So before I jump into our weekend I must share a teensy bit of info with you. I started writing this on Saturday night and this was how I started writing.......
It seemed only fitting to give our attention to the upcoming holiday that's just around the corner. Our little sweetheart was decked out in her Valentine's Day best all weekend long. Not only did she look darling and festive but she was being a little darling. What more could I ask for?! We started out Saturday morning after sleeping in (thanks to lots of prayers said the night before).
......so now it's Sunday night and looking back I would have to do a little tweaking to the whole "being a little darling" statement above. As I type this we have been sitting on the couch listening to a mixture of music from the Grammy's and a non-stop scream fest coming from Hal's room. Let's see, it's 8:15 now and the party started around 6:55. After three diaper changes, one dose of Tylenol, one refill of her water (yes, I realize this is not helping the diaper situation) and one opportunity for her to get out of bed and wear herself out some more. You can see that our efforts have done absolutely no good seeing as how the drama level has now reached blood curdling scream status. I'm gonna continue on with my lovely weekend tales and hope that she is screaming only because she is just as upset about the weekend coming to an end as her parents are. But Riley did just mention the possibility of monsters being in the closet. Yes, that must be it. I'm not sure what else could produce the unprecedented fit that she's been throwing. Monsters....we will leave it at that......
......so back to the loveliness. We had two things on our minds Saturday morning. Breakfast and cartoons, of course. Oh yeah, and the juicebox that she needed to polish off from the night before....
While she munched on Cheerios and slowly slipped into her Dora the Explorer trance, we got a text from Nanny requesting Hal's presence. I am not one to turn down an opportunity for some free time and I knew for a fact that Nanny and Papa had been deprived of Hal time lately so it was a win-win for everyone involved. I dropped off one excited Hal gal!
Just after receiving the news!
The VDay outfit from Nanny seemed like the perfect thing to wear for her playdate.....
The hat...well that is another story....she got creative while I was picking out a bow to match her outfit.
"You can't stifle my creativity"
I could've been made of a thousand binkies with cups of milk for hands and the girl still would'nt have noticed me as I said goodbye to her after dropping her off at Nanny's house. She was having far too much fun dumping out her favorite toys and getting ready for some serious playtime. I hurried back home to use up every last bit of my free time that I could. First on my task list was to make some pancakes for my sweetheart. He scrarfed them down, thanked me and went off to work for a bit.
They taste even better when you pretend that they are diet pancakes ;)
The house to myself???? Hmmmm. What to do, what to do? My puzzle got a few minutes of my attention....
I turned my efforts toward the picture frames that have been sitting on our table needing to have hooks placed on them....
And finally after months of them collecting dust the pictures are now where they belong. On the wall....
The floors even got some attention as well as the treadmill. I do believe that relaxation never even crossed my mind. But guess what, being in a quiet house is relaxation in itself. By the end of the morning I was already missing my baby and wondering what she was up to. I soon found out when Riley and I went to Nanny and Papa's for lunch. They had been very, very busy building with blocks. And knocking them down....
Spoiling Papa's architectural efforts
Hal was hungry as usual and ate her tray of food and then came up to the level of the big people and did her best begging....
"I'm famished. I think I'm shrinking as we speak"
Nanny fed us a great lunch and it was nothing but smiles afterward....
Hal played us a little diddy on the piano, knocked down some more blocks that Nanny had stacked and just doing her general entertaining. Naptime came and made for quite a pitiful little girl....
I wasn't sure if it was the hat or naptime that caused so much sadness. lol
Another mommy break so soon? Whatever will I do?? How bout more puzzling? Ok. By the way, I'm at 80-year-old at heart....
Riley napped right along with our little Valentine and I used the time to do some bridal shower planning for Aunt B and make a trip to that one place (Walmart). It wasn't the usual trip to Wally World though...there was plenty of entertainment seeing all of the grown men frantically pushing their carts around with piles of boot boxes and bags of shrimp. I guess I didn't get the memo about the $1 shrimp and boot sale. Can you say "random!"? Hal was sweet and woke up right after I had put away all the groceries. Perfect timing. She had an afternoon full of books, books, books....
And more books.....
Somebody was a little giddy once I told her that Gman had just pulled into the driveway.....
"You've been keeping this secret ALL DAY???"
She was making pace marks in the floor between the door and the window while Gman collected all of the goodies he'd brought with him.....
"See Lucy!"
She was hilarious as he high stepped it back and forth with her "excited" look on her little face....
"He's sure taking a long time..."
The wait was well worth it once he finally came through the door. He received a very warm welcome from everyone...dogs included of course.
