Halle is 11 months

Just in case there wasn't enough new posts to read, here is one more. I just figured while I was blogging I might as well get caught up. I have a new system. I am going on a scrapbooking weekend in May. Since I can't remember what happened last week I definetly won't remember what happened months before. So I am trying to keep up on the blog and on the Girl's journals so that I can scrap some meaningful pages full of memories in May.

I can't believe Halle is 11 months old. Here are some new things about her... She can now walk along furniture. She still is not crawling, but rather opts to scoot on her bum. She loves to play with her sister, and read stories. She talks a ton now and has the cutest way of saying "DA DA DA DA," in her sweet little high voice. We've established that this refers to both Daddy and Sam (dog). She absolutely loves Sam. She still loves to eat anything that we are eating and is the happiest baby. I love her little toothy grin. She now weighs 17lbs 1 ounce (13th percentile), so at least she is still gaining weight from her last doctor visit. She loves to walk around holding your fingers, so beware if you start, she won't want to stop. She knows noses, and will wave "bye" everytime she hears it. She is very loved and she knows it! My heart just melts everytime I see her.

Avery is doing well. She cracks me up everyday. She wears a princess dress first thing each morning and again usually before she goes to bed. But she is usually ready to get dressed around 10 in the morning. Her latest thing she tells us is that she is going to get married. She is going to the Temple, and is going to wear a white dress and get married. She loved giving gifts this Christmas and wanted to give to everyone. S he is a good little mama to her Dolls, Loves anything and everything Princess, and is a great big sister. The other day she went in Halle's room before I knew Halle was awake and piled every single blanket out of the drawers on her. She also sings her made-up song to the tune of twinkle twinkle little star. It starts out "Baby gotus..."-and we can't understand the rest. Sometimes it is even scary (but funny) because she will clench her teeth and sing it really loud. She always tells me that I am her hun, I am so pretty and that she loves us. Whenever she is quiet, she is usually into my makeup. Also, she doesn't want to take naps anymore. She is scared of the dark and will wake up at 4am screaming if we don't leave the hall light on.

Christmas Dresses

Here is one of the girls today in the cute Christmas dresses. Thanks Grandma. I don't know what I was thinking though, I should have had Avery stand up so we could see the entire dress. As you can tell, Halle wasn't too happy. The other pictures are pretty funny. I took a bunch trying to hurry because we were late for Church and Halle was blinded by the flash.

We love our Girls!

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning we were lucky to have Avery sleep in until 8:30am. We then woke up Halle and watched the Living Scripture video on Chirst's birth in our room while I fed Halle.

Here is Avery coming down the stairs. She was so excited. McCall, do you notice what she has in her hand. Yep, she slept with it.


Even with her baby crib and the other presents, Avery immediatly ran to the Tangled coloring book and wanted to color right away.


The girls had a lot of fun opening presents. Avery was excited for Halle's presents as well.


Avery got a doll that walks among other things. She is so cute with it. She does everything that the doll asks. She takes such good care of her.


Halle got some fun things, but her favorite thing of the Morning was the Sippy Cup, and the Bath toy whale.



This is what happens when you start Christmas shopping in August. You forget what you have. I even kept some stuff out for Birthdays. It really isn't a ton of stuff and everything was bought on sale with research done before hand to get the best price.



After opening presents we had Christmas Breakfast. It was Sharelle's fabulous Breakfast casserole recipe. It is a favorite of ours. We then relaxed the rest of the day playing with our new toys and watching Toy Story 3. I wasn't feeling well so it was nice to just relax and enjoy being together as a family. Avery also enjoyed her My Little Pony remote control scooter. Aaron even thought that one was pretty cool. Poor Aaron when that is the closest thing that comes to a cool boy toy in our house.

Christmas Eve Bowling with the Waddoups Family

After spending some time with the Rich Family we headed down to my family's home. We used to always go to a movie on Christmas Eve but that tradition has gotten harder to do since we have kids. We don't always like the same movies. So Last year we started a new tradition. Bowling. We all love bowling! I am not very good but definetly improved on my second game. Jason is a really good bowler and everyone else did great too. Austin even got a Turkey. Avery loves to bowl!






