Project 365 (20/365)

Today we went shopping with Aunt Ca-Ca. We had to go to Joanns for fabric and paint, and then we went to the mall to get Haley a new pair of earrings since she lost the back to hers yesterday. After paying $5 to rent a "car stroller" because we thought it would be fun (when I had a perfectly good one in the car) we decided we should spend at least more than 5 minutes in the mall. So we went shoe shopping. Haley and I got matching Jordans...we're so cute :)

Project 365 (19/365)

Today Brian spent the day putting flooring in the utility room. While he did that I took Haley to Pop-Pop's house to visit with everyone. While Haley took her nap, I worked out in the backyard trying to organize the sheds. After Brian finally finished the floor we all went outside to play.

Project 365 (18/365)

Today we went to Hunsader Farm for the pumpkin festival. I've never been before but have heard good things about it. One problem though, it was HOT! I mean real hot. I know I live in Florida, but we were only out there for a couple hours, and we all got sunburned! No, I didn't think to put sunscreen on my daughter during the last week of October. Other than that, it would have been fun. When we left there we went to Mike and Jessica's house (they came to the festival with us) and played around on the go-kart. After that, we all came to our house, Brian and Mike finished the water heater, the girls went swimming (again, last week of October here) and watched movies, while me and Jess went to Wal-mart and Target for some Halloween shopping. It was a LOOOONG day!

HOT!

                                      

This is me, as a chicken :)

Project 365 (17/365)

We spent most of the day working around the house. We also decided to buy a tankless-water heater...pretty cool. So our friends Mike and Jessica came over with their kids. The boys went to work on the water heater, the kids watched movies, and Jessica and I sewed...We've never sewn before, either of us. I just bought a machine, and learned how to thread it and whatnot. Luckily, Jessica remembered some bits and pieces from high school. Together we were pretty much able to figure HOW to make this work, mostly. We are taking a class in November, hopefully it won't be to hard to learn. Anyway, 2 hours later, here is what we came up with. It started as just being like a pocket?, but ended up as a hamster pillow...stuffed with, a plastic bag :) yay! We've decided we are good enough to make a pillowcase to use as Trick-Or-Treat bags for the kids...So I'll update about that later this week.

Project 365 (16/365)

We went to go hang out with Haley's Gramma today. Unfortunately, Gramma didn't feel too good, but we all still had a nice relaxing day...Haley and Gramma even took a little nap together. On another note, today is also Gramma and Grandpa's wedding anniversary...Happy Anniversary Janet and Shawn, we love you :)

I do apologize for the not-to-great picture from my cell phone...turns out, this was the only picture I took today.

In return-here are some of my recent favorites of Gramma and Grandpa from earlier this month.

Project 365 (15/365)

Good-bye little kitties :(

Project 365 (14/365)

Haley was in a fun mood today...we stayed in our PJ's until bible class. I had an appointment with the endocrinologist this morning (everything is looking great, finally.) Haley stayed home with Brian and had a  daddy/daughter morning. Then, Brian had an unemployment seminar (whoo-hooo) from 1-5pm so we had a mommy/daughter afternoon :)

Project 365 (13/365)

Project 365 (12/365)

Project 365 (11/365)

Project 365 (11/365)

Today we took a little break from working in the backyard (finally.) We went to Harbor Freight and $5Fashions this morning...found nothing. Then we stopped at Subway for lunch and when it was time for Haley's nap I realized we didn't have any warmer clothes she could wear to the Fall Festival so I made a solo trip to Kohls (awesome, but gave me too much time to shop without distruptions and I spent way to much money :(
When Haley woke up everyone was here and ready to go, so after a quick snack, we were out. Haley didn't get to ride any rides, but I rode one too many :) We had some french fries, funnel cake, and lots of yummy goodies. Haley played a couple games, and even won a goldfish (who is already happily in his tank.) And Haley's Gramma even bought her an icecream cone, YUMMY!

Project 365 (10/365)

Whoo hoo. Made it to day 10... Only 355 more to go :).

Halloween

Today I actually realized how close Halloween is. I'm a big Halloween fan; mainly because it means the weather is changing and the holiday season is near. I'm not sure how to feel about that this year. Even though the holidays were a complete rollercoaster last year, they were busy, my mind wad busy.
Through last year we followed the traditions of our families. Through all of our lives our parents have taught us their ways of living. Everything you learn, from brushing your hair to knowing how to love your spouse and children come from what you learned, witnessed, and experienced as a child, from your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends. These are all things everyone should be grateful for, should be thankful for, and in return teach these things, in your own way, to your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
This year we plan to start our own traditions. We aren't sure exactly what they are yet but they will be ours to follow for many years as a family. I am excited to explore and create new, while of course implementing old traditions and ideals with my own family.

Project 365 (9/365)

Project 365 (8/365)

Project 365 (Day 7/365)

No words to describe how adorable my baby girl is... :)

Project 365 (6/365)

Today Haley pee pee'd on the potty for the first time. We aren't really strict about potty training, but we like to bring the potty chair out every once in a while and let Haley get comfortable with it. Usually she just takes it apart, wears it as a hat, or uses it as a sippy cup and snack holder. But, today she actually used it for it's intended purpose! I'm sure it was a fluke, but oh well!

Project 365 (5/365)

Today we went to Plant Jump for Kiara's birthday. It's basically just a room full of giant bounce houses. We've been there before, before Haley was walking...she had much more fun this time...I think mommy had even more though :)

Project 365 (4/365)

My daughter the supermodel:

So, who's ready for an UPDATE?!?!

