbitz on them (thanks alot Granny! j/k) and will throw the biggest fits to wear them everyday. I let her win this battle and enjoy the night.
Second...the BUCKET! Hallie had planned forever that Peyton was going to use her Elmo bucket and Hallie would use her new princess one. This idea worked great at our church trunk-or-treat. Well...little Peyton is smarter than I give her credit for. All day, she had been trying to reach her bucket and eat candy out of it. And I kept telling her no and sliding it further back from the counter. Well when it came time to get out the door and go trick-or-treating, we could not find that bucket anywhere! So, we figured this bucket would do (thanks Carly!). It was huge and getting so heavy, but she would not let us touch it! Now FF to the next day while I'm cleanin up...I found that she had hid her bucket behind the door in my closet which was full of candy from before! silly girl. Now I remember wiping the counters that same day and setting the bucket down for a sec, but of course then getting distracted. Bet she thought she'd save that candy there for when her mean mother won't give her anymore :).
And Third...That cute little smile! She had a blast! She just thought she was as big as all the other kids and didn't want us to carry her, take her bucket for her or touch her! She would run down the sidewalk yelling from house to house trying to catch up to all the other kids! It was so cute.

Hallie absolutely loved it too and was alot more daring this year. She noticed some kids across the street trick-or-treating at someone else's house and dashed into the road because she thought we had "missed that house with candy!" She was all about the candy this year!

Her friend Pate was adorable. She had a blast and had this permasmile on the entire time!

And another highlight was the weather! It was so crazy to not have to think about costumes that would keep them warm, or covering their entire costume with coats and gloves. I DO NOT miss Iowa weather!

Now if someone would just hide all the candy so that I would STOP eating it!!!

We slacked off a little with the pumpkins and decorating this year, but the girls sure had fun!

Peyton just thought it was fun to try each pumpkin out as a seat.

Happy Birthday Aaron!

Happy belated Birthday to my sweet hubby (the day before Halloween)! I am so blessed to have him in my life! He's the best! I really could not ask for a better husband or father to my kiddos. So to keep up with the tradition (wow, he's getting up there in numbers! Maybe we should retire soon. j/k):

32 Things I love about Aaron:

1. He still makes me laugh every single time he says "ALL RIGHT!"

2. He kisses me goodbye every morning.

3. He loves his little girls and treats them like gold.

4. He can do anything himself! He has done so much to our house and is always amazing me with the things he does.

5. He gets so excited about football!

6. He works so hard to support our family.

7. He never shows fear and is such a great leader of our family in this way.

8. He forgives so easily.

9. He stays up late with me watching shows or movies together.

10. He plays Boggle and cards with me.

11. He finally drinks with me! (Diet Dr. Pepper of course)

12. He is always so supportive of what I want to do.

13. He thinks I'm beautiful even when we both know I'm not lookin my finest :).

14. He never points out flaws.

15. He is confident with who he is, yet so humble too.

16. He surprises me occasionally with flowers and sweet notes.

17. He NEVER asks me how much I spent or what I bought when I go shopping. (I'm so lucky)

18. He humors me and lets me show him all the great bargains I've found.

19. He always finishes whatever he puts his mind to and does it the best that he can. You can always expect the very best from him.

20. He opens my door every time we go on a date and wears a little more cologne than usual just for me. (I wish I could demonstrate the way he applies it usually :). He taps it barely and waits for a sec before he walks into it. It's quite funny. I used to push him into it right after he'd spray it and he would say, "That's too much! Now I'm going to be "that guy" in the room".)

21. He sets goals and always finishes them no matter what.

22. He helps me clean and cook.

23. He never leaves the seat up! (I can only remember one time he did, which of course happened to be when I was pregnant and had to go potty in the middle of the night but instead fell in!)

24. He is very easy-going.

25. He takes Hallie on dates to Home Depot's kid workshop events and the Sports stores to look at the animals.

26. He is always thinking about how to make things easier/better for me, the kids and others.

27. He is so willing to do anything for me. Even if it's midnight, without me even asking, he will be in the car and halfway down the street before I even realize, to go get me some almond for cooking, a treat, etc.

28. He is very thoughtful in the gifts he gives me.

29. He imitates Kevin from The Office with me and thinks it's just as funny as I do.

30. He offers me ice cream (and meat too) every time he gets some even though he knows the answer will be no... "just in case".

31. He always says, "This is the best meal I've ever had." or "You really outdid your self this time" every time I cook, even if it was just a darn quasadilla!

32. He makes life SO FUN and SO GREAT!!!

The day started off with the fav singing and dancing of "They Say It's Your Birthday" by yours truely, and a breakfast of his choice (girls were still sleeping. It was 5:00 in the morning). As luck would have it, he got off early from work, so we were able to go out to dinner before the trunk or treat party. We had a yummy dinner at Texas Roadhouse, however I was a little disappointed that he would NOT let me inform them it was his birthday so he could sit on the saddle! ha ha.

I think Hallie was more excited than Aaron that it was his birthday. She kept saying, "Daddy! Guess What! It's your birthday!" or "Where is that little birthday boy?" She had a blast making his cake, and the sweet daddy that Aaron is, let Hallie go to town. Which would explain why almost an entire container of sprinkles was on the cake :). She had seen this hat at the store that she insisted we get for the birthday boy. But decided that we all needed some too (even if they are Winnie the Pooh and say 1st birthday! ha ha).

Happy Birthday Aaron! We love you and are so glad you were born!