Quite the popular houseguest
Gman had told me of his plans to come visit earlier on Saturday and I was pretty excited about his arrival for several reasons....I couldn't wait to see Hal open her basket, I was looking forward to making a home-cooked meal for him and because I know how happy he is when he's around Hal. She immediately began emptying her VDay basket one piece at a time. On top she found a huge rose shaped cupcake....
Next she found that even though Aunt B couldn't come along with Gman she had sent a replacement "Aunt Bee" in her place....
"Aunt B, you've changed...."
Next was the biggest hit in the basket. Once she spotted the Katy's Pantry heart cookies she snatched one from the box and took off running.....
I don't blame her...
After downing the cookie is three bites she returned for another treat but instead found that we had hid them. She settled for uncovering more gifts. A shirt, tutu and book from Aunt B and Uncle S....
Peeps were an instant hit and she was soon sharing them with the dogs as well as trying to give Gman bites of her new marshmellowy treats....
I'd say that Hallie was sufficiently spoiled for the entire month of February in a matter of minutes.
It's safe to say she made Gman a very happy man....
I got busy cooking in the kitchen while Hallie and Gman plays their hearts out. Gman got a good taste of Hal's very short attention span while they had some Play-Doh time at the table.....
Look at that face...you can just see her planning the next activity
Gman was not ready to quit yet though and pulled her back into Play-Doh land with some pretty cool sculptures....
On the left is a "Hallie" and on the right is a blue dinosaur
Matching headbands
Hallie and Gman ran circles around the house and didn't stop for a break until dinnertime. Hallie had dinner theatre with Gman providing the entertainment while she ate. Well, not so much ate...but more like piled her food in the corner waiting for something better to come along....
I'm guessing she was waiting for one of her heart cookies
Or maybe just an orange....
I had finally finished preparing dinner and popped it in the oven to cook. I made one of my mom's recipes just for dad. Meatballs!
Ready for cooking
Gman has been urging me to bring home some of my "stuff" from his house for awhile now. I just always seem to "forget". He did remember to pack up one very important item that belongs to me that has been hanging out in a closet at their house for the last five years.....
Here comes the bride
I broke up the party by suggesting a bath and jammy time. I packed up some leftovers for daddio while Riley scrubbed down the little munchkin. We left the jammy duty to Gman. He was struggling a bit but I enjoyed waiting to see what would happen. She was a little bit tied up....
"A lil help here please..."
A properly jammied little queen sat atop her throne and read Gman some bedtime stories. Ok, maybe Gman did the actual reading but Hal pretended that she was in charge. Imagine that....
So much playing, so little time. Two of my favorite people had a blast and I loved watching every minute of it. She was E.X.H.A.U.S.T.E.D.
She wasn't too tired to sneak in a few more minutes of cartoons.....
Gman said goodbye and Hal went to bed. Well, kind of. She was up out of bed (thanks to her pushover momma) looking everywhere for her Gman. You couldn't hear me complaining about her being up because all she wanted to do was give hugs and kisses. She curled up in my lap and read books and watched her favorite cartoon without moving a muscle. I decided that that sweet moment rivaled the first time she laid on my chest at a newborn. One of those "thank you God" moments. I sat there with her in my lap and found myself stopping to give him thanks for allowing me to share my life with such a perfect little being. After a bit more snuggles she was back in bed and I had yet even more alone time while I waited for Riley to get home from his basketball game. Another win in the record books for the Methodist boys!
Sunday morning was yet another opportunity to show off one of her VDay outfits. This one was courtesy of Auntie Heather....she was looking mighty sweet in her red tights and skirt!
I swear she had more than Peeps for breakfast ;)
Sunday morning church, Sunday afternoon meatloaf, Sunday naps for Riley and Hallie….a very normal Sunday at the Fanning house. That is until the SNOW started falling. That is very far from normal so far this winter season. The light fluffy stuff was absolutely beautiful. Hal and I luckily had enough time to get to the store for some ingredients for taco soup before the snow began to fall.
"Just because I'm taking my purse doesn't mean I'm paying"
We spent the afternoon cooped up inside with one eye on the snow falling and the other eye on cartoons...
Must've been captivating ;)
Hal was pretty excited about all of the time we spent in her playroom today....
"Cheers to SNOWDAY!!!"
I agree baby girl....
Our day wasn't without it's fair share of restless moments. It's a bit tough to keep a one-year-old inside for an entire weekend. This cold weather has left us with no other option than to get creative....
Everything ends up being a car at our house
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