I'm sitting here in front of this evil device known as my computer typing up my thoughts for the fourth, YES FOURTH, time. Sheesh. I'm about this close to just posting captions under each picture and being done with it. But we both know that wouldn't be like me. I'm not going to let the evil technology get me down. But if it happens again I can't make any promises. Oh, goodie goodie. I just saw the autosave blink at me up above. I guess the tech gods are on my side this go 'round. ;)
I've been way behind with blogging lately what with chasing around a certain red head, keeping up with laundry and dishes and watching some exciting OU softball and Thunder bball games. Hallie has been amazing me daily as usual which leaves me with a LOT to share about her growing and development (which will probably come in a later post because I don't think I can cram anymore into this one).
Let's travel back to Friday night........
Friday. We took a little stroll at the walking trails. We could've been at the city dump for all I cared...as long as all three of us were together it didn't matter to me what we did. ;) Parents were on foot....baby in stroller. Well, for about thirty seconds. That's about how long she lasted before squirming in protest about being restrained. The trails were empty so we let her roam free. She tottled right over to a little information stand (that neither Riley or I had ever even noticed) where she studied up on squirrels. She seemed genuinely intrigued by it which had Riley and I laughing. She looked so innocent standing there running her fingers along with the words while Riley read to her. She didn't want to stop reading and only did so once she noticed another little info stand a ways down the trail. She waddled her way down to do some more studying about oak trees. Again, not wanting to leave, she stood there and "read" to us.
After three stops and plenty of laughs from the parents she began her next portion of the evening. Gymnastics. We had thrown the idea of actually getting any exercise right out the window. It's kind of difficult when you are moving at the pace of a human that has tiny legs. Oh well, she was having a blast. Once we strolled our way up to the field station she used those little legs to do some balance beaming along a curb. She received a perfect 10 from her momma and advanced to her next event: the bars.....
I always end up being that mom everytime I see her doing something new. You can hear me hollering "Babe! LOOK! Look at what she's doing!"
But I can't help it! I mean seriously, LOOK WHAT SHE'S DOING!
"No biggie ma!"
The clouds were threatening rain but we made a quick stop by the playground so Hal could show Riley how she could slide down the big slide. He didn't believe me when I told him she liked to slide down alone on the giant one. So she showed him...
And then he was left at the top with two choices. Go back down the stairs....or slide down. He chose this...
Looks painful
We tended to the flowers that night and Hal was able to put her new watering can to good use....
I find few things cuter than a baby watering flowers. ;)
Saturday morning. My monkey watched as I whipped up some breakfast. But apparently her view from the living room was not good enough. I turned my back for a minute and she had scooted the dining room chair across the floor and crawled up on that chair to the bar stool and onto the counter where I found her trying to dig for her cup in the sink....
Although I'm sure she would've been alright strolling outside in the nude, I insisted on donning some clothes before we left the house that morning. She was my little ladybug in red and black...
But no so much of an innocent little ladybug. She resembled a desperate housewife sitting on the stone outside watching the roofers next door...
Diva extraordinaire was putting on a show for the camera....
My glamour girl hopped on the back of the bike with her not-so-glamorous and bed-haired mother for a quick ride that turned into a stop by her boyfriends Kyler's house. Steven was outside mowing the lawn so we stopped for a quick chat. We left with a maybe plan to get together later in the day. On our way back it appeared that my daughter was as embarrassed about my hair and lack of makeup as I was. Shame has never looked so cute....
"Mom, I might see my friends!"
As if the thirty minute bike ride wasn't enough of a workout she made me drag her around in a bag once she discovered how thrilling it was....
"What? You've never tried this before?"
I don't really know what compelled her to crawl in the bag...but she did....and it led to many laughs, giggles, head spins but then ultimately ended in MANY MANY TEARS....
Oh, the pure torture.
Which then led to me feeling like a mean mommy....so we spun some more. And some more....until I was breathing hard and feeling a little disoriented. Who knew dragging thirty wiggly pounds in a bag could be such a workout? She didn't seem to respond well to my "but mommy is TIRED"....
