Father and Sons Daughter Campout

Last weekend, Eric took Haylie to the Father and Sons Daughter campout with our ward. She was the ONLY girl there! But she had a blast with her daddy and nobody else seemed to mind her little feminine presence. One of the men even told her that she had the cutest pink shoes in the campground! When they got home, Haylie told me all about the "noisy crickets" and the "scary potty". I guess the outhouse had a very large hole to sit on and Haylie was scared of falling in (I would be too!!!). So Eric helped her stay safe on the big potty. They had pancakes and eggs for breakfast and Eric had to get a second helping of eggs for Haylie.


She loved her new pink sleeping bag because it was SILKY!!!


They went out on a tube behind a boat and Haylie is STILL talking about it! And she got to play on the beach!!


We're definitely going to have to go camping this summer as a family - Haylie is a natural!

For My Mom

Since I'm not exactly super efficient at getting cards in the mail on time - I decided I'd write a little message to my mom here on my blog to let her know how much I love and appreciate her.

I don't know that I ever truly appreciated my mom growing up - I think as kids we sorta' take things for granted..."that's just what Mom does". I know I grew to appreciate her more when I went away to college and had to do it all myself. But now that I have children of my own...well, realization has set in. I realize now that being a mom is not easy. Keeping it all together is not easy. Cleaning up after kids day in and day out is not easy. Watching your kids grow up and make mistakes is not easy. There are four kids in my family - and I know we gave my mom a good amount of grief, but the one thing I think of when I think of my mom is her never-ending love and concern for us kids. She worries constantly about us - and is always willing to help us whenever we need it. I am so grateful for the way she raised me. I was taught right from wrong - but was given the agency to make my own decisions. I didn't always make the right decisions, and I know it must have been SO DIFFICULT for her to watch me make mistakes, but I am such a better person for it. She is incredibly talented (anyone who has seen her quilt collection can attest to that). I hope to be as good a mom to my kids as she was (and is) to me. I LOVE YOU MOM!!!

December 2007

February 2007 - boxing each other on the Wii

Getting Older...

I'm turning 29 in 2 weeks. I'm totally OK with that. I have no problem getting older. I'm actually looking forward to 30, believe it or not. I guess I just still feel like such a kid...maybe when I turn 30 I'll start to actually feel like an adult...maybe not. But, there is one thing that bothers me about getting older. This:

Yup - that is a gray hair. Plucked straight from my head. It is the 3rd gray hair I have found in the last several months. (I TOLD YOU MOM!!) When I called her and told her I found one a couple months ago, she did not believe me, so now I have proof.

I haven't dyed my hair in a long time - it may be time to get back in the habit. Hmph.

A Turtley Day at the Zoo

We went to the zoo on Saturday and it seems like all we saw were turtles and tortoises all day. And as many of you know, we like turtles and tortoises - almost as much as we like frogs. We have a box turtle named Moe...

and we just adopted a tortoise named Curly (he likes eating flowers).

So it was a beatiful day at the zoo - I just wanted to share some pictures...

"Look Mommy, I'm a monkey!!"

According to Haylie, this is a "Grandpa" turtle, cuz it's so big (small turtles are babies, medium turtles are mommies, etc.)

"Two turtles!!"

Haylie really wanted to feed the giraffe, but when we got up to him, she got scared and made me do it. Notice how tightly she is holding on to my shirt!!

Haylie's 3rd Birthday - Take Two

We had another party for Haylie's birthday on Wednesday - she was finally feeling better and it was good timing because Grandma Jane was in town too. So I made the long-awaited Spongebob cake...it came out pretty nice - definitely could have been better, but Haylie LOVED it! I made his eyelashes and pupils out of black licorice!! And the 3 candles are supposed to be a nose.... (Oh, and please ignore the fact that her hair is all over the place - that is just what it looks like at the end of the day!)

Here's a shot of Haylie with the Soldani boys - these are her cousins that live here in town (Eric's sister Rachel's kids)

She disappeared under the table when we sang the Happy Birthday song - then wasn't quite sure about the whole blowing out the candles thing...


So Eric helped her blow them out...

Finally! A smile after opening a present!!! A cute froggy box from Grandma Jane - to put little treasures in...

And a mini Cabbage Patch doll from Aunt Rachel

She's also finally been able to enjoy the shopping cart that Grandma Jo got her. It's so nice to have my happy girl back.

Haylie's 3rd Birthday

Well, Haylie's 3rd birthday did not turn out at all like I had planned. Her birthday was Friday. We were going to have a Spongebob cake, celebrate with Grandma Jo and Grandpa Garry, open presents, and PARTY!!! Unfortunately, on Thursday around noon, she started throwing up - and it continued throughout the day. Thursday night she developed a fever and was up about every hour or so. So this is what she looked like for most of the day on her birthday...her fever was about 103 all day.

So we decided to postpone the festivities to Saturday. We went to the Clovis Rodeo Parade in the morning - her fever broke while we were there and I think she may have actually enjoyed herself...even though she never cracked a smile...

Anna had fun - she was so cozy on Grandma Jo's lap that she even took a nice little nap.

Saturday afternoon we decided to give Haylie her presents - she had perked up ever so slightly...can't you see how excited she was?...

Yeah, no, she was not excited at all. The poor thing still just felt too lousy to get excited. This was truly the most pitiful birthday ever. She made me open all her presents for her. Later, when she got a little more energy, she played her new computer game, but her energy only lasts for about 10-15 minutes at a time, then she crashes...like this....

This pic was actually taken Thursday night, but with her fever, she has been napping on the laminate floors quite a bit - they stay nice and cool.

It makes me so sad to see her like this. I took her to the doctor Thursday afternoon because, as you may remember, she spent a good majority of the month of December puking and I'm really starting to get concerned that there is something else going on. The doctor is convinced that she is just dealing with viruses. I don't know what to think anymore.

Luckily, we were already planning on having another birthday party for her this coming Thursday when Grandma Jane and Uncle Neal come to town - so hopefully she will be feeling better by then and we can have Spongebob cake and celebrate.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAYLIE!!! MOMMY AND DADDY LOVE YOU!!!

Follow-up Eye Appointment

Anna had her second eye appointment today and it went really well. They dilated her eyes - I've never had my eyes dilated but am told that it can be very uncomfortable - well, it didn't even phase her - she was great! The doctor said that her eyes dilated well - meaning that the muscles in her eyes are working properly - so that is good. The cyst is still there, but is not impairing her vision at all. I think it is truly amazing that they can tell if a 3 month old is seeing properly! She was still crossing her eyes a bit in the office, but she (Dr. Lanier) attributed that to the dilation making it difficult for her to focus and said not to worry. So, they want to see us back in 6 months just to check up on things. I have a feeling we'll probably be seeing the opthalmologist every 6 months or so until the cyst is gone - which could actually take a couple years. In the meantime, she should be just fine. What a relief. Although, I have to admit that I think babies with glasses are absolutely adorable!! hehe...

I've had so many people (including the doctor) lately say "She has such a perfect little face" - I love hearing that kind of thing because mothers always think their own kids are the cutest - so it's fun when other people actually agree!!!