Baby Grayson

I finally got to meet my sweet friend, Jennifer's little guy, Grayson. And he is adorable! Having Hallie there with me made me more aware of how big she is getting! I wanted to snap some pictures of Jen and Grayson, but the time of day nor the temperature were very conducive to having them taken outside...and Hallie would've made that pretty impossible, too. So...lol...these were snapped inside the little play area at Chick-fil-A...with Hallie happily playing. :o) They're still sweet pictures, no matter where they were taken--I mean, the models were the best to work with! :o)

A sweet little yawn!

What's been going on?

Hallie has been a busy girl the past two weeks! Mommy and Daddy have stayed pretty busy, too. So this is a "catch up" post. There are lots of pictures, but I've had to take lots of pictures of everything our sweet girl has been up to lately! First of all, she has really taken off with talking and is frequently using two word phrases. It seems like she says a new word every day! A few new words are: toothpaste, oatmeal, car, and "Hallie". Her favorite phrase right now is "I like that" (which comes out "I-ike-dat". Cute!) Today Jonathan was pointing to himself and me asking who we were. With me, Hallie replied "Mama", with Jonathan she replied "Dada", then he pointed to her and asked "Who is this?" And she replied "Halla"! We were so surprised that she could say her name. Jonathan frequently tries to get her to say her name and she always says "Ha-lalala" (rolling her tongue, babbling)! LOL! She's getting closer. :o) Here are a few pictures from our past couple of weeks. We've all been a little under the weather, but I think we're all beginning to feel 100% better!

Sweet, smiling girl with her new baby doll.

Hallie loves to feed her baby!

Sharing a Smore with Daddy (except
Hallie didn't get any chocolate)

"Num-num" as Hallie would say!

Hallie had an awful diaper rash last week.
She was "airing out" sans diaper in this picture
and insisted upon wearing this little
dress and the socks to bed! It wasn't
a battle we chose to fight, so she "won".
She needs a little victory now and then!

Hallie's going to take after her daddy with having
black eyes as a kid. She was playing too hard and bumped
her sweet 'noggin. She was supposed to have
her 18 months pictures taken the next day.
We cancelled--plus we were all not feeling so great.

Nothing like a fun cup and straw to help
you feel better!

Hallie and I met "Aunt Jen" and Grayson in
Austin for a bit of shopping and lunch. It was fun
to see them both (and to meet Grayson!)!! Hallie loved
rocking Grayson in his carseat (hopefully he doesn't have
whiplash, Jen!) and touching his little feet. :o)

Sweet girl in the bright sunshine. She had a
cute bow in her hair--which she insisted on...
that is until Mommy got out the camera (she
didn't know I had the camera in the above
picture! As soon as she saw the camera, she
threw the bow on the ground. Sigh!

Hallie climbed up to the top of the playground
all by herself!!

AND she slid down without any help!
What a big girl she is!

Giving sweet Grayson kisses

Gramps and Ra-Ra came over this evening. We hadn't
been home from Austin long, but Hallie was ready
to entertain with a bit of "Hallie Hero" (since we
NEVER get to play Guitar Hero) and the
"Hallie Wallie Dance" song! What a way to end a day!

18 months

Hallie had her 18 month check up on Wednesday, and she is doing GREAT! While she has always been a little low on the growth charts, the important thing is that she is consistently growing as she should. He asked all the milestone questions: is she walking backwards: yes; is she saying at least six words: oh yes!; is she asking for some things by name: yes (Mo--her monkey, milk, juice, trash--when she wants to throw something away! lol!). I wanted to blab on and on about all the other wonderful things Hallie was up to, but we had to reschedule our appointment from the week before, and they were double booked...so we didn't spend a whole lot of time with the pediatrician this time. :o/

Quick stats:
Weight: 21.6 lbs
Height: 31.5 in
Head Circum: 18.6 in

I'm hoping, hoping, hoping to have Hallie's 18 month pictures done next weekend. I was hoping to do it this weekend, but with Hurricane Ike, it's going to be raining all weekend. Hopefully soon!

Lilttle Mess Maker

Mommy's little mess maker is also Mommy's little helper! I was putting on oven mitts to take some chicken out of the oven...I turned around and Hallie had taken a mitt out of the cabinet herself and put it on just like Mommy! It was SO cute! :o)

As you can see in the pictures, Hallie enjoyed her supper of rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, homemade mac 'n cheese, and green beans. :o) While she's usually a pretty neat eater, she does sometimes like to get a little messy--and how can you not with mashed potatoes?! We were missing a much needed bib, but that's OK...clothes wash! :o)

Doesn't she have the sweetest smile?!