"Does it look like a care?"
Bag flinging time turned to meltdown central once Riley returned home from a morning of work. He took over duty of the exhausting new game and once he stopped she was beyond devastated. Mainly because it was naptime but also because she's Hallie Grace. ;) Naptime? Check. I caught up on household chores and did some blogging to catch up on sister's wedding blog which was long overdue. Carmen and Katie came over for some girl time after her nap. I had been waiting all week to hear about their Jamaica vacation so she brought over her laptop with tons of pictures and videos that kept us occupied for quite awhile while the girls played nicely together. Luke and Papa Bill had been at the Elk City car show and had both placed well. Katie and Carmen headed home to see him for the evening. After seeing all the gorgeous vacation photos Hal and I were more than ready for some time in the sun at the pool. The minute I put glasses on her face her tongue immediately does this....
The goofball reflex I assume...
The weather was gorgeous that afternoon so we took in all the sun and water we could handle before rest was a must....
Craving some juice and crackers
As usual she was a water baby on a mission...
"Get me to the slide ASAP!"
It's safe to say that we are both in LOVE with the waterpark. And it's also safe to say that I will need to take out a small loan to pay for all of our trips to the waterpark this summer. WE ARE OBSESSED! After she'd splished and splashed plenty we took our soaking wet selves to the grocery store to pick up some drinks and dessert for our Thunder party with the Rogers fam that night. I took the quick and simple route and ordered some pizzas for dinner. I did put a slight amount of effort into the evening and made some strawberry shortcake. Ok, very little effort but it was something. We made last minute plans so my attempt at being a hostess was also last minute. But they are laid back...and so are we! So we couldn't have had a better fam to spend the evening with. Let's talk about how insanely cute these two tots are eating together at Hallie's table.....
"I hope he's planning on paying"
I made the mistake of putting them in the living room which resulted in them getting down to play before they finished their dinner so we asked them to move over by us at the table. This may seem silly but one of my favorite things to watch Hallie do is carry her pink chair around the house Hulk style....
While the big kids and parents ate this sweet little dude warmed up for the big game....
"THUNDER UP!"
I noticed that my canine child was having a snack on the kitchen floor and wondered how on earth she had flown up to the counter and nabbed a slice out of the pizza box...
"Thanks Hal"
Hmmm, oh yes.....my tiny munchkin was an accomplice in this crime.....
Hallie Grace: world-renowned pizza thief
These two are always a hoot when they get together. I'm fully convinced that 20 years from now we will be watching them get married. I can't think of a sweeter lil man than this one right here....
He's walking a mile in her shoes
Riley had to step in when Kyler tried to plant a kiss on her. He was a proud dad as we watched her turn her cheek and duck as he moved in to plant one on her...
Considering that our plans were to watch the Thunder game we failed miserably. Instead we chased around the kiddos, watched them swim and cleaned up. Ok, we DID watch the final quarter of the game but I honestly think I paid attention to only the last couple minutes. I was just enjoying the fact that we had FINALLY invited some friends over for the first time since moving in (the house is nowhere near ready and complete BUT it's getting there). We are so thankful for the friendship we have with the Rogers clan! Hal went to bed at 10:30 and still had another couple hours left in her I'm sure. She was going strong alongside her good buddy. But "all good things must come to an end"...that seems to be my favorite new line to her at the end of each night when she refuses to stop reading or turn off Dora the Explorer. We all needed sleep and had plans to sleep in the next morning. Early church is out of the question now that lil red has been sleeping until after 8:30. Well it turns out we were heathens Sunday morning and missed church altogether while Riley joined Matt, BJ and Steven for a round of golf while Hal and I had some quality playtime at home. I have to be honest, it was quite nice to have such a low key, quiet morning to do nothing but love on my girl. She stayed in her pjs all morning and pranced around the house carrying her blanket alongside....
