fun outside

Halle's new favorite place to be is OUTSIDE!!! she points at the door all the time.  She loves just going outside and just sitting and watching.  She also loves walking around, picking up rocks, trying to play in the bird bath and she LOVES playing with the hose.  Lately she has been getting a little bored with the other things that she has enjoyed so we tried some new things for outside... Chalk and bubbles.  Here was the result:

 Did you know that chalk is a good lipstick?

Halle prefers the blue!  I think is looks nice!

 What do you mean you use it to write with???? I prefer to eat it!!!

And the bubble were no good either.. she just wanted to drink it!!! Halle thank you for always making us laugh!

big girl

This is part of the morning routine.. Halle walks herself to the bathroom after she is dressed and opens up the doors to the cupboards and then mommy comes and pulls out the stool.  Halle takes a seat or stands on the stool and brushes her teeth.  Some days she is a real good brusher and other days she is no good.  But I think that it is so stinkin cute that she walks herself there in the morning.  She will learning too much right now and I am loving it!  Something new each and everyday.

Our sweet baby BOY!!!!

This morning Alan and I went to the ultrasound.... it was nice and early in the morning.  Merilee came over and watched Halle so that Alan could come with.  We started on our way and of course got stuck behind all the stupidest drivers in Rochester and we almost were part of a car accident.  But we finally made it to the hospital safely and without dents!  And once at the hospital we got to see this sweet baby boy.

 His sweet little profile picture... 

His feet! 

 The money shot!  That is what the tech kept calling it!

And here is our baby giving us the peace sign!!! haha!

I was pretty emotional through the whole ultrasound.  It is still just amazing to me that I have been able to carry this sweet baby this far.  It is amazing to me to feel life inside my belly.  And it is amazing to me that I get to be a mom again.  I can not wait to meet you Abel!!! You will be a perfect fit in our little family!

This sweet girl has him wrapped around her finger.  It is so much fun to watch their relationship!  Halle LOVES Daddy...

14 months old!!!

This sweet love.. is 14 months old today.

Where has the time gone??? I still have no idea...

She continues to amaze us each and everyday.

She is walking like crazy and trying to speed walk.

When she walks really fast she puts her arm in the air like she is directing a band.. it makes us laugh every time.  (here is a picture that I finally got of her doing this)

She wears her shoes on her feet.

she still loves the kitties

she yells really really loud

she laughs all the time

still loves reading her books

says bye bye, hi kitties, and ba ba

will occasionally say ma ma

much more curious and loves the bathroom

opens up the lid of the toilet and says "bye bye".. too funny

LOVES GOING OUTSIDE

points and yells at things that she wants

Loves her daddy.

starting to get more picky with her food

has all of her fang teeth in

way more busy at church

yells and loves to hear her echo.. and then yells louder once she hears her echo

likes water.. spends afternoon playing with the hose.

better at going down stairs

scares the death out of us by walking up to the stairs and gripping her toes right on the edge!  Makes us go crazy!

Loves to chase and be chased

knows where her belly button is and where everyone else's is too!

Keep growing sweet baby!  It is too fun to watch you lean new things each and everyday!

check out my cute date!

Halle and I went to one of my friends reception over in Austin.  I met Sonya while working at AHS.  She was one of my paraprofessionals and we hit it off and were friends instantly.  She is a great girl and she found herself a great man!  I am so happy for her and that Halle and I were able to celebrate with her.  Grammie also came along for the ride.  It was a perfect night!

Momma and Halle... oh how I love you so Halle... you are beyond great!

St. Charles Fair

We had the opportunity to attend the St. Charles Fair.  Halle really loved the animals!  She also tried a corn dog, cotton candy, and a milk shake!  She loved it all... It was a pretty hot day, but she was a trooper.  It was great to spend the afternoon with Alan before he went to work.

Halle liked the baby chicks the most!

new cousin

we got a new cousin yesterday.  His name is Quinton Tyler Mill.  And he is pretty cute.  Halle thought he was great too.  It is going to be so much fun watching all these kids grow up together!

independent

Halle has this new thing... She does not like to eat. And really does not like eating breakfast!  I think there might be a few reasons why Halle is refusing to eat, she is getting all of her fang teeth and a couple molars, but I also think it is because she is growing up and can feel the independence.
So here is the story:  Halle, Al, and I were sitting down for breakfast.  We got out all the different things that Halle normally will eat for breakfast.  We were trying everything and the girl was just tight lipped.  I decided that we should just give her the spoon for her yogurt and see if that works.  Well it did.. and here were the results!

Made a real big mess... but ate all her yogurt.

Cheers to independence!

baby is a mover

I have started to feel the baby move this week... It is one of the things that I cherish most about being pregnant.  I love feeling life inside my body... it is surreal, strange, but totally fantastic.  I love feeling that sweet baby kick around.. SO. MUCH. FUN!

Week of the 4th

We made our way up to the cabin again over the week of the 4th.  It was really hot the whole week, but we enjoyed being about to just hang out at the lake.  Enjoying boat rides.  Eating good food. And just hanging out with family.  Here are some pictures from the week.  I was still recovering from a cold (this cold that I had for 2 whole weeks)  and was finally able to feel relief by thursday.  But then poor Halle got sick by the end of the week.  It was a great vacation.  It was great to get away and just enjoy family time.  It was great that Alan was able to be there the whole week!!!  It was great to not have to do anything all day.  It was a perfect vacation.

 We finally saw the turtle that lives in our swamp.  He was kind of mad, but it was fun to see how big he is.

 Halle snuggling up to grammie!

 Ready to go to the beach after her nap!!!

 Put piggy's in her hair.. she was not to happy while it was getting done, but I think they look so stinkin cute!

 The Brown family came up and celebrated the 4th with us.  It was so much fun to have their family up there for the day.  They brought a lot of energy and fun to the day!

 HANGING AT THE LAKE!!!

 My dad was getting lucky with fishing.  He kept casting and then getting fish, one after another.

 Here is Al holding one of the fish that he caught.

Halle is the co-pilot on the boat these days.

Many great memories were made.  Looking forward to the weeks that we can go up there in August!

new calling

I have been called and set apart to be a ward missionary for the Rochester 5th ward.  I have actually already had this calling for like 2 months now... but it is just starting to become more real now.  The Bishop and his counselors are all about member missionary work.  So they have called a bunch of different ward missionaries.  They want the ward to get excited about sharing the Gospel.  They want the ward members to actually open their mouth and invite people to come unto Christ.
This calling really came out of no where.  I felt and still feel very inadequate.  I have been a member of the church my whole life and it is still kind of intimidating to share the Gospel and share my testimony. I did pray about the calling and knew that this is where the Lord wanted me at this time in my life.  But still pretty nervous.  I do know this though... the Lord does not give us anything that we can not handle.  He will try us, but he will not fail us.  He will stretch us, but will not break us.  I know that I will grow a lot in this calling and that I will learn a whole lot more.  I am looking forward to serving the Lord and also my ward in this new adventure.