Hallie's TWO pictures!

Finally! About a month after Hallie turned two, we took her out to a field and took some very sweet pictures of her. Jonathan turned the car stereo up and she danced and played. She could not have been sweeter for this little personal photo shoot, and she had so much fun! :o) While there were over 200 pictures taken, I have fought the urge to post all of them! So...here are my Top 15 taken that day!

Swimming Fun...and chilly too!

After a rainy Saturday, our Sunday turned out beautifully! We enjoyed church, lunch after church, a nap for two very cranky girls (yes, Mommy was cranky, too), and then some sunshine! We took the pool outside and hooked the water hose up to the elephant and let the fun begin! While all last week the weather was extremely hot and sunny, today we were confused by the mid-70s weather! Hallie was not a coward...although it was quite chilly outside, she braved the cold for the fun of the pool! She slid, she splashed, she jumped around. She tried her best to convince Charley th join her. No such luck. :o) She begged Daddy and Mommy to get in the water, but we both said we were too big (quite true, but it was also FREEZING!). Hallie was shivering, bless her sweet heart, but assured us she was not cold. When she had had enough, she went up to Daddy and said, "I need these clothes osh (off)." So cute! She was shivering from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. After getting on dry clothes, Mommy snuggled her up in a blanket until she warmed up--she did not protest! After that, we grilled some hotdogs and continued to enjoy the sunshine until it began its late decent. :o)

Enjoy the pictures...do you think she was having fun?! Bless her heart, her Momma won't buy her a swimsuit that fits. LOL. The swim bottoms would not stay up. They kept sliding down. Hallie would stop, bend over, and pick them up. Too cute! She's in between sizes right now. The 18-24 month is way to small, but the 2T (in the bottoms--and this came as a set) is too big. It depends on the brand, too...and this is a brand where we still get 18-24 mth in pants and 2T in tops. Hopefully it'll fit better by summer.

Saturday Fun

Saturday was very relaxing! Friday night we went to Target and got Hallie a little pool for our hot Texas summer days that have already begun. She was so excited about having a swimming pool that we had to open it up Friday night! She slid and slid and played so hard Friday night. We talked about putting water in it, but we really think she would have been content to just leave it empty in the little living room! Saturday morning we ate breakfast as we watched the rain pour down outside. After a hot sunny week, we had a very humid, rainy Saturday...and it was nice to be able to relax inside! Jonathan and Hallie painted for almost 2 hours while I cleaned up the kitchen, den, living room, and did some laundry. Hallie LOVES to paint! I tried tackling Hallie's room (should have done that while she painted!)...she has so many clothes in her closet that don't fit anymore, but I just haven't had the time to pack them up. So I worked a little in the closet, got a little sappy over packing up all my favorite outfits of Hallie's from last summer/fall, and then gave in to Hallie helping me with ALL the hangers! :o) After that, it was naptime. I thought Hallie was going to fall asleep in her bed while I was packing up her clothes. But no such luck...she read happily to her babies while I worked, but then wanted to snuggle Mommy as usual (our weekend routine for naps). And I don't mind one bit b/c soon enough she won't want to have anything to do with me! So, Hallie took a little nap and Jonathan helped his parents with a few things...and picked up our weekend guest (Charley). I cleaned up a little more and actually rested! Here are a few pictures of our restful Saturday. :o)

Hallie trying out the slide on her new pool.

Hallie painting--one of her FAVORITE ways to pass the time!

Reading to her babies...

Oh my goodness...these are some of my favorite
outfits from last summer/fall and I got teary-eyed
while packing them up! I had to take a picture. :o) I
have so many memories in these outfits. I could tell
you one for each outfit! I can't believe my little girl is
getting too big for the little bubble outfits. Oh how sad
that makes this momma!

Hallie would pick up the hangers off the floor
and then make a pile of them somewhere else
in her room! haha!

Some more favorite outfits...Hallie wore the initial
outfit last Father's Day (and I have the sweetest
picture), the puppy outfit for Uncle Jeremy's b'day
outing to Dallas, and the other three more times than
I can count b/c they were three of my most
favorites! I should've bought these in every size!

Happy Birthday, Rah-Rah!

Happy Birthday to Rah-Rah!  We all enjoyed yummy Italian and celebrated one special lady! :o)

Hallie telling Rah-Rah "Happy Birthday"

Hallie loves her Uncle Jay (who entertained her

until the food arrived--thanks, Jeremy!)

Coloring--they're concentrating awfully hard!

