Blog to Book

OK--I don't have any experience in turning a blog into a book, but I found this site and I think I'm going to give it a whirl. I know there's going to come a day when I'm going to wish that I had all these wonderful memories in a book form (like when I'm too old to turn on a computer...or maybe even before). I've decided I'm going to break the books down into years. If any of you out there have actually done this, please let me know how it turned out! I'm eager to know.

Like I said, if any of you have done this, please share with the rest of us! How did you do it? What site did you use?!

Hopefully I can share my opinion soon! :o)

http://blogger.sharedbook.com

Spring is HERE!

We love Spring time! It means beautiful weather--not too hot, not too cold. We can collect a few bugs. Snap a few pictures. Ride scooters, dance in the driveway AND walk around barefoot. :o)

Collecting bugs

Riding the scooter Hallie got for her 3rd birthday!

"Smile Hallie," says Mommy. This is what I got! HA!

But then I got THIS!! :o)

Dancing. HA!

We visited Baylor University today to get Hallie a Baylor t-shirt! We have to support them tomorrow afternoon in the Elite Eight! Sic 'em Bears!

My loves!

This picture just reminds me of how quickly time is going to pass with Hallie...before long she might be walking on this sidewalk (in front of the student center) as a college freshman. OR perhaps she'll be at Auburn! :o) Either way, I've gotta treasure these moments with her!

Some Favorites

I posted all the pictures from our Spring Break trip on a previous post, but I wanted to post a few of my most favorite pictures. :o)

Hallie and Abby on the "bouncy" plane. They had SO much fun!

Hallie playing outside with her sidekick, Cantaloupe.

Cousins!

Hallie, Abby, Nora

Gus-Gus

I love this face! :o)

Ice-Cream! We Scream!

Sweet Cousins!

It was hard to get a picture of all three girls...HG does NOT like getting her picture taken!

Nonna & Pop with their sweet Hallie

Spring Break in Pictures! :o)

We had a blast in Alabama...Hallie loves playing with Abby and Hattie Grace. Our visit was a wonderfully relaxing visit. I only wish we had all the time in the world to visit with friends and family. Honestly, the time is never, ever long enough! We can't wait to get back there this summer (hopefully)!

Hallie is THREE!

For Hallie's actual birthday (March 2), we (Jonathan, me, Nonna & Pop) took Hallie to Cheddar's. This is probably her favorite restaurant (other than CFA). After supper, we headed home to enjoy some presents and a wonderful cookie cake from The Great American Cookie Company--YUM! :o) It still baffles me that three years have flown past us. Hallie is slowly moving from a toddler to a little girl...but I'm definitely going to hang onto these toddler years as long as I possibly can!

A Jumping Good Time!

Finally! A post about Hallie's birthday party (I mean, it was only 3 weeks ago--ha)! :o)

Hallie's 3rd birthday party was a blast! She had the best time with her little friends. It was very heart-breaking (and exciting, too) to see her so independent with her friends. Usually, she wants me to jump and play...but she didn't need me at all. ::sniff sniff:: She is definitely growing up. We love her little personality and independence. She is a MESS!

Thanks to everyone who helped make Hallie's 3rd birthday a VERY special day! :o)

If you'd like to see all the images, simply click "See All Images". A new page will open and you can view the pictures in a bigger size. :o)

Spring Break in Alabama!

So...my plan for my Spring Break was to catch up the blog. Mainly, I wanted to upload pictures from Hallie's birthday party. However, that's absolutely impossible to do when the memory card that houses all of those pictures is in my laptop; and my laptop is in Texas. Sooooo...yeah, no pictures until I return. It makes me sad because I really wanted to have the blog caught up, but that's OK. :o)

My parents were visiting the week of Hallie's birthday and we had an absolute blast. Hallie's birthday party was fantastic--she had several little friends there and they just had a ball playing and jumping! We took Hallie to eat at her favorite restaurant (other than Chick-fil-A), Cheddar's, and then had a cookie cake at home. The rest of the week was spent with Hallie saying, "I'm ready to go to Alabama. I want to go to Nonna and Pop's house." Finally, the day arrived for us to head to Alabama. We left a sad Daddy behind--he's going to miss his girls. He already does, I'm sure! The trip to Alabama was a long one. We left at 8 am and arrived at my parents' house around 1 am. Sigh! We made lots of stops to let a certain little girl stretch and take potty breaks. It was during one of those stops that I realized I had left my memory card at home. We had stopped at the welcome center in Mississippi--right on the Mississippi River and it was GORGEOUS outside. It was during the "golden hour" of photography and I was super excited to take some pictures of Hallie with my new camera. However, all that was shot down upon my realization. My dad didn't even have an extra memory card. Needless to say, another was purchased as soon as possible! Overall, though, she did great to be riding straight through. I must admit that I'm extremely glad to be flying back on Saturday, though! :o)

Hallie has loved being able to play with her cousins, Abby and Hattie Grace. They're all pretty cute running after each other. Abby is in school this week, but hopefully Hallie will get to see her as soon as school is out each afternoon. We all went to the park earlier today and the kids had a blast!