I had to look back to see where I left off and well, let's just say this is NOT going to be short. I will try to keep this as short as possible, and skip on most of the details, but to be honest, this will be the first time I've really had to think about what has happened over the last 11 months.


Last time I posted on here Haley was only 9 months old. Haley is now 18 months old. She weighs 24lbs and is 32inches tall. She is walking, saying about 35 or so words, sleeping VERY well, eating everything we eat, giving hugs and kisses, speaking in her alien language, enjoying being outside and everything else a normal 18 month old does :)

Then...

and now...

• My father passed away on Saturday, November 28, 2009. If you remember he was suffering from Stage 4 Glioblastoma (brain cancer). My mother passed away on early Monday, December 1, 2009. She was admitted into the hospital three weeks prior with double pneumonia. Blood clots, surgeries, blood transfusions, internal bleeding, ventilators, sedatives, a few good days, and even more bad days later that was the end.

• December was filled with funeral planning, funeral attending, cleaning, moving, lawyers, Christmas shopping, Christmas planning, and Christmas events. I was glad to stay busy!

• January was filled with more cleaning, painting, moving, and remodeling. We had a big hoo-rah for my birthday and went to dinner at Bubba Gump followed by a night of bowling.

• February is when Haley learned to crawl. Our lives changed dramatically. We spent most of the month discovering the joys of mobility, and working around the new house (we moved into my mom and dads house.)

• March was busy. Haley "mastered" crawling. We went a little overboard with Haley's first birthday party, but it was a blast and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. We went to the Strawberry Festival with Brian's family; I'd never been before. Everyone had a great time and Haley rode her very first train ride and carousel. Haley also went to her first Easter egg hunt. Unfortunately, the weather was bad and the hunt was held inside.

• In April I got a new DSL-R camera. I still haven't really had time to learn all about it yet, but it gives me something to do. We also went on a picnic at the playground on Easter for dinner. I think this may become a tradition.

• May meant water, sunshine, and the beaches for us. We enjoyed lots of sunshine and got a lot of work done on the house...The house pictures are from May, I might have some newer ones somewhere down the line.

• June: I don't remember much from June. Brian was working in Orlando so we had lots of mommy and baby time. Haley also took her first steps in June. It was out of nowhere. I remember getting up and walking to the kitchen, I look back just in time to see Haley go from leaning against the couch to taking about 10 steps to the middle of the living room...yeah, I cried a little.

• July was more typical summer activities. After taking her first steps in June, by the end of July she was practically a pro :)

• August: Being in Florida you have to expect the summers to be pretty uneventful because the weather is so painfully hot! Despite the heat we manage to spend the majority of our time outside...at the same time, there is always a day a two we don't see the light of day; we call them pajama days. Two interesting things that happened this month are that we got to go to Ft. Myers and meet a mommy friend of mine and VBS. We also "birthed" 3 new kittens...they are self-explanatory :-/

         When I was pregnant I somehow came across a group of moms who were due during the same month as me. Quite a few of us really "cliqued." Anyways, one of the mamas only lives about 4 hours from here and we decided to meet up halfway and let the kids play. Everyone thought this was weird, which sure, meeting someone off the Internet is kind of weird, add in the fact the common factor in the equation is children = clearly a child abductor! But I was confident that one of my "best-friends" was in fact NOT.A.CHILD.ABDUCTOR! We went to a children's hands on museum in Ft. Myers and had a great time. After that we headed to McDonald's for lunch. It was so much fun seeing Haley playing and interacting with someone who is only 2 weeks older than her. It was a GREAT time. We actually met up with Courtney and Ada again in September when we went to Boca Raton with Brian for work.

         VBS was a blast! This was Haley's first Vacation Bible School and I am sooo excited for the years to come. We started going to my Aunt's church in February. We go on Wednesday nights for Bible Study. There is usually only 1 or 2 other kids and they basically just sing songs, learn about the bible, do crafts, have snacks and play together. Haley isn't around other kids too often and I'm rarely around other adults, so we both look forward to Wednesday night Bible class.

exploring the jungle at VBS...

Haley and her friends at VBS...

Very Pregnant kitty...

Brand new kittens...

and some pictures of the house, as promised...



• September: Things have really slowed down lately (probably why I finally have time to catch up on my blog.) At the beginning of the month we went with Brian to Boca Raton for work. Haley and I hung out with Courtney, Ada, and Akay most of the day. We were really only there for about a day and a half but it was still fun. We went to an indoor playground and a splash park. This was Haley's first time staying the night somewhere since she was about 6 months old. She is very picky about her crib (I can't even take the bumper out) and I was worried how she'd sleep. With good reason too, we left on a Monday evening, after a BBQ and swimming all day, she didn't get a nap, so I figured she would fall asleep on the 4 hour drive...did.not.happen...I figured once she had some food, a bath, pajamas and bottle, she'd be very willing to lay down and go to sleep...did.not.happen...finally, around 3am, I turned the lights off, tv off, and Haley laid down on a pillow that was on the floor and fell asleep! Luckily the hotel room was a suite, and the living room area was separate from the sleeping area, Brian had to work at 6am, since he wasn't on vacation. The rest of the trip was very smooth, Haley got a great nap the second day and was asleep by 11pm that night! I was even contemplating about coming back in a few weeks when Brian had to go back, BUT...

The next day...Brian was laid off!!! Booo! I don't know what's next for him, maybe school, or starting his own business. So far he's just been kinda hanging around the house (another reason I finally found time to blog), bonding with Haley, and trying to discover what he's interested in.

see, bonding>

Well it's pretty much the beginning of October now, So I suppose I can stop here. If anyone actually reads this whole thing...thanks :)