Christmas!!!!

The Holidays are always busy for us! We ping-pong back and forth between family activities cause- heaven forbid we miss anything!! We want to catch it all!! So Christmas Eve evening starts with a visit from Santa. He is always so nice to stop in the town of Hinckley amidst his travels that night....

Sister did not want a thing to do with him!!

We then venture into Grandma Joyce's for the annual Christmas Eve Moody get-together! Good food- good company.

(Shayda Mae and Dylan- loving siblings)

Dylan thinks Grandpa Rick is awesome- which he is! 

We then ventured back out to Hinckley to spend the night and wait for Santa to come....

Boxes are so much funner than the actual presents!

After a TON of good food and fun....we headed back to Cedar- Santa knew that the little Cobalt wouldn't be able to hold what Hayden wanted for Christmas; so he left it in Cedar at our house.

She loves her little kitchen.....she is quite the little homemaker!

We love Christmas and the traditions that it brings....we are so very grateful for our Savior and for the sacrifices he has made for us. We love the opportunity to celebrate his birth and cannot wait for the years to come!

Happy happy New Years everyone!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

I tried to do a cute little photo shoot with this little setup..........note to self: when you have a 20 month old......wait until you have help!

The little diva did not think it was as fun as mom thought it would be....

Boring.........

Finally a decent picture!!!

A week or so ago.... we went to get our Christmas Tree!! I took my camera and as I was snapping away I realized that I had left my SD card at home and my camera has no internal memory.....so I didn't get the cute pictures of Millie eating it in the snow and her face COVERED in the 'white stuff.' She did not think it was funny! So when we got back to the truck.... I busted out the phone to snap a few pics.

For FHE that next Monday we got to decorating!!!

And the stockings were hung by the 'plant shelf'' with care........because toddler hands would have had those pulled down in a heart beat had they actually been on our pretend mantle!

Someone was a menace during our decorating process so her dad put her in 'time-out'.......I bet ya can't guess how long that lasted!

And.....ta da.... our little tree! It turned out better than we thought it would because we had to hurry to get it cause I was working that night.

On a school note...... Colby and I are both done with our classes for a couple weeks and we ended up doing better than we thought we would this semester! We are enjoying some time off watching movies at night when we put the little one to bed instead of doing homework!! 

November November- Where hast thou gone??

November has brought........ oh gosh........ I don't know because it went by so fast!! I'll think about this....

• The first snow storm
• Charlie turned 2!
• Maddy got baptized
• Thanksgiving was DE-LISH!!!
• Another molar is raring its ugly head causing a VERY temper-mental child
• The count down to a break from school is ON!!

Yes we hate molars.... we love Thanksgiving...... and are so excited for Christmas break!

(Braden and Crystal's family when Maddy got baptized)

By golly---- this kid can CLIMB! She is constantly reaching her little legs for the next highest thing. She thought it was AWESOME when I busted out the ladder today to put a chest back on my plant shelf (no worries- I only let her go up a couple rungs).

We tried to get a 'grandkid' picture for my mom's Christmas card but Hayden WAS NOT cooperating. These two were- of course- ready for the camera! So my mom might just have to be okay with three individual shots.  

Bring on Christmas!!!

Halloween

Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,

And doesn't know where to find her;

Leave her alone, 

and she'll come home,

Wagging her tail behind her.

(Love being reunited...hugs all around!)

This Halloween hasn't consisted if ghouls and ghosts or zombies and skeletons. With little girls, it's all things FRILLY and PINK!!

(This costume is awful... This is what Charlie's face has written all over it!)

Nursery rhymes are timeless......

Happy Halloween!

nonsense

What if........ should've...... these are words that I TRY my hardest to avoid. These words have driven me to the insanity of grad school and the wonders of motherhood. No matter what I do....no matter what decisions I make- those dreadful words are inevitable. I am constantly asking myself questions like, "what if I don't get as sick with my next pregnancy..will I regret waiting to have another child until after school is done if I don't?" I make excuses for myself CONSTANTLY! For example, I really want to make family traditions like every October going to a pumpkin patch like Staheli Farms followed by a night at Thriller. I also want to host fun family Halloween parties. This year I was going to FOR SURE at least make it to a pumpkin patch--- did it happen? NO! What are my excuses? Homework, School, Work, Deer Hunt, Exhaustion, Being Sick, ect. Excuses- excuses!!! I really do want to be a good mom and do tons of fun family things- but my excuse- the obligations of life are getting in my way!!!! I keep telling myself that if we just sacrifice these few years, the next 30+ years will benefit because of the things we passed up on NOW!

Walmart pulled through for me this year.....pumpkin carving might have to wait a year or two and the AWESOME Halloween traditions might have to wait longer. But this cute little pumpkin from Walmart expresses the best of intentions of these exhausted parents. She loves this 'ball'- as she says it!  

(Her hilariously laughing faces) 

'wrangler butts drive me nuts'

Such a cute little toosh!

On to the 'hunt'.....

Colby didn't draw out- I'm the one with the tag. I really do love going camping and hiking in the mountains and looking for deer. But its hard......first off.... I am THE SLOWEST hiker (Colby gets frustrated with my huffing and puffing I'm sure)....and.... toting an 18 month old along isn't Colby's idea of hunting. So a couple of times we got a babysitter; but that can't be too often (lack of $$$$). Great friends have helped. But still the mom having the tag- isn't easy!! It was nice spending peaceful evenings enjoying the mountain air and getting some quality couple time.

