It's been awhile

It's wild thinking how much time has passed and how much hasn't been written. I'm sad because majority of the past three years has been amazing; but isn't it funny how we tend to hold on to the painful memories, regardless of how infrequent they may be.

Or maybe it's just me.

My favorite years of Hattie happened. She skipped the terrible twos, the threenager, and was even easier than expected to potty train. She was the most joyful toddler. I look back at photos and can't contain the smile on my face. We lived the dream!
 And we still do. It's just, as her mother, I'm not as well equipped to maneuver her determination and exuberance for life. She will fight! She will persevere! And she will make me want to throw my hands up in the air and either laugh or cry, depending on the day. Haha! She just lives life 100% intensity and it's hard to absorb it all as a parent and to channel that energy into positive outlets and actions 24/7.

Disneyland trips still happened and bi-annual visits by grandma & Grandpa Jensen we're always highlights. I spent way to much energy, time, and money on Hattie's birthday parties but I wouldn't change it. Her last big birthday was a Pirate Fairy theme, complete with my mom dressing up as Tick-Tock Crock and Chris as Hook. hahah! Chris made an awesome treasure map that lead to the pinata, even. It was the best, despite the rain.

To begin somewhere in those toddler years, lets start with me finding a job. I wanted to be able to help a bit financially so I got a job at Mission Viejo Montessori. Hattie was able to come to work with me and attend the pre-school classroom, while I was working in the infant room. I learned a lot about why I stay home. I don't want anyone else raising my children. No one else can love and feel the level of concern that you do as toward your child. I ended up leaving after one year. I just didn't see eye to eye with others who worked with me. Hattie's teacher, though, she was the best & I know she loved my Hattie Lynn. Hattie made it easy for everyone to fall in love with her.

 Interestingly, as I sit here reflecting on my time there. I'm remembering that I was newly pregnant when I started. August 2014. Three weeks after I got the job, I miscarried. I truly found it healing to snuggle all those babies and give them my love that I so badly was yearning to give that baby I had lost. & then again, two weeks before I left, July 2015, I found out I was pregnant. We went to Lake Powell that year with the Furstut Family and I miscarried again on the houseboat. I was helpless, stuck on a boat, and tried my best to keep busy hosting our cousins and playing with Hattie. Looking back my feelings manifested themselves in me being easily annoyed.
(I think I sometimes still struggle with that.)


After I returned home from Lake Powell I saw that (on Facebook) two families were searching for in-home daycare. It didn't take long for me to reach out to each of them and soon agree that I'd apply for a daycare license and have them join Hattie and I at home Monday through Friday, beginning September 2015. My only requirement was that they'd be ok with me taking their kids to Disneyland. 4 kids and I; They were the best behaved and we loved our weekly trips watching Disney Jr Live On Stage, Red Trolley Boys, Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, Frozen sing along.. and rode the carousels and heimlechs chew chew train!

Daycare was a joy. Exhausting, but so fulfilling. Parents were sometimes challenging, too. But yet again, in January 2016, we found out I was pregnant; by February I miscarried. It was the most painful one to date; and I ended up in the ER on pain medication. This time we saved the embryo and asked for it to be tested. We met with a Genetic Counselor weeks later and found out it had the same genetic translocation I do... but his was unbalanced. The silver lining of that meeting was finding out that it was a boy. A warmth to my heart, as my mother had "known" it was a boy and had "named" him Samuel long before I had even miscarried. I feel like I have so much more of a memory with this miscarriage because of knowing the gender; having a name. It's just comforting knowing so much more about this baby, rather than just always referring to "it" as a miscarriage.