She makes those bowling shoes look good! :)


I love this picture. Halle was so happy just to be held and passed around she also got to walk so she was in Heaven. She did great considering she had to wake up early, and only got about a 30 minute nap.



After Bowling, we went back to my parents house and ordered take out from Chilis. We then opened presents. Of course we were spoiled. We are very blessed to have wonderful family! Both the Rich and the Waddoups. I love the tradition of getting Food storage from my Parents for Christmas. We had a lot of fun watching the girls open their presents. Halle was more interested in the paper. We were especially excited to see Avery open her Rapunzel barbie. She had been talking about getting one for Christmas for over a month. McCall and Jason were kind enough to get her one. But it was a little disapointing at first. But after I started opening the box she started jumping up and down and played with it the rest of the night. Jason and McCall also gave her a Dora Mermaid. She was so excited to try it out. McCall went and filled the bath tub so they could try it out, when she turned around, Avery was stripping down getting ready to get in the bath tub with Dora.

Halle got a fun table from my parents. She loves to stand up, so she really enjoys standing at the Table to play.



(Notice those Gray shoes that Austin has on in the Background, they are Jordan Retro 11s. Austin was so excited to get them so him and McCall camped out all night at Fashion Place the day before they came out and as a back up my Mom and I camped out in Layton. Strangely it was fun! Austin was so excited and assured us that if there was anything that we wanted to wait in line for over night, he would be there.

Here is the girls in their matching Christmas Jammies. You can't see in the pictures, but they have ruffles on the bum. Love it!
Avery continued to play that night, but we put Halle down to bed. The adults than played Dance Dance Revolution. Well McCall, my mom and I played while the boys watched. All I can say is what a workout. My mom video recorded it. I am sure that I will regret that later :)

We than came home, set out cookies for Santa and got ready for the night.



On a side note, I ordered the little people nativity and I was so excited that it came before Christmas. It normally sales for $45, I got it for $27 and that included tax and shipping. Avery loved playing with it and was so cute with Baby Jesus. Halle loved eating it. I can see many fun Christmas memories in our future with this Nativity. I am so glad that I got it.

Christmas Eve Morning Tradition with the Rich Family

We love this Tradition. Every Christmas Eve morning we meet for Breakfast at Aaron's Dad's house. The food as always was Delicious! Afterwards we did a Nativity. It is so fun to watch the kids act out the Nativity as we read from Luke. Singing songs this year also added a really special touch. Darrick and Kami did a great job! After that we had fun with Homemade pinatas made by Aunt Teresa. Alan is a great pinata holder, and instead of using a dangerous long stick or bat, we only use a semi dangerous wooden spoon. The kids enjoyed the Pinata. After that we exchanged gifts and then went shopping together. It is so fun to hang out with Family.


Cute Halle!


Avery's turn at the Pinata.










Avery and Halle are so lucky to have such great Cousins. From the second we walk in the door they are immediatly entertained by Macady and Alexa. They love the little ones. And there are so many cousins to play with.

Gingerbread Men

I saw this idea somewhere but I can't remember where. I thought it would be a fun tradition to start doing at Christmas time. Avery loves to help me in the Kitchen. We made Gingerbread men. While they were cooking we read the story. After the Gingerbread men were finished cooking, one ran away (into Daddy's stomach). Avery was quiet distressed, but it was fun to try and look for the Gingerbread Man. We ended up using store bought dough and it tasted great and remained soft. I am going to get the recipe from my Visiting Teaching partner. She always makes it from scratch and I guess it is quite involved. She is an amazing cook and we always love when she brings treats.

Christmas Lights

On Monday night, we met Deareld and Teresa to see the Ogden Christmas lights.


I loved them. It reminded me of my Childhood when we would go see the lights in Brigham City. Avery loved looking in each of the houses. People go to a lot of work. I told Aaron that we need to make this a Christmas Tradition. He thought maybe every 3rd year. :)



The houses made it a lot of fun, but it doesn't compare to the beautiful lights at Temple Square. We also enjoyed some hot chocolate and Cookies. Avery was not a fan of the warm Chocolate. We ran into Seth, Heidi and Courtney there as well. I think our favorite booth was the Dancing Santa Clause.