Sic 'em Bears!

Our sweet Hallie finally attended her first college football game! We've been practicing her "Sic 'em Bears" (along with her War Eagle...don't worry!) for some time now and she finally got to give it a try for real tonight! We really enjoyed her watching the football game, clapping with the crowd, and being completely in awe of the marching band! She had a wonderful time! We left during the third quarter, but I believe she could have stayed for the entire game.

She got some popcorn--which she loved! She loved it so much, she only shared it with you if she thought you were worthy of her popcorn. LOL! She got pretty upset when we (read: SHE) spilled half the box. It's a good thing she spilled it, though! Otherwise, she would have wanted to have eaten the entire box. That probably would've left her with a tummy ache!! Back to her sharing (or lack of). Hallie would share her popcorn with Kevin, Mommy, and Christina. Grammy had to steal pieces, and Daddy only got chewed up pieces. Once, Uncle Jeremy got a couple of pieces...but it wasn't very willingly.

Here are some (OK, a bunch of) pictures from Hallie's game night. I am hoping that we can get to an Auburn game at some point in the future! I know Hallie would love it! :o)

On the way to the Baylor game

The bear in the ticket office...Hallie did NOT like him!

Enjoying the game with Grammy and Gramps

One of the bear mascots--he does "tricks"! He was
giving high fives for treats!

Yum! Popcorn!

Do you think Hallie is having fun?

Eating ice...and spilling it on Mommy!

Sharing with Christina, but not with Jeremy!

There was the cutest little boy in front of us, and
Hallie was patting him on the back. Toward the
end, she just sat down right behind him!

Friday afternoon Fun!

Bath time is still a favorite! Whenever she can, she loves to walk around in only a diaper (although she would prefer to be completley nakey-nakey!!). She also climbs up in rocking chair that's in her room with a book quite often. It is such a cute sight to walk in on! Yesterday, I walked in on Hallie reading her nursery rhyme book to her baby doll! I wanted to catch it on video, but wouldn't you know the battery went dead right after my last picture! :o/ Maybe next time!

Afternoon at Mountainview Park

Mommy had a faculty meeting after school on Wednesday, so Grammy (Ra-Ra) picked up Hallie from Miss Pattie's. Hallie was very excited to see her Ra-Ra! They went to the park behind my school until I was finished. This is the day Hallie decided she didn't want to wear what I had laid out for her and Daddy had to pick out something else! He did a great job! :o)

Hallie is now 18 months old, and I hope to get her 18 month picture taken soon (maybe next weekend). I used to take her month milestone pictures on my own, but she has just gotten too busy for me to take them. I can't get her to stay in one spot long enough to snap a good shot (without someone's help, that is). :o)

Sweet girl!

Catch up!

Playing catch up again! You would think not much can happen in two weeks, but that thought could not be farther from the truth! I have now survived the first two weeks of school. I wanted to blog every night, but spending time with Hallie was first on my agenda! Then sleep...then blogging. lol. On going back to teaching...I have a great group of kids, and I think it's going to be a good year. Hallie is adjusting a little more to daycare every day. Jonathan takes her in the mornings, and she's not so keen on the idea at that point, but it doesn't take her long to start playing with the other two kids her age!

Hallie is becoming so independent! Each morning I lay her clothes out for her. The other morning, she did not approve of my choice and let her daddy know it! She loves cleaning things up, reading, and just playing in general. She enjoys pretending to feed her animals, Mommy, and Daddy. It is really cute to watch! She is mastering several words now, too. But, she is also having some tantrums when she feels she isn't being understood. It's not fun. Mommy and Daddy are reading Happiest Toddler on the Block (Dr. Harvey Karp), and we are already seeing a difference. We really liked the techniques in Happiest Baby on the Block and thought we'd give the second one a chance. I only wish I had read it before now! :o)

Below are some pictures from the past couple of weeks. Grammy, Ra-Ra, and Uncle Jeremy joined us Labor Day for some hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill. Hallie was SO excited to get to go swimming--we haven't been in a long time. She loves the water so much! And Hallie loves playing with her blocks. She's wearing one shoe...she loves wearing Mommy's shoes!

Playing with Uncle Jeremy

Hallie loves her blocks!

Knocking over the tower! So much fun!