With all the sudden doctor appointments, I had shaken the dependability factor of my daycare families. And then again, July 2016 we found out we were pregnant for the 4th time. This time we were blessed with a full term pregnancy. And with that, my daycare families slowly left to find care elsewhere as my belly grew larger. Not to mention I signed up to sell LuLaRoe Clothing.
 (OY! I feel like I'm such a mess on paper.. but writing it all down, I think I just needed to build my family, & couldn't, so I looked elsewhere. Just a theory though)

March 2017. We welcomed Lilah Josephine into our family and we've just loved loved loved her each and everyday; Hattie, especially.  She's now 5 months old and anxious to learn and hit the next milestone (which I don't ever track like I did with Hattie). I just really want her to be little for as long as possible cause it passes fast & who knows when our next child will join us here on earth.

Life is fun. & I'm embracing the "Come what may and Love it" attitude <3

PS. I returned all my LLR inventory this month and I'm so glad that that ship has sailed!
 

Easy like Sunday Morning

Disregard the "girl I'm leaving you tomorrow" line, and just focus on the rest of the song.

http://youtu.be/65lZt1EEW4E?t=10s

  This song popped into my head as I was downstairs washing dishes, with the smell of fresh baked cookies lingering, and listening to my daughter, Hattie, singing "Popcorn Popping" with her daddy upstairs. I sat down with glass of water to take in the moment just a little more fully, humming easy like Sunday morning; Such a calming tune. 

A minute of silence came, and then I heard whispers of, "Kitty yeow yeow". They were praying. 

She repeats the same noun over and over again until we repeat it for her in our prayers. It's the sweetest thing to hear what she comes up with.  It's mostly, "Gaah-mah", "See-een"(her cousin Selene), "Reagan", "Nina", "Home", "Kitty yeow yeow", "Mickey/Mickey house" (Disneyland), "Mommy-Daddy", Hattie-leen", "bankie", or whatever activity we did that day ..you get the idea. 

Well, Lets rewind to this morning...

  Today was another day to throw into the "difficult" pile of life. 

Okay, maybe I take that back. This morning was wonderful. We slept in til 9 and even then, Hattie allowed Chris & I to lie in bed while she played with her trains for 20 minutes until she wanted us to come join her. It was so joyful.

UNTIL (this is where the difficult comes in)

At 10am Chris left to go help some friends move (Yes, on a Sunday). Which is no big, until Hattie decided to open every item in the bathroom with a lid on it. I was right there next to her trying to do my hair, as I grabbed one thing out of her hand, she was right on to the next thing. Baby powder dusted the floor, toothpaste on the counter, face lotion smeared on her cheeks, lids thrown in the water filled sink. ... IPHONE THROWN IN THE WATER FILLED SINK! 

  I watched the whole thing happen. 

Talk. about. slow. motion. 

I just don't think I believed she'd actually do such a thing. But when she did, I stomped my feet and grunted with anger.  

(talk about a tantrum) 

It's all I could do in order to keep myself from doing something I'd regret later. 

 I sat her in the corner of our bathroom and told her not to move, as I ran downstairs and gently placed my phone in rice. 

 To my surprise, when I returned she was siting in the exact spot I left her in. Hooray Hattie! After a good 3 minutes of silence I sat with her and talked about why I was so mad and how it was NOT okay to put mommy's phone in water. (This being her second strike; The first was in the toilet!) I could tell the entire time she was anxious to give me a hug and make it "all better" as she says. And she did, three times. That was enough proof to show me she truly was sorry; or that she just hated the fact that I was upset with her. I hate it too. I actually found myself, in all my anger, still, kissing her head as I lifted her up and over into the corner of the bathroom. How ironic.

But as a mother, watching your child experiment and explore the world is a marvelous thing to see. It's shocking (in this case) to see where their curiosity takes them. 

The rest of our day was a delight, Church (without a phone = THE best), late afternoon naps, BBQ dinner, and mom's (in-law) chocolate chip cookies... with ice cream. Delightful indeed. 

Thank you Sunday for being easy.

PS. My phone is alive and well after 6 hours in a rice bath. 

BIG BEAR

This weekend we had the awesome opportunity to vacation in
 Big Bear, CA for FREE!