Saying Bye-Bye

The fun always has to come to an end, but we are all so glad my parents got to come and spend some time with us all!  Hallie really enjoyed seeing her Nonna and Pop, and I'm sure the feeling was mutual.  The second we got onto the interstate, Hallie-Lou was snoozing away!  We stopped at Czech Stop for some FABULOUS kolaches.  Our plan was to stop for lunch, but we really didn't have time.  And after we all enjoyed our share of kolaches, we really didn't have room for lunch! :o)  Once we got to the airport, the bottom fell out of the sky!  Thankfully there was a sky walk so we wouldn't get wet--Hallie thought that was lots of fun!  Because of the weather, Nonna and Pop's flight was delayed.  We thought we'd grab some lunch for Hallie while we waited.  There was Chili's and McDonald's.  So we were going for McDonald's...until we got to the counter and saw the 3 ft x 2 ft sign on the Coke machine that read: Fries and Hamburgers not sold at this location.  Gates A blah blah and B blah blah.  WHAT?!  For whatever reason, that "location" only sold breakfast...and pretzels and popcorn.  Weird.  Hallie wasn't interested in eating anyway.  She was more interested in chasing Pop around the airport!  She also enjoyed a couple of rides on the escalator. :o)  Thanks, Pop, for keeping Hallie entertained!  We look forward to seeing Nonna and Pop again soon!  Thanks again for surprising me for my birthday!  It was the best present yet! :o)

Surprise!

I got home on Thursday, opened the garage and saw someone standing in there. I was worried for about two seconds, then I realized it was my sweet daddy!  My parents are little stinkers!  Come to find out Jonathan had driven to Dallas that morning to pick them up at the airport!  They had decided the day before to fly to Waco for my birthday.  How fun!  They had kept Hallie for the day, and she couldn't have been more excited.  I hope my dad caught some cute pictures of that day!  I enjoyed their visit, even if it was quick.  Friday (May 1) was my birthday, so I ended up taking 1/2 the day off to spend with my parents.  Hallie napped on Friday so Mom and I did a little shopping while Pop held the fort down. :o)  Then we went to dinner for my birthday.  Hallie was quite whiney despite her 3 1/2 hour nap, and she sat in my lap wanting me to read Peter Rabbit to her most of the time.  Sweet girl...although it would've been nice to eat my birthday supper warm!  All the way to the restaurant, Hallie was singing "Happy Birthday to Mommy!  Happy Birthday to Mommy!"  It was very cute.  And though she didn't want to eat any supper, she didn't dare turn down any ice cream cake!

Nonna and Hallie putting stuffing her

Bernstain Bears

On the way to dinner...Hallie kept hitting Pop in the

face every time I tried to take a picture! :o)

Hallie stepped in mud and wanted Pop to clean

off her shoe...and of course, she had to help him!

Hallie singing to me...

A Present!

(04.10.09)

After we got home from seeing the Easter Bunny, Hallie had a package from Nonna! She was so excited to open it. I got it all on video--but it's in four separate videos. They are all super cute, but I'm only posting the last one taken so Nonna can see Hallie get her shoes. :o) Hallie ripped through that box and all its presents like nobody's business. She grabbed one thing, showed her genuine excitement and then was on to the next! What I don't capture in the video was her true love for all of the things...after the videos, she was going back through everything and "oohing and ahhing" over it all! Very cute and sweet! Thanks, Nonna for Hallie's Easter goodies (and my shoes that were included, too...although Hallie tried to steal those for herself!). :o)

Some of Hallie's presents--an adorable little
dress that she LOVES and a "Prinpress" camera!

Showing off her new shoes.

Easter Bunny!

(04.10.09) Hallie was SO excited to see the Easter bunny. We were afraid her excitement might outweigh actually sitting on his lap, but her excitement never left! Hallie's Rah-Rah made her this adorable outfit for Easter! Doesn't she look adorable in it?! Needless to say, Hallie loved the Easter Bunny and talked about it for several days after visiting him.

Going to see the Easter Bunny!

Hallie was thinking about going to see him again!

Our mall conveniently has all the rides in the food court...so while we wait for Chick-fil-A, Hallie rode the "hot dog car".

Mary Poppins

(04.03.09)
Hallie has really been wanting to watch what she calls a "big girl movie". Why does she want to watch this? Well...she saw Mommy's movie "27 Dresses" and wanted to watch it. It definitely has two of her favorite things on it...pink and dresses! :o) We told her she couldn't watch it b/c it's a big girl movie (big mistake in hindsight!). So...we finally found a big girl movie for her--Mary Poppins--and she loves it! We don't watch it very often, but when she has the itch for a big girl movie, it hits the spot. :o) Here are some pictures of Hallie enjoying Mary Poppins for the first time. She had her Mary Poppins doll with her saying, "Look, Mary Possins, look!" Amazingly, I can remember why she has a boo-boo on her head! We were playing with the neighbor's kids (whom she had just met) and then Daddy came home. She had to go see him; I stayed talking with the neighbor. Hallie came running down the road (we live on a cul de sac) to finish playing with her new friends and met the pavement in the blink of an eye. Poor thing! :o(

Oh. My. Goodness.