The best seat in the house
We did a little expanding on her gymnastics moves courtesy of the always-cooperative Lucy...
Next we had a cartoon watching marathon with a pile of toys on her lap of course...
Riley had a great time at the golf course and I could tell that he had missed going golfing lately. The three of us had plans to go back to (yes, you guessed it) the waterpark after her nap. It was Riley's first time to go with us. I was curious how he would like it. His response when asked how it was: "chaos." He's exaggerating. Kinda. We must've chosen the busiest time to go because the place was crawling with bigger kids which meant that Hal wanted to imitate all of them. We were amazed with her ability to float on her back and kick her feet as we pulled her along in the deep end. She could live in the water and I think it might be time for swimming lessons. All in all, we had a great time with plenty of laughs and fun family moments....
Riley and Hal made one trip down the slide before we were told that it was against the rules. Boo you rules!!
Take a look at this facial expression. She was lovin' it!
No more big girl slide meant more practice in the pool. She waded around in the shallow water until she decided that it was time to test out deeper waters...
"I'm ready. At least I think I am"
Riley's free swimming lessons ;)
She convinced us to let her play for a little bit on the big toy before leaving the park....
Milking the day for all it was worth
Monday. Yes, this is a week long blog. I forgot to warn you. ;) Catching up and sharing LOTS of STUFF! Ok, so back to Monday: All I remember is that I took this picture of her outfit because I liked the colors. She was ignoring me because it was 8:30 that morning and I'd just forced her out of bed....
Hal had a blast as usual with her Nanny and we even avoided a meltdown when Nanny left. I enticed her to crawl in the bathtub while she stuck out the door. Worked like a charm!
On Tuesday I was elated when I had several birthday packages on the front porch when I got off work. Planning for the big 2nd birthday party is in full swing and this momma has had to do
Tuesday evening we were just too bored girls looking for some fun. I'm sure you can guess what we found to do. Yep, that's right!! We're headed to the pool!!
There were only about five kiddos in the whole waterpark which made it easier to enjoy our time there. It was overcast with some clouds looking like rain but it stayed away and left us with the perfect weather for a fair-skinned Irish girl to swim....
If she was old enough I would've convinced her that I had reserved the park just for her to earn some mommy brownie points. She may have already thought that though...
"Did you do all this for me mom??"
She explored every inch of the pool. We spent most of our time in the big kid area and even "swam" over to the deep end where she showed off by jumping off the edge of cement into my arms. The girl wants to be a big kid sooooo bad! The water was nice and warm but I noticed that my fishes lips were starting to turn a shade of blue and she began shivering so we wrapped up in a towel and skiddadled on home with juice in hand....
The sea life tuckered her out and she was in a rather demanding and cranky mood when we got home. Everyone in the fam was on high guard for a Hallie meltdown except for this docile one right here....
Poor Lucy. Her kindness is often taken advantage of. Lil red didn't seem to mind using her for a step stool to get into the cabinet despite us telling her no several times. She was bound and determined to get a second meal that night. Probably all the swimming that worked up her enormous appetite.
Wednesday. Or should I say Thunder Day. We had heard about a watch party in the park that night so we got Thundered up and went to check it out....
Tomboy style
It didn't take long to realize that it wasn't the kind of scene we had anticipated. We had envisioned a large screen with lots of room to spread out. Not so much. It was two tvs set up in the snack area of the waterpark. I'm not sure if the threatening rain changed the plans but it wasn't something we decided to stick around for. Instead we wandered the park and played on all three play areas....
That night we stayed inside and watched that exciting game that catapulted them into the NBA Finals. Hallie seemed like a teenager continually shutting the door to her playroom and making messes in secret. But you never know what the girl will come up with so we were on mess patrol of course. We caught her red-handed (and red-headed). She had used her chair to stand up and reach the closet light....had somehow pried the doors open by herself and was emptying every toy she could get her hands on. When we walked in it startled her which gave us both a huge laugh.
"I closed the door for a reason guys."
