Jump!

So, I took 8 videos of Halley in the jumper my sister loaned us, and I never got one that I really liked. Between her turning the other way and the boys trying to get in the video, it's almost impossible. This is the best one I got.
She is so cute in this thing, and it's like the only time we can ever get her to use her legs! This was a few weeks ago, and actually, she is just starting to want to stand up a little when we set her down. I am glad because from the time she was born, she has never wanted to stand up, like at all!!
Anyway, sorry for my annoying voice. I sound so different to myself. :)
Our Little Jumper

For Melissa

My little sister just sent me an e-mail telling me she can't believe Halley is talking. I can't even remember if I have done a post about her babblings, but here is a video of her saying, "Wow," (I know, it sounds more like a growl.) and doing her fish thing. The fish thing is her primary mode of communication now. We tell her to say "Mom" or "Bradley" or "Connor" or "light" or to point at her nose, and she usually responds with the fish face. At least she knows she is supposed to be opening and closing her mouth to talk, right?

She has said a few words in the past month or so. Her first word was "banana." It sounds more like "ma-na-ba-na-ma-ma," but she definitely knows what she's talking about. She also has said, "yum-yum-num" a lot. Yah, food is definitely her priority. She still hasn't said "ma-ma" in reference to me, but she just started saying "da-da" to Wes a couple days ago.
She still says "Wow" every now and then. This was the day after we taught her to say it so she was still doing it a lot. She hasn't done it as much this week, but it's cute because she usually points her finger at lights or other interesting things and tries to remember how to say it.

Kids, Kites & Kindred Spirits

First of all, I just want to do a little blurb about how grateful I am for so many wonderful friends out here in CA. I love in Anne of Green Gables how she describes her good friends as "kindred spirits." I totally feel that way about so many people I have met since being here. Living away from family is definitely not easy, but it sure makes it easier when there are good friends around! Thanks to all our good friends out here!
The day Halley got hurt, we had planned to go to the beach with some of these great friends I'm talking about -Becca, Russ and their cute son Vincente and Becca's mom, Pam. Because Halley is such a trooper we decided it would still be ok to go. It ended up being a really fun afternoon.Connor had fun holding Halley and the kite. She loved it too.
It was a little cold and windy, but it was perfect for kite flying! We had three kites up in the air for quite awhile. These three boys get along so well. I love Vincente's face in this picture. He was totally fascinated by the kites.
We also had a few episodes in which our wonderful kids let go of the kites. Man, kites go far when there's no one hanging on. I think they got away from us three times.
The first time it was hilarious because Becca and her mom chased after the kite - fast. Now, this is funny because Becca is nine months pregnant - yah, her due date was THE NEXT DAY! She is my hero. She ran after that kite two of the three times, and she is dang fast. I never even had to go that far into my pregnancies, but I know I couldn't have moved like that even the last month of mine. GO BECCA!I wish I had gotten a good picture of that, but oh well. Oh, and our good buddy, Russ, chased after the kite one of the times. He took a great dive into the sand. It was classic! We had so much fun.Here's a cool sort of silhouette picture. I love the beach in the background. Even if it was cold - it was a beautiful night.The kids also enjoyed playing in the sand. For some reason the boys love to make sand angels. They have done that almost every time we've gone to the beach. It's really funny..And we had dinner on the beach. By this time it was FREEZING cold, but we wanted to finish our fun night. We even had to put the extra socks I brought for Connor on Halley's hands. Here she is watching Vincente play in the sand.

Whistle While You Work . . . or . . . Jump on the Furniture While Mom and Dad Work

Last Saturday I wanted to just sit around and do absolutely nothing! Instead, we ended up moving the desk and cleaning under all our couches - which we haven't done since we moved in, um, a year ago. :) Then, we went to a bar-b-que at the park in the freezing cold! I didn't take any pictures at the park, but we got some fun ones of the kids playing around while we cleaned.
Wes also got a great picture of the BLACK WIDOW we found under our couch! Yah, I was absolutely freaked out! Wes caught it and, get this, set it free in our front yard!!! Are you kidding me? I was pretty upset. I am still not sure why he did that. I thought he took it outside to kill it. Grrrr . . .
I got some precious pictures of our baby girl! She is so sweet. See how much worse her injuries look, well, not her fat lip, but the rest of it. The scabs look worse than the initial pictures we took. They are already falling off though so I am glad she is healing ok.

Ouch!

So, on Thursday last week I had a very bad mommy moment. It was one of those times when I just wanted to rewind and try again. Connor, Halley and I were on a walk, and Connor asked me to zip his jacket. "Sure," I said, "I'd love to." While I'm doing that Connor says, "Hey Mom, the stroller is rolling away." I turned to look, and I think, "Oh, it's fine, she'll just have a fun little ride. It won't go very far."
Well, it wasn't a fun ride. Halley leaned over the side, and the stroller tipped over. I think her face hit first, and it was pretty bad. I was so mad at myself!!!! Then, of course, I had to carry her home while pushing the stroller one-handed with Connor telling me the whole way that her nose was bleeding and that she was crying and that she got hurt and that the stuff fell all over and on and on and on . . . It was a long walk home and up a big hill too.
She hurt her lip pretty bad. It was really swollen. Her nose was bleeding too. These pictures actually look a lot better than I thought things looked in that moment. I thought she had a concussion or that she had chipped her tooth or bitten through her lip and that she would never be able to eat or sleep again! I am such a drama queen. I was going crazy. And actually, her scabs the next morning looked a lot worse than this.
So . . being the good mom that I am, I gave her some Motrin and graham crackers to make her feel better. Ha ha ha . . . She is such a trooper. Yet again, I am amazed at how resilient and positive my children are. Thank goodness. I stress so much about things, I don't need them worrying and stressing like I do.

Despite how bad I thought things were, we actually even went to the beach with some friends that afternoon. As usual, I worried too much. :) I'll post some pictures of our fun beach adventure tomorrow!

Sunday Moments

So, we have church at 1:00 now. We are not liking that so much, but we will press on!
Anyway, so we got home on Sunday, and everyone was starving. We gave the kids a few little snacks, and then Wes decides he wants to eat a leftover "Weston-burger" from our bar-b-q the night before. Well, the kids were jealous so Wes gave in and they all ate hamburgers for a snack! Ha ha ha . . . needless to say, they didn't eat much dinner, but it was fun!Later, after dinner, we pulled Halley's high chair over by the silverware drawer so she would be entertained for a minute while we cleaned up. Confession - we never buckle our kids. So, she tried to climb out. :) One of us was right next to her the whole time though. (I had a very bad mom moment last week involving the stroller falling over with Halley in it so I was exceptionally vigilant!)
She had a lot of fun opening and closing the drawer and getting things out. We discovered that she has great balance. She is so cute and growing up so fast!

We Moved the Computer . . . So Look for More Posts!

So, we officially moved the computer into the living area so that I can be with Wes while he studies instead of hiding away in our bedroom. We usually end up instant messaging each other while we are working. Now we can actually talk. :)
It's also very nice because now I can work on the blog while the kids are awake and asleep! I have never been able to do that because there isn't anything for them to do in our bedroom, and I'm afraid of doing it while they sleep because I don't want to wake them up. This is great. Another added bonus - I can see the beautiful ocean! Yah, it's right out that window on the left. It's awesome!I am still behind on pictures. I cannot decide what to do. I have pictures from over a month ago and some brand new ones. I think what I am going to do is be totally random. I'll start out with the newest pictures, but here and there I may put in some other ones as I have time. I'll try to make sure and note the date when I do each one.