OK...this is the second time that I'm going to use the TAKS test as an excuse for not posting. For those of you who aren't in Texas, the TAKS test is a HUGE deal! For third graders, they have to pass the reading test to go on to fourth grade. We also give a math TAKS. It is ridiculous the amount of testing that goes on in elementary schools! But...this blog is not dedicated to that. It is for my sweetie pie Hallie! So...after Tuesday, this momma will be more on top of things with blogging because I won't be quite so exhausted and stressed out from all this testing business! :o)

Now. I have a lot to blog, so there are going to be a few posts that will be heavy on the pictures. In my last post, I mentioned that a couple of weeks ago, we took Hallie out to an open field and had our own little photo shoot with her. We had a blast! Hopefully I'll be able to upload those soon.

Without further adieu...the past two weeks (in their own blog for my own benefit, that is)! :o)

Oh my!

I really can't believe it has only been a week since my last post--it feels like it has been a month! So much has been going on here. I am completely swamped at school with paperwork and TAKS preparations; then I pick up Hallie and play with her until bedtime, then I'm out as soon as possible! Oh, and the dishes and laundry must be on strike...they don't seem to be doing themselves. Sigh. While I have taken tons of pictures and have plenty of Hallie-isms as of late, I just haven't made blogging a top priority. Hopefully soon I'll put the latest happenings.

For right now, I'll leave you with a few things that have been going on...

*Hallie is by far the cutest little girl I know--yes, I'm completely biased, but I say it's so, so it must be true. :o)
*Just today she did three things that made us roll with laughter.
***Jonathan was in the shower and I was getting dressed in the bathroom. Hallie was sans clothes and I noticed a rash on her chest (I'm guessing from all the Vicks baby rub we've been putting on her). I said in shock, "Jonathan. Hallie is really broken out!" Hallie looked at me quite puzzled and yelled, "NO! I not broken!"
***Also while getting ready to go to IHOP, Jonathan asked Hallie if she liked his Donkey Kong shirt. She said, "Yes. Monkey!" Jonathan said, "You're right--he's a monkey. Hallie, are you a monkey?!" She quickly responded, "No. I'm not a monkey. I'm a little girl monkey." Silly girl!
***At IHOP this morning, my mother-in-law saw someone she knew and was introducing Jonathan and me. As if on cue, Hallie spoke up and said, "Hi! I'm Hallie!" while patting herself on the chest. Melt my heart!
*Hallie has a few funny things she does--she says "Oh my goodness!" and does this hilarious fake whine at the most random times. It usually goes something like this, "Ohhh, noooooo. I don't like it." And she crinkles her nose and furrows her brow. It's seriously adorable...not annoying at all. The annoying whining hasn't come...yet. :o)

Today we took Hallie to an open field, played some music (HA) and had our own little photo shoot. While the background wasn't the most perfect, it wasn't anything Jonathan can't work his PhotoShop magic on. :o) I have been wanting to take her two year pictures for some time now. I wanted them in her little birthday outfit, but Hallie picked her dress (and bow to match!) and was happy as a clam in what she had on. Really, the pictures couldn't have been more perfect (OK, so maybe they could've been if the background had been better). I'll post pictures as soon as Jonathan finishes touching them up!

We went to see the Easter bunny yesterday at the mall...and boy was Hallie excited! She had been talking about it for two days! I thought that the excitement might dwindle down when it came her turn to snuggle the old bunny (much like when she had to sit on Santa's lap), but to my surprise, her excitment never left her! She sat, she snuggled, she gave him high fives. I practically had to drag her away from the bunny. Afterward, she proudly wore her little bunny ears headband she was given! Free advertising for them, of course. :o)

Tomorrow is Easter...I'm having trouble deciding which Easter dress to put Hallie in tomorrow. My mom got her two--and they're both equally gorgeous. One's a pale baby blue and the other is a peach. Jonathan and I like the blue. Jonahtan's parents like the peach. I'm guessing my mom likes them both since she sent them. Hallie likes the peach one--well, it's only b/c she calls it "pink" and she loves anything pink right now. :o) After church we'll be dying eggs and hunting them--I'm guessing inside since it's supposed to be pouring down rain.

