"Swimming without water is the new thing"
"If I eat this fish maybe I'll become one"
"This frog tastes better than that fish...just like chicken..."
I'm pretty behind on updating Hallie's milestones lately so this post is a little on the random side. Bare with me......parts of it are written in the present tense, parts of it are written in the past (a week ago or yesterday). Basically it's a hot mess but hey, that's life! Here's a peek into our hot mess life......
Early last week Hallie and I met Riley after work for a little celebration party with the hospital leadership team. Hal was in very good spirits and ready to mingle. She made plenty new friends in the process. I think it was the hat that made her so outgoing......
"It's sunny out here ma"
Life of the party
I absolutely love Riley's coworkers and enjoy their company. Pizza, ping pong and piano were a rather odd combination but made for a fun evening. :0 Riley and Hal pounded on the piano keys to create some beautiful music. Hallie's first and last piano lesson I'm sure....the girl doesn't seem to have the patience for such a talent. :) Who does have talent? Riley's boss. Or so I thought. He spent the evening tricking every new person who walked through the door with his player piano....I thought I was listening to a concert pianist when in reality I was listening to a song chosen from the Ipad. Jokes on me!
I am typing this while listening to the sound of the thunderstorm outside. The sound of rain has never been so invited....but when you live out in far NW Oklahoma, any drop of moisture is welcomed with open arms. We just finished unpacking our baby, dog, bottled water, laptop and blankets from the car after trekking across town to Aunt Katie's to ride out the storm in their basement...but by the time we got there the storm was downgraded so we turned right around and came back home. Although the storm spared us any nasty tornadoes it did take out our cable. Riley was trying to figure out how to fix the dish and read aloud the instructions: "check your dish for obstructions such as snow, limbs or severe rain. When it is safe, remove the obstruction from your satellite." He thought about it for a second and then said "babe, we are supposed to remove the severe rain from our dish when it's safe." Sounds easy enough, lol! We cooked out tonight at Nanny and Papa's house to bid them farewell on their trip around the world. Jealous? Yes. Very much. They are leaving for the trip of a lifetime....Fiji, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. However I feel that the fact that we are house sitting for two weeks is equal to a trip to Fiji after living in the duplex since January. A real couch? A real kitchen? A backyard? With grass???? Bring it on!!!!
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming....because when it rains, it pours. This week we paid our respects to a wonderfully brilliant and respectable man...Riley's step-grandpa, Delbert. He was 89 years young and up until a year ago was going snowmobiling and farming full time. This man lived life to the fullest each and every day. We celebrated his life this past Saturday. Hallie made an appearance at the family dinner and burial (looking mighty stylish I might add) and lightened some heavy hearts I'm sure.....
"I'm here to spread some smiles!"
Summer & strawberries go hand in hand
Posing by the "Hallie" rose bush
If Nanny and Papa's house is still standing in two weeks after Hallie gets ahold of it we will have witnessed a miracle. The girl loves to open drawers or all shapes and sizes. The contents is emptied onto the floor and strewn about. Great fun it seems. :) She is very, very close to taking her first steps. If we wanna get technical, I guess you could say she already took her first "step" but I wouldn't call it walking. It was more like collapsing after stepping once with her left foot. I think she's right on the cusp and once she tries it out she will be running from us in no time.
Hallie's path of destruction
"I've got my hammer....it's demolition time!!!
She has been a little copy cat the past few days. She loves to mimic faces and sounds. She has become this goofy child who makes funny faces after every bite of dinner, fake laughs and loves to make farting noises by blowing on my knee (I didn't teach her that one). I am in awe of how much she learns with each passing minute...the good and the bad. A few examples of the bad (or dangerous) are climbing up steps, opening drawers, getting up on the fireplace and feeding the dog (although I am proud of her willingness to share). She shares her binky with Riley and I...and when I'm lucky I might get a couple Cheerios. She loves to dunk her face in water. She fully understands the word "no"...I am sure of it....does she care?.....NO. She stops what she is doing when we say no but then responds with a sly smile and continues to do whatever "no no" activity she is busy with. :) Lil stinker. Mama's makeup bag in her new favorite item along with any pot, pan or plastic container she can reach to pull out of the cabinet. If she sees food of any kind she wants to share. Today we had an impromptu lesson on sharing.....picture this....Emmi, Hallie and I sat in a circle sharing bites of banana. "Emmi gets a nana, mama gets a nana, Hallie gets a nana." She seemed pretty pleased with the sharing process as long as she got her fair share. :) It's only fair, right? Or she may have felt as if she's owed Emmi a token to show her affection....she is, after all, the best guard dog in town. One of the dogs was not too happy with Hallie yesterday and growled and showed her teeth....no need to fear, Emmi is here. She hurried over immediately and sat down long ways right in front of Hallie and wouldn't budge for awhile. Melted my heart to know that she actually does love Hallie even though the girl spends most of her time hitting Emmi or stealing her toys and treats. I guess it goes both ways though. Emmi has been known to enjoy a baby toy (or two or three). The word "dog" has been on the tip of her tongue for awhile now and Monday she finally let the word flow. It was a very affirmative yell when she finally said it with a furrowed brow while shaking her head forward...."dah". Yes, it counts. :0
So far I have thoroughly enjoyed house sitting...well except for the first night. It was anything but pleasant. Poor hubby came down with a nasty stomach bug sometime in the middle of the night. I think the entire house was up for the day around 4 a.m. Whew, that made for a very long Monday. One of those days where you use every ounce of your self control to be nice and smile and stay awake. Riley went to bed this evening feeling a little better but nowhere near 100%. The chicken noodle soup must've done some good...the can was opened with love, poured into the bowl with love, and heated up in the microwave with love. He is now on the mend and back at work today..."75%" as he puts it. Riley leaves tomorrow for Tulsa for three days to attend a rural health conference. I'll be flying solo so I'm already praying for the energy to finish out the week. That's what Tuesdays are for I guess...to recharge. So far we have had a relaxing, do nothin' kinda day. I took on the backyard this morning with vigor...the plants are beautiful but boy are they abundant! Hallie "helped" me though...big, big help!
Eating the hose
She may or may not have been "watered" herself
Can you spot my helper?
I adore my teeny tiny BFF....
So how's that for random? I warned you.
I've said it once and I'll say it again....my Hallie Grace is my saving grace. Just when I start to think life is going to calm down things just ramp right back up again. Ya know, when tragedy strikes I believe it is like an earthquake. The initial shock is overwhelming. And sometimes you even get hit with a big fat tsunami. It's like a ripple effect. We can't do anything to change the catalyst, but we can change how we handle the waves. This is where family comes in...they keep your head above water when you feel like you can't on your own.....so you can just keep swimming, just keep swimming.....
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