 Needless to say, we have awesome friends!

Here they are, Aaron & Aubrey

Here are a few photos that captured the fun we shared with friends and families. 

On our way..

Getting familiar with the neighbors :)

 

First stop of the day were the Alpine Slides.. 

I was loving the speed going down! 

Hattie and I took a gnarly fall on one of the turns and I became a human shield for my girl, note the road rash on my arm in the photo below...

In this photo we are on the top of Big Bear Mountain looking down at Big Bear Lake

BEAUTIFUL

More friends! Fiona & her Daddy Tyler  

We then went on a mile long hike, making a loop around the summit. Hattie had fun searching out birds, lizards, & other buggies along the way.

On our way back down

Aubrey, Aaron & Kaleena, Chad

Nap time was a MUST after all the fun adventuring

We then headed out for a night on the town that ended with ice cream, puppy dogs, & horses 

(unfortunately only the ice cream was captured in photos)

We went walking in hopes to find a lake view of the sunset, but we settled for this

The next morning we headed out after taking a quick stroll on this beautiful pedestrian bridge

 A BIG thank you to the Antis' for having us along :)

April Fools

Just to set it in stone I wanted to share about my wonderful abilities to fool my husband EVERY year on April fools! 

2010

Even while we were dating I  coated his toilet seat with Bengay! :) 

Unfortunately, he never noticed... He must really have buns of steel!

2011

For our first April Fools as a married couple we were on our Honeymoon in Hawaii. 

I was in the bathroom getting ready for our next big adventure when I decided the time was now. 

I called Chris over to the bathroom door and apprehensively stated that we were pregnant!

Any OBGYN would know it's IMPOSSIBLE to know you're pregnant within just DAYS.

But lucky me, I didn't marry an OB.

 HE BELIEVED ME!!

Although, I felt horrible when I saw the range of emotions on his face within minutes. 

I also got him with the classic "short sheeting"

2012

The second year, I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with Hattie. 

(can you guess where this is going...)

We were at my parents house celebrating his birthday and Easter a bit early that year. 

All day I was acting it up like my stomach was aching and questioning whether it might be contractions. I told my family I was going to go upstairs and relax for a few minutes.

Yet once I did, I set myself up for fooling them all!

I poured water on my pants, sat on the side of the tub and called for Chris. It didn't take long for, not only Chris to make it into the bathroom, but also my Mom and sisters...

and see that my "water broke"

They were so concered and wondering how in the world we were going to get me back to Orange County deliver with my Doctor. 

After only minutes I revealed it was an APRIL FOOLS prank and they all were immediately relieved, but again flustered by the range of emotions I had just caused. 

You'd think I'd learn the first time... but I just can't help it!! 

2013

I can't remember for the life of me what I did other than, again the classic "short sheet"

hopefully it comes to me soon.

2014

This year I had researched and found more fun loving pranks to pull on my husband in hopes to give his emotions a break. 

Unfortunately all of them failed when I ended up falling asleep early the night before (forgetting to set them up) and having to leave town the next morning at 5:30am to catch a train up to my parents house. I was heading there to drop off Hattie so I could join friends & go to a taping of "The Voice". 

It was a pretty fun experience with way too much standing involved! 

As we headed home it came to me.

I  called Chris and told him about our awesome time on set and how they put on a dance competition for all audience members to participate in, while we passed time before the show started. 

I, of course, being the dance queen that I am volunteered and was able to show off my moves on stage...

 the worm and all! 

The winners were chosen by the level of audience applause. 

and I WON!! 

A 45" flat screen TV!!! It was awesome!! 

But the greatest part was...

APRIL FOOLS!

I know, I know. I toyed with his feelings again. I can't help it! 

Honestly though. every great prank toys with emotions.