I stayed up way too late that night to watch the Women's College World Series championship game that had been delayed until 10:00. After the cable going out, another rain delay, and much frustration I finally went to bed at 12:30 with the Sooners down 3-5. I woke up to find that Bama had won the game. Boo. Hiss.
Thursday was my Friday this week. Actually Thursday will be my new Fridays all summer long! I'm trading my Tuesday for a Friday which I think will work out just great. I had one of my PT school classmates, new neighbor AND new coworker, Jai, riding with me yesterday to start training. It was a nice change of pace to have someone to keep me company in the car all day. And since there is never a dull moment in home health it was nice to have someone to share the laughs with. Hal and I got to check out Paula and Jerry's camper when I picked her up from daycare. It turns out that they are going to be testing out their camper just like Nanny and Papa are this weekend at Ft. Supply Lake. I joked that they couldn't escape Hallie Grace and she'd be hunting them down at the lake. ;)
So I'll give you one guess what we did Thursday evening......
"We can take pictures later mom! We're burning daylight and this skin isn't getting any tanner just standing here"
Just like Tuesday night we were two out of five people in the whole park. YAHOO!!!!!!!!
But oh boy, did she ever take advantage of the two little girls in the kiddie pool area. Their mother and I were getting a kick out of watching them have the time of their little lives together on the slide. Miss Hal was feeling brave and decided that she not only didn't need my help to slide down the slide but that she could go down on her belly like the big girls...
Big girl status
Friday. MY DAY OFF. And the beginning of a three day weekend. I hit the ground running (literally) that morning to get the day started early. The weather was perfect without the slightest hint of humidity in the air. For once I didn't feel like I was going to die on my morning run. Maybe my body finally got the memo that I'm not going to give up. Lil red slept in until a little after 8:00, had some peaches and oatmeal and got dolled up in pink for a trip with me to the grocery store. You gotta look your best, right?
"Oh yeah"
Who knows who you might see. ;) (I clearly don't live by this rule in my shorts and old tshirt). But in our case we only saw a cashier who was clearly on drugs. I'm kinda glad Hal ran over to the arcade area so that she wasn't subjected to this lady's craziness. In other news, we saw a roly poly this morning and it almost caused the world to come to an end. I have very reliable evidence that Hallie is TERRIFIED of roly polys. Exhibit A:
She cuddled on my shoulder for about three minutes hanging on for dear life. Unheard of. ;)
We did some much needed shopping for a new bathing suit and outfit for Hal and came home for some lunch and a trip to the park. When given the choice to take the bike or wagon her new favorite method of transportation is the bike. "MOMMA, BIKE!!! BIKE!!!" Yes maam. But today was a bit of a bummer. She patted the seat for me to hop on so I did and we took off for the park. Well, we made it about two inches. The chain was off track and these hands are not too fond of grease and mechanical work so I had to break the news to her gently that the bike was "boke".....
"Let's call dad"
She settled for the wagon and used her riding time to read a book about jungle animals. She was thrilled as she turned each page and pointed excitedly to show me the different animals. I parked the wagon by the curb, she opened the door, grabbed her book and trudged up the not-so-gentle hill to the park. Silly goose is gonna get a parking ticket leaving her wagon in the street and all. ;)
"I don't see a 'NO PARKING' sign anywhere."
And that brings me to the present time. It feels good to finally be caught up with my Hallie tales. Just in time for my girl's trip to Arkansas this weekend. I'm nervous about leaving my baby for a couple of days but I know that she has TONS of fun in store for her this weekend. This momma is excited about what is in store for Heather and I as we make our way to Bentonville to meet our new "niece" Adalyn and spend some time with her momma. I'd better run...time to set out meals and outfits for Hallie so that my dear husband doesn't end up feeding her cookies for dinner or dressing her in boy clothes. I'm gonna miss those two crazy loves of mine. Stay tuned for what promises to be a weekend full of very entertaining Riley/Hallie stories.......
....until then I'll be livin' on Adalyn time. ;)
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