So far it has been a wonderfully relaxing Spring Break! Today while Hallie was napping, I grabbed my book and headed outside. It was glorious! The weather was perfect...in the low 70s! And while the weather is supposed to be yucky the rest of the week, I soaked in the sunshine and beautiful weather today! :o)

Dear Hallie

My sweet, sweet little princess. Today is your birthday. You are three! I cannot believe we have been blessed with you for three wonderful years. How happy you make Daddy and me! He and I think you are something pretty special! I love birthdays...but celebrating YOU is even more special than my own! :o)

I think you have had a pretty special birthday. When you woke up, Nonna and Pop took you to IHOP for a wonderful birthday breakfast. Then you stopped by Mommy's school to shop at the Book Fair. After a quick nap, you headed to ballet...and then to Toys R Us. We finished your birthday with dinner at Cheddar's (yum!) and presents and a cookie cake at home.

I want to take just a minute and thank you for being you--thank you for your innocent giggles and your sweet smile. Thank you for coming back to give me a second or third hug when you're leaving with someone else besides me. That simply warms my heart and fills my love tank to overflowing! Thank you for all the things you say and all the silly songs you sing. My favorite by far is "This is hot, this is hot; don't touch something, this is hot" while holding the candle lighter. lol. You definitely keep us on our toes! I love your sweet voice...I love your sweet toddler lisp. And I know that one day I will miss it. I love that you say you are "bee" instead of "three". Thank you for having your very own unique personality that is part me, part Daddy, and then a whole bunch of sassy you all rolled into one. It is refreshing! And thank you for being an active learner even when we think you're not paying attention.

Your voice has to be one of my most favorite things right now...and I love (most of the time anyway) how much you talk to me. :o) Just the other day when we were driving home, you noticed how blue the sky was. You said, "Mommy, do you see the pretty sky?" When I said I did you replied, "It's so pretty. God made that sky." I pray that you will continue to grow in the Lord and will one day realize the sacrifice He made for you. We pray for your heart every night, sweet girl...along with thanking God for Nonna, Pop, Gramps, RahRah, "people, somebody" and a whole list of people you love! You always say, "Mommy, Daddy, Hallie" just to make sure Daddy addressed us. I'm so thankful that you are learning early to have a thankful heart!

Here's a little "Hallie List":

*You weigh just a little more than 30 pounds and are wearing 3T shirts and 2T/3T bottoms.

*You are completely "potty trained". One weekend in January, you decided you wanted to make a potty chart. We never looked back and you've been using the potty ever since! Way to go! While it makes me a little sad that you're growing up, we are incredibly proud of this milestone (and the few dollars it will save us each month). :o)

*I have completely lost count of your words/phrases...you can say almost anything you want. You speak in complete, grammatically correct (for the most part) sentences all the time...except when you want milk. Then you just simply scream "MILK!" at me. lol. And every single time I say, "Hallie, I need you to ask for your milk in a big girl voice." And you comply. ;o)

*You are constantly amazing us with your vocabulary...at supper tonight, you and Daddy were looking at the fish. All the fish were at the bottom of the tank. Daddy asked you why you thought they were down there. You thought for a second and said, "Um, I bet they're shy."

*You are a sweet girl and you're learning to share quite nicely--this makes Mommy and Daddy very happy!

*You love Chick-fil-A (and so does Mommy). You also trade in your book/prize for ice cream all by yourself. You say, "I'd like ice cream, please." Then you tell them you'd like it in a cone. And when they hand it to you, you say, "Thank you." And while you're walking back to me (b/c I'm watching the whole time), you have a great sense of accomplish written across your sweet face.

*I learned that I could trust you just last week--you wanted to slide on the playground at Chick-fil-A one more time. So we talked about doing so and then coming straight out so we could go home...I talked about how I wanted to trust you to obey. You surprised RahRah and me by going in, sliding, and walking straight out to go home. We were (and still are) VERY proud of you. You were pretty proud of yourself, too. :o)

*You can still throw one heck of a fit if you don't get your way...the fit is usually accompanied with tiredness and hunger. :o)

*You're a pretty good eater, but really usually eat only two meals a day. You love pancakes and bacon, anything with flavor (think spicy!), hotdogs, chicken, grilled cheese, yogurt, "Princess soup" (chicken noodle soup), spaghetti, green beans, and broccoli. I know there are tons of things you like that I didn't list...your new favorite thing is "Spicy Water" (Sprite/Sierra Mist). Ha! I'm just glad you like to eat b/c at one point I wasn't sure you ever would! :o)

*You take one nap a day that lasts for a glorious 2-3 hours.

*You love to pick out your own clothes and are pretty stinking good at it...you just don't always choose season appropriate things. :o)

*You still love taking ballet and are extremely good at it. You follow your teacher's directions and listen well. It's breath-taking to watch you dance. I really do hope you continue to take ballet as you get older.

*You love to read--we read three books each night...I know you'd read 20 books if we'd let you!

I know there are a million other things I could write about you, my sweet girl. I am so blessed to know you, to love you, and to have you love me. Daddy and I are much better people because of you! God knew exactly what we needed in our life!

Happy 3rd birthday, Hallie! We love you very much!!