Check out this AWESOME April Fools Prank that 100% messes with the guys emotions

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/video-best-classroom-prank-ever-3384884

"FRIENDS are the loveliest of things”

(Written January 3 2014)

Today Hattie and I had a visitor. Her name is Zoe and she’s an old friend of ours from Aliso Viejo.  She’s a few months older than Hattie, yet Hattie still beats her in height.

Imagine that!

It’s been such a fun day. They instantly got along as they found out they’re both pooh bear fanatics! After watching Winnie the Pooh for a minute or two they began playing “kitchen”, which then turned into a tea party; complete with water.

            It made me thing just how wonderful it would be if Hattie had a sister to play with indefinitely! 

And with that said

no, we are not expecting. 

UPDATES

Since my last post...

We've actually moved!

15 mins East of where we were in Aliso Viejo. Not quite Omaha, Nebraska... but closer!

We found a town home in Lake Forest in a quaint little neighborhood complex, with what we though was the best choice for what the property had to offer and what it was priced at.

Now. In Omaha we could have gotten MUCH more bang for our buck.. but we're just not ready to leave this sunny whether and beachy coastline; Not to mention, MY side of the family ;) Although I DO love Chris' side, too!

 We had so much help moving it was awesome! I can't wait to be settled in and have them all back over to enjoy our backyard patio.

Since moving we've had my parents stay over as well as The Sweeny's. How much nicer it is to have space to entertain, rather than trying to make space to try squeezing them in! haha.

We feel so blessed, in knowing we are able to afford this home and to have been GIVEN so many big ticket items in order to fill it!

Tithing is certainly paying off ;)

Hattie is in a close 2nd with her Daddy to LOVING it the most.

She's finally got a room to call her own, a backyard to explore, and STAIRS to constantly walk up and down, up and down, while holding firmly to the bannister. She makes it all worth it.

Thoughts about Moving

Not that we've told many people, but we've been house hunting for the past two months.

Surprisingly, our first bid was accepted and we were on the road to home owners WAY sooner than I sure expected.

And I guess we're still on that road.. 

but it's become a bit bumpy with all the contingencies to remove in the process. 

(if you don't understand what that means, its OK, Im still confused about the terminology) 

It basically means we're waiting for inspections to be complete and loans to be accepted and funded by a bank... and once those are all completed then we "remove the contingencies" 

(still confused? ...Sorry)

Anyway, the point is that it's got me thinking. What if things don't work out? Or what if it's not worth it  to go through the whole process, knowing that in 4 or 5 years we'll need a bigger place. 

AND

 my biggest epiphany occurred when Chris' parents headed back home. 

Every time we visit with his family I notice that he gets 85% better about being polite, and remembering to be super kind and say sweet things. 

..Or maybe it's just that he's not so tightly wound when he's got his family near by.

And just like that, it's back to his tightly wound comfort zone within 3 days after they're gone.

SO

The epiphany 

What if we moved closer to his family?! 

-------

ugh. when I really think about it, it makes my heart ache. 

NO BEACH

 NO (MY) FAMILY

NO 360 DAYS OF SUMMER!?

But honestly, it all might be worth it to have a consistently pleasant husband 

(and more importantly, father) around. 

It IS just a thought 

but one worth talking about.

Birthday Boy

Christopher turned 32 this month!

what an old man

To celebrate we thought it'd be fun to revert back to kid mode and play a few games at Dave & Busters

Before all the excitement we had dinner at Yard House. 

His boss had given us $40 in gift cards there, so it wasn't a hard decision. 

We invited two other couples who also had girls who were Hattie's age. 

Lets just say dinner was a big disappointment.. 

Here it is in a nut shell:

A booth with babies = NO high chairs and LOTS of squirmy ones and spilt drinks

Not such great food for a not so great price 

(thank goodness for those gift cards)

Lousy service

So of course, Chris complained and came out with a free meal!

Happy Birthday to him!

Now on to the fun part 

 

Shaun killed us all on this multi-player pac-man game :\

Our girls were such troopers the entire night! And best of all they were WIPED OUT by the end of it. 