And while the Easter bunny is cute, hunting eggs is fun, and getting an Easter basket full of goodies is the best...let's remember the real reason we celebrate. Our loving Saviour gave his life for us, was buried...and three days victoriously rose from the grave. He is RISEN! He is RISEN indeed! Thank you Lord for the love you showed us. Thank you God for sending Your Son for us!

Our Sweet Girl

For quite some time now, we have been saying the blessing before our meals in the short and sweet toddler fashion "Dear God, thank you for this food and our many blessings. Amen." Or something to that effect. For about a year now, Hallie has clasped her sweet hands together, mimicking Mommy and Daddy. Lately, if we start eating and forget the blessing, she'll take a bite and maybe a minute later say, "Pray food!" and clasp her sweet hands together. She has also actually started closing her eyes in a tight squint--yes, I peek...she's just too cute! :o) Thursday afternoon, I picked her up from daycare and she sweetly asked, "Momma, nuggies, please?" I asked her if she was hungry and she said "yes". So, to get the girl some nuggies I went! On the way home, she wanted a nuggie (by the way, this is what she calls chicken nuggets...or really chicken in any form), so I get her one and hand it to her. She took a bite, and then sat it down on her car seat. I looked up and saw the most precious sight--she was clasping her hands together. And she said, "Dear God, (toddler gibberish, toddler gibberish) thank you for nuggies. Amen." Steal my heart! What a blessing! And I know she made our Lord smile. :o) She sure made me smile!

Already a Year?!

Jonathan and I were talking and realized we've now lived in Waco for an entire year now. A year ago today we were moving to Waco...and also taking Hallie to the ER! It does not seem like it has been an entire year. Since moving to Waco, there have been a lot of ups and downs. We've lived in a tiny two bedroom apartment and lived on one income while praying for our to sell in San Antonio. When it finally did, we sang praises to God! We found a house to rent closer to town just in time to move out of our apartment when our house sold! What timing! We've both started new jobs and Hallie started "baby school". We love being close to family and have made some great new friends and have been able to visit with some of Jonathan's old friends (and they've become my new friends!). That's the fun stuff. We've also had lots of sickness and hospital visits, or so it seems. We're hoping we're done with what seems to have been a type of "initiation" to Waco! HA! We're all doing great now, and loving living close to family! We're looking forward to another great year in Waco!

Splish Splash!

Oh sweet Hallie! She picked out some rain boots this past weekend and has been in love with them (as she is most shoes). We got home from school yesterday and the neighbor was watering her lawn. It was draining into the street and Hallie was so excited! She quickly ran inside and took her shoes off and said she needed her rain boots. She put them on as fast as she could and headed out the door. Thank goodness the camera was right by the door so I could capture this pure innocence! Hallie played and played in the water. She walked up and down the little stream...enjoying every second!

The Influence of an Uncle

My, oh my! Hallie absolutely LOVES her Uncle Jeremy...aka Unca-Jay. And whenever we get together with the family, she always ask if he is coming. He is not afraid to get down in the floor and act like a little kid with Hallie and she loves it! Monday night we had the family over for supper...Jeremy got here a little early and Hallie was SO excited when she saw him at the door. I was able to finish cleaning up and get things started while Hallie played and played. The living room was awfully quiet...when I walked in, I saw Uncle Jeremy "teaching" Hallie to write on her foot. I'm not sure what it is with the Echols family teaching Hallie to write on herself, but it definitely runs in the family (sorry, RahRah! heehee!). Hallie was so excited to show off her artwork...now I wonder how many months it will take us to teach Hallie not to write on the bottoms of her feetsies. That's OK--she loves her Uncle Jeremy!

The lesson...

The left foot finished.

The right foot finished.

Hallie's "after supper ice cream"--mostly
on her mouth and shirt! HA!

Fun Hallie-Jeremy pictures...they were screaming
as loud as they possibly could! Fun!! Look at
her little clasped hands! So cute!

All My Stuff

Hallie gave her loving wake up call around 8:30 Saturday morning. When I went to get her, I changed her diaper and asked if she wanted her pillow and blanket to go to our bed (as she does every Saturday morning). She said, "Yes." Then she said, "And Moe." We got Moe. Then Hallie wanted back in her bed. I was confused as to why she wanted back in her bed...but then her reason quickly followed as she began to name off everything in her bed while handing it to me. "And Righty. And Pink Pig. And Pink Piper Pig. And Baby. And this baby. And Kitty Cat. And Curs Jurge (Curious George). Oh no! Baby's hat! Get Baby's hat! And this (her toy)." My hands were full, to say the least! Then Hallie looks at me and says, "Get me, Momma!" LOL! So hands full, to Mommy's and Daddy's bed we traveled...and here is a quick snap of all Hallie's loot! :o)