Christmas Fun

Last week we had our traditional Waddoups Family Bingo Party. I love this. We get together in December, exchange gifts, and play some Bingo. We all bring several prizes some silly and some cool. It was a lot of fun, unfortunately I didn't get blackout this year, but accidentally ripped Clint's blackout prize.



oops, sorry Clint.

We also did a new thing this year. The adults teamed up as couples and made Gingerbread houses. Clint and Austin were a team. There house was funny, and it was great watching them try and put it together.



Here is a pic of their finished house.








Avery and Courtney always have so much fun together. Here they are making cookies with their wonderful grandmas.



This picture cracked me up. Courtney is riding her horse.


Halle had a fun time and got some fun toys. She wasn't very interested in opening her presents though.






Thanks everyone for the fun night!

On Friday we got together with some of my friends from Highschool. It is always so fun to get together. The kids enjoy playing and we enjoy visiting. I have amazing friends!

Avery had fun decorating the sugar cookies. She was so excited she ate the first cookie without frosting it, but then frosted the second and ate some of the leftover frosting. Afterwards we also made reindeer candy canes.


Halle wasn't too excited to be set down on the ground, but she did get a little taste of sugar cookies and loved them.



Afterwards we took some of the cookies to Aaron's work so we could say hi.

We have been doing great. I can't believe that Christmas is so soon. There were so many fun things that I wanted to do, but we didn't get a chance. Halle and I have been sick with a cold but are finally are starting to feel better. We hope to go see the lights tomorrow. To get in the Christmas Spirit, we have been listening to Christmas music and playing with the nativities. We have the LIttle people Nativity on its way here. I found it online for $25 plus shipping. I was so excited.

Halle now waves Bye Bye and loves to pull on everyones noses. She still refuses to crawl but instead either walks with our help, or scoots on her bum. She talks all day long and loves to hear the sound of her own voice. Avery is so smart and funny. The other day she said "I'm your hun, huh? and you are Daddy's hun, and Grandma is my Hun". She also calls everyone her Boyfriend, talks about the Rapunzel Barbie that she wants for Christmas, loves to pretend, and talks about shooting Bad guys. Lately she has been afraid of the dark. We got her a Night light, but she also likes the hall light on, even though she likes her bedroom door closed. We eventually turn the light off when Aaron and I go to bed. Sometimes she will wake up in the middle of the night and yells at Aaron because he turned the light off. For some reason it is always his fault. She still wears her "pretty Dress" (princess dresses) every day.

One last picture. I don't know how she does it, but Halle always wakes up with the craziest hair in the morning.


Doesn't her hair and her big grin just make you laugh?

Here comes Santa Clause

Well I am almost finished with my Christmas shopping. Yay! My Mom, sister and I went shopping yesterday. The girls were so good. Halle even took a nap in the stroller. As soon as Avery saw Santa, she wanted to go sit on his lap. Her past 2 Christmas she would cry. But this year she just hopped right on up. He asked her what she wanted. She said a "Barbie" she was than amazed when he asked if she wanted a Rapunzel Barbie. After when we were asking her about it, we asked her if Santa asked if she was a good girl, Avery replied "Yes, and I said Yep". It was so cute. I love how she says Yes, it is very distinct and pronouced.



We took the girls to Bowman's today to get there pictures taken with Santa Clause. Bowman's does it every year for free. Again, Avery just walked right on up there. I was worried that Halle would cry, since she cries almost anytime someone besides Mom is holder her. But she didn't. At first I thought that she must not realize who has her. But she would just look up at Santa and pulled on his beard. It was so funny. We also got a family picture with him too. Unfortunetly my hair was wet and I had no makeup on. Oh well.

Discovery Gateway

Today we went to Discovery Gateway with some friends. The girls had a blast. There were so many fun things to do! Avery loved the little grocery store, Halle loved the water and the balls. Afterwards we went to lunch at the food court, where Avery insisted on having a huge slice of pizza. We had a lot of fun, but I think we prefer Treehouse museum. There is more to do, and cheaper. But for older kids, Discovery Gateway is the way to go. The upstairs was full of fun things for them. I loved the weather station.