Can't wait for it to happen again.

Although I wouldn't be opposed to a sitter, either

Good Samaritan, not great.

Last week we got a knock at the door.

 Chris looked through the eye hole and saw a man he didn't recognize. He opened the door reluctantly, only to see that the man was holding my wallet in his hand!!

  

NO WAY!

It had been weeks now with no word and no hope of it ever turning up. But low and behold, our prayers were answered. So cool.

He said he found it about three weeks ago in the middle of the street with papers flying everywhere on the road. His job working for a towing company takes him up and down that particular road on the daily. He saw it in the street, he said and stopped and picked up what he could and just left what he couldn't. 

In thanks we gave him a $20 from Chris' wallet and said goodbye. It looked like pretty much everything was there still, other than the receipts I had stashed throughout the previous month or so. which makes sense because they're so light weight. 

A few days past and I started remembering a few more things that were missing... 

like my blank checks... 

$5 in cash

$25 gift card to Toys R Us

A gift card to Macy's for $50 

.... yet all my other cards that didn't have cash value happened to be just fine.

Why do I feel so sick right now?!

I can't help but be frustrated at the thought that they were taken out of my wallet once it was found. 

Not to mention that Sharon and I had re-driven our route that night MULTIPLE times looking for flying papers in the road... and we saw NOTHING, not one piece of trash littering the streets. 

I sincerely hope that I'm wrong in my accusation, but if I'm not I sure hope Karma treats him well. Especially with the extra $20 we handed him at our door. 

I guess I should look at the bright side in knowing that my ID card is safe, I don't have to worry about identity left, and I don't have to spend $50+ on replacing my license, Disneyland pass, and my wallet itself.

And to celebrate, I've been to Disneyland 3 times in the past week! And I'm no where near sick of it, yet. Not to mention that Chris FINALLY got a pass, too. yippy!

(and for all you responsible people out there, yes I canceled all my cards AND closed the account that the checks were linked to, and yes I do know that I still could be a victim of identity left)

Hello Officer...

So last night I went with my friend Sharon to Goodwill in hopes to find a left handed glove. 

We ended up joining a city league thanks to an invite from another mom we met at the pool while swimming with our girls. One problem was that I had zero equipment for it. .. so to Goodwill it was.

45 minutes (and this gem) later..

 we walked out with smiles on our faces, and no glove in hand.

Sharon had outdoor play mats for Amilia in her hand, and I had a brand spankin' new glider chair in mine. I'm embarrassed and SHOCKED to confess that my initial thought once buying it was, 

"YES! My second child is going to be a breeze!" 

As we loaded it into the car I'm 95% sure I set my wallet onto of the car in order to free up a hand to help guide the chair into the back seat. 

Next stop was Play it again sports. Because we still needed to find a glove.

It was closed. But right across the street was a Sonic Drive-In. Cha-Ching!

and when it was time to pay, I remembered. 

MY WALLET! ugh...

Once Sharon paid for our food we retraced our route and found nothing! SO SAD.

I got home and immediately canceled all of my cards. (You can imagine Chris was displeased, but not surprised by the news) heh.

 In the morning I called to make a police report and was told they'd have a sheriff dispatched to come speak with me. 

"Wait, what?! Like you're going to have someone come to my house?!"

"Yes, ma'am to help assess the situation."

"oh okay..."

I was shocked. Orange County sure does takes care of its residents. 

5 minutes later I had a Sheriff standing in our apartment questioning me on my whereabouts last night. 

Never expected that to happen this year! 

She was super nice and looked into the surrounding city departments to see if any wallet was reported as found. No such luck. She left me with a reference number of my report and a pamphlet on identity left. Which didn't quite leave me with a sense of relief, but at least I'll be informed about it, if ever I do have to deal with it. (knock on wood)

I hope I've learned my lesson to NEVER, never ever set my personal belongings down where they could be left behind. It's not worth it. 