But alas...... we've had no luck.

Luckily, we know that when we have to lean on others to help take care of our bug while we are away- she is in the best of care! The past few weeks I have realized the importance of great friendships and relationships. I have been so lucky to meet wonderful women through visiting teaching who have helped me in times of need. As well as awesome family willing to jump in whenever distance doesn't prohibit. Then there are those long-time friends that are always there when I need them. And of course....we are so grateful for a reliable babysitter whom we are going to be devastated to see leave at the end of this semester. 

This mom loves it when she gets called off of work and gets to spend more precious time with the ones she loves most- talking in 3rd person is so not cool- haha!

This kid opens doors......ugh....one of her favorites is the pantry. She spends time rearranging cans and boxes and brings me the bags of cereal to give her a snack. The cereal is going to have to find a new (higher) home. 

Now I really need to stop procrastinating and get this Healthcare Policy paper I have been putting off for way too long- started! Blogging is much funner......

Fall-

Well- we woke up to snow this morning. I can say with confidence that I am so not ready for it to be winter!! I love all the things winter brings- Christmas- Family- ect.- EXCEPT for the cold! I can even handle the snow- I just wish it were 75 degrees along with it!! Ha ha- I guess that isn't possible!
Along with the leaves changing, October Conference, pumpkins, and midterms, comes more milestones Millie! As of the 16th, she is now 18 months old- I say 1 1/2 cause that just seems easier to comprehend! One blessed thing that this milestone brings is NURSERY!

This ^ is how we thought nursery was going to go! But- to our surprise- she actually did really good! However, she has only been the once because we weren't at church this last week. She went to Delta to spend the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Moody while Colby and I were hunting. Needless to say- I got sick and my parents came down with it too! So- we'll see how nursery goes this next week! 

18 Month Milestones

21 lbs 12 oz 14%

32 1/2 in 73%

She is talking more and more- I'll try to think of the new words she is saying but I always remember more after I have posted!

eye- ear- mouth- nose- toes- head- hair- oatmeal- nana (banana)- shish (fish)- deer (her dad has been REALLY working on this one)- dad (finally- still no mom)- bottle (instead of baba)- shoe- horse- meow- ot ot ot (for hot hot hot)- du (duck- sounds just like she says dog so its hard to distinguish unless she is pointing)- ball (ball, balloon, pumpkin- she generalizes)- ssshhhh (she puts her finger to her mouth- I think she learned this in nursery cause she wasn't doing it before then)

Of course, she only says these things when we aren't expecting it and not when we ask her to say something. Everything is on her terms! We are still working on mom and Charlie- 

She is recognizing and following simple commands like 'go get in the bath' or 'lets go change your bum' or 'wanna go outside.' I am REALLY working on 'let's clean up your toys!' 

She is using a fork and spoon with confidence- whether or not it makes it to her mouth before falling off that is the question- but she sure is confident about it! I no longer can feed her, she has to do it herself- using utensils. Occasionally she will let me "load" her spoon or fork before she takes a bite; but that is only when she wants me too. 

She still loves pretty much all foods! She begs for banana's and eats all of her veggies before anything else. For example, I made her some mac and cheese and some green beans for lunch- I mixed them together- she picked out all of the green beans first and then proceeded to eat the pasta. Then tonight, I made homemade chicken noodle soup and she picked out all the carrots and celery and ate them first before the noodles and chicken. I really hope that these good eating habits continue! If she doesn't like something the first time I try again and again- but she really hasn't needed much coercion! It is one of my goals as a parent to not raise picky eaters because I was/am picky and I hate it and wish I could change but I don't have the willpower! Ha ha- I do feel that good eating habits are definitely a learned behavior so I want to start my kids young. Hayden always gets a veggie or fruit with every meal (except I sometimes skip breakfast and just do oatmeal). She has eaten veggies that I don't think I ever tried growing up like brussel sprouts, spaghetti squash, artichoke, tomatillos, ect. and she eats them all without flinching!

She still sleeps pretty good (when we are home- elsewhere is another story). She takes two naps still and I really don't see us dropping one for a while- she just gets so tired! She also sleeps 12 hours at night sometimes she pushes 13! This is a great thing cause her mama needs her sleep and needs time to do homework in the evenings I don't work!!

The only complaint I have about this munchkin is when teething comes around!! It takes about 3 WEEKS for ONE stinking tooth to come through and she is a TERROR through the whole process! She still only has 9 so we have a while to go before we're done! Ugh!

Shifting gears......

I am my ward's Activity Day leader! It was a calling that I was nervous about but have enjoyed! This month I was only able to get one activity because I was the only leader (I now have help) and I have been pretty busy working and with school! So this week I took the girls on a Cemetery Scavenger Hunt!! It seemed fitting around Halloween time and I wanted to expose the girls to a family history avenue! My friend Sasha is a cemetery/family history GENIUS- so I called upon her to help me gather facts about cemeteries! 

Hayden doesn't think Activity Days is all that fun- she is pretty clingy the ENTIRE time! Thank goodness it's just an hour!

Here is me, the girls, and my new helper Kim after our Cemetery Scavenger Hunt!

Thanks to Sasha, I was able to put together this fun little handout to guide them! The girls ended up really liking the activity and wanted to keep looking for stuff once the activity was over! I think they will have a new perspective when visiting cemeteries!