(Have I ever mentioned my 2 month old brand new video camera I was given for my birthday/Christmas gift I set down on a table so I could eat a hotdog...? yeah, that's long gone, too)

NOT WORTH IT!

So please. Do yourself a favor and keep your purse on your shoulder, and all your goods inside of it! 

I can only hope my wallet turns up sooner than later, cause I'd really like to use my Disneyland Annual Pass again. ;)

Girls Night

Believe it or not, but I have finally started to solidify relationships within our ward here in Aliso Viejo. Thank goodness

 And a major plus to it, is that they've got BABIES. Babies the same age as Hattie!

It's been so nice to have play dates with friends and get out of the house for a trip to the park or a walk around the block throughout the week. 

With that said;

Last night a group of us girls went out to the movies to see Safe Haven 

(which I still have mixed feelings about as far as whether or not I liked it) 

From the movies we went and grabbed yogurt from yogurtland and closed out the place. Apparently we still weren't ready to call it quits so over to the one fast food restaurant that stayed open 24 hours...

Del Taco.

I ordered a bean and cheese burrito to help justify our stay and I regretted it after my first bite. 

We chatted about every single stereotypical topic of conversation young married women talk about and had a blast doing it. 

We finally headed home after a text from one of the girls husband.

It read: "Really?!"

Hahah. Yeah. It was 1am on a Monday night. 

We're pretty wild! 

(PS. It's been a while since I've blogged. I can tell I'm a bit rusty, so forgive me)

Cyberspace

 We're finally in it! 

After two years of living without it, I decided to make it a new years resolution to have WiFi (and cable) in our apartment. 

It's so nice. 

Although I can already feel the difference of how our time is spent. 

After dinner prep, sitting around the table enjoying it, and finally washing all the dishes afterwards, we were able to kick our feet up with a box of girl scout cookies and watch (Im)practical Jokers. In which we laughed our pants off the whole time! Including Hattie. Whenever we laughed she decided she should too. 

SO CUTE!

Never seen the show?! You're missing out! It does have a few over the top pranks but over all, please just make sure you've emptied your bladder before tuning in.  

And with that said, be sure to check in on our blog sooner than later. 

I have a feeling our entries will be sky rocketing compared to the year past.  

Trick or Treat

On Sunday I had a conversation with my Mother-in-Law, Terry, about trick or treaters. And even though we both LOVE the holiday, we still struggle with the reality of how not enjoyable it is answering your door all night, handing out expensive candy some kids who almost knock you over!

But back to the fun of Halloween... I love seeing all the cute and creative costumes kids come up with.

Some that I’ve seen so far:

• A husband and wife dressed as beekeepers, and their kid dressed as a bumble bee
• A 3^rd grader who turned a huge piece of cardboard into bacon the size of his body.         Finishing touch: A thin gentleman’s mustache .hahah.

• My sister as The Goblin King, Jareth (played by David Bowie in the movie Labyrinth)

I then got to thinking… What kind of Trick or Treater was I? Honestly, I can’t remember many memories of Halloween, but I do have a few! There was that horrifying year when I was 7 (we were living in Duarte). I dressed up as Jasmin, from Aladdin and while crowding the front porch of a house desperate to get candy, someone stepped on my shoelace.. and I fell butt first into cactus! I was soo angry and in pain! Good thing my memory has failed me in remembering who it was, or else I’d still be holding a grudge against them. I can still remember the bitterness I felt as I watched all the other kids run to the next door. I stood curbside waiting for my neighbor, Gabve, to come pick me up because my parents were out with my other siblings trick or treating. When I got picked up I remember being sad that I couldn’t sit down, and had to figure out a leaning/kneeling position the whole way home (two blocks, big whoop) ..an eternity when in my condition!
   At this point there’s not much that could make it worse. Except trying to take the dang costume off! Obviously, with all those prickly pokies and flowy layers I couldn’t do it myself. So embarrassment flooded my body as my neighbor undressed me down to nothing and filled the tub with warm water to help sooth my itchy skin and hopefully help the needles ease out of my skin better. That was almost nice. No matter how I tried, it seemed impossible to find a position that wasn’t causing the cactus needles to push deeper into my skin. Gabve must have given me some pretty good pain killers too because I don’t remember much after that.

  Another Halloween trick or treating memory I have, was in Camarillo. I must have been about 10 or 11 years old, because I remember how awesome I felt trick or treating with my older sisters. That year they had it all figured out. My mom was driving our green mini-van. You know the ones with the sliding doors. Well, we kept the side doors open as my mom drove down the street so we could jump in and out as fast as possible. It was awesome! We were able to cover so many more neighborhoods that way, which meant only one thing: More candy!

 One of my most vivid (and bitter) Halloween experiences was when I was in 7^th grade and had just turned 13. Literally. My birthday is October 2^nd, so I was 12 years and 1 month old. I decided it was my last year of trick or treating and me and my best friend Kaile were matching princesses. My Aunt Laura had made our dressed from scratch. Mine was yellow and Kaile’s, pink.  Two blocks into our route we came to a house where a middle aged couple was reluctantly handing out candy. It was my turn. I reached out my bag and said, “Trick or Treat!” The two just stared at me and asked, “Aren’t you a bit too old to be trick or treating?” I said, “No, I’m 12” (hehehe). But they would NOT believe me! And refused to give me candy. I was so mad! My friends kept assuring the couple of my age but the couple just continued with their rude comments. And I was rude back. I can remember yelling out as I left the house (like all mature 13 year old's do) “It’s not my fault I’m tall, you jerks!”  But seriously. The thing that made it so stupid was that I was trick or treating with all my friends, who were in the same grade as me, and I was the second youngest out of our group of 6! And none of THEM were refused candy! So I felt justified!

 Although I didn’t always have the most pleasant experiences on Halloween night, I did always enjoy the parties, dances, and haunted houses that come with it. My mom always planned such fun birthday parties for me with a touch of Halloween. I remember one year she took me and all my friends to a haunted house out in the middle of farming fields. It was terrifying. So terrifying that by the end of the night my mom had pee’d her pants! Hahahah! And being the wonderful mother that she is, she too, laughed it off. I think we were able to find a trash bag for her to sit on, on the way home. Needless to say, it was probably one of my favorite birthdays : ) It was a slumber party where the fun continued all throughout the night and our sleeping quarters were in the garage. It made for one long night of games, giggles, and lasting friendships.

 Happy Halloween!

 Here we are this year as Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Sweet Pea at our Ward Trunk or Treat...

..where the greedy trick or treating was at it's finest! It was so bad that rather than feeling grumpy about it I had to laugh! This 5 year old dressed as an Angels baseball player (Pujols) grabbed a solid handfull of candy and went running off while yelling to his friend, "Lets go hide somewhere and EAT it!" hahahah.

...within 15 minutes Pujols was back for more.

This time he took two handfuls!

Pictures without a story

Seeing that I'm short on time and Hattie has just woken up from her nap, I'm making this short.

Here are a few Photos from the past two months of her life...
I don't have time to elaborate on the stories behind each one, so use your imagination :) I'm hoping details will come soon!

One of my final days of my pregnancy during a hike looking over my hometown of Camarillo.

Checking out with the doctors with Daddy right beside. She's A-ok!

Hattie's first trip to Disneyland with our families! June1st.

After the eventful trip to Disneyland...

                                                  

We celebrated with Hattie as she was given her baby blessing by her Father, Chris. June 3rd.

The cutest little girl napping on the cutest bkanket! Made by her Auntie Lindsay

   

Here's Hattie just before she was two months old, finding her fist and learning how to self sooth :)