Fun Saturday!

This is a little late, but last Saturday we had a fun day!  Pat stopped by shortly after Lex's morning nap and we decided to go out to lunch.  He said he wanted to take us to this place in the boonies between Huntington and Wabash.  We agreed and our adventure began!

That's how we ended up here...Bozarth's Country Store!  It is out by the Salamonie Reservoir and is seriously in the middle of nowhere!  It was part of a campground and they had a little bit of everything in their store.  They also had a little grill/cafe and that's where we ate lunch. 

This was an aerial photo of the campground.  It was very nice looking, but there sure weren't many people around since it's winter!:)

Lex had fun and pooped out on the way home!

That night we went to Mom and Dad's house to celebrate Kate's 19th birthday.  Here she is with her nieces and nephews!  She is a very good auntie and they all love her so much!

We got her some cute wedges...they made her almost as tall as Bry!

Daddy and his girl!

Here's the birthday girl with her angel food cake!  The boys helped her blow out the candles and we got to enjoy the yumminess!!!

Alexis: Ten Months Old!

Our sweet baby is now TEN months old!  Only two more months until this little lady's birthday!

This picture is from the first photo shoot that I tried to do by myself.  This was the best I could do on my own!:)  She had to be holding her favorite book Pat the Bunny.

During our second attempt at a photo shoot, I had Daddy and Aunt Kate helping me and it still wasn't too easy to get a still picture of this little wiggle worm!  Ha!

 

 

Alexis, here's what you are up to this month:

• No doctor's appointment this month, but I'm guessing you are right around 20 lbs.  You seem to be fitting in your 12 month clothes pretty well now and your 9 month clothes are getting too short. 
• You wear size 3 shoes and size 4 diapers.
• You've taken as many as 3 steps at one time, but they are still pretty few and far between.  You know that crawling gets you where you want to go...and fast!
• Your only real word is still da-da.  You have said bye-bye and uh-oh once or twice, you said something for "doggy" or "Cheaney" while at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and you say "ya-ya-ya-ya-ya" all day long.  No mama yet...I'm still patiently waiting.:)
• This has been a huge month for teeth!  You now have SIX teeth...two on the top and four on the bottom.  I'm glad we're done with teething for the moment!
• You are officially done with baby food.  You decided on your own a couple of weeks ago that you didn't want anything to do with it anymore and would pretty much only eat "real" food!  You eat three meals a day and nurse 4-6 times a day.  You like most foods, but when you don't like something you claw at your mouth to get it out and you gag.;)
• You are quite possibly the most inconsistent sleeper ever!  You are really good at going to sleep, but not so good at staying asleep all the time.  You go to bed around 7:30pm and get up around 7am.  You still get up at least once and sometimes several times a night...we're going to get better at this one way or another.:)  Mommy just hates to hear you cry!  You still take a morning nap and an afternoon nap.
• You celebrated your first Valentine's Day and you got about as many gifts for it as for Christmas!:)  You have lots of people who love you!!!

Tuny girl,

 

You are such a happy, busy baby!  We read this book a lot that starts out like this: "I love you SO much and do you know why?  Your smile always lights up my day!"  I love it because it is so true.  We have started planning your first birthday party and it makes me kinda sad, but really happy also.  The last ten months have been the happiest of my life and it is because of your sweet self!  I can't wait to celebrate you with our family.  I love you SO much!:)

 

Mama (Daddy, too:)

Sisters in Spirit

These girls are some of my favorite friends! I love doing life with them!:)

We All Scream For Ice Cream!

Last night, we ran to Fort Wayne to do some birthday party browsing (wahhhhhh!!!) and we stopped at Steak and Shake for supper.  These photos are NOT very good, but I had to document her first taste of ice cream!:)  

Wearing her cute little hat

Playing cars with Daddy

Her very first bite of yummy ice cream!

Maybe she likes it?!

"Uh, Mama, do you have any more of that stuff??"

Oh, yeah...

She's a fan!!!:)

Siesta Scripture Memory Team: Verse #4

It's time for verse #4 already!  This time I chose Psalms 31:14: But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God."  Last weekend, I went to our church's women's retreat and listened to Lynne Ford speak.  She gave us rocks and invited us to write a word or phrase that the Lord seemed to be imprinting on our hearts or minds.  Mine was TRUST!  So I'm hoping that this verse will help me remember to do just that!:)  That sweet little bright-eyed girl in the picture is another great reminder to just trust in God's plan for my life.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is Lex's first Valentine's Day!  We had such a fun day.  If I loved my husband and daughter any more, I think my heart might explode!:) 

We started our day off with a visit from Grandma and the cousins!  We tried to get a cute picture of the kids, but not all of them were cooperating.  Poor sweet Lill!:)

Grandma and her girls!

When Bry came home from work, I got busy making a heart-themed meal for us.  

We even had a "fancy" table complete with plastic tablecloth, paper plates, and plastic cups!;) 

We had heart-shaped blueberry pancakes, strawberries, heart-shaped bacon, and heart-shaped toad-in-the-hole!  Yummy!

After supper, we opened gifts!  Bryan got me DeBrand's chocolate (YUM!) and a new pajama shirt from Victoria's Secret.  It is so soft and I love it!

Alexis might have gotten more gifts for Valentine's Day than for Christmas from us!:)  We got her the Jesus Calling Bible Storybook, a VeggieTales DVD, a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD, a Mickey Mouse plate and utensils, a Cinderella ball, and a Minnie Mouse Valentine's Day book. 

Alexis and I did a little art project for Daddy!  We love him so much!!!  This was the best Valentine's Day ever!:)

This Week at the Hall's

When I was working, we got an email every week with a newsletter entitled "This Week at Salamonie."  In honor of that, we have "This Week at the Hall's!"  We've had a pretty normal week around here!  The most "exciting" thing is that Alexis is working on getting THREE new teeth and she's been a little clingier than usual.  Sleep hasn't been the best, but it seems like we are on the up swing!:)  Here's some photos of what's been going on around here.

I love my dear child SO much, but she's just not much of a cuddler.  One day after her nap, Bry laid her down with me on the couch.  She stayed there for quite a while and I loved every single minute of it!:)

Bryan has gotten the joy of giving Alexis her bedtime bottle for the last several weeks.  The other night he sort of fell asleep while they were snuggling together.  My heart feels like it might burst when I see these two together!

After church on Sunday, we had to stay for a leader luncheon.  Peyton was so sweet to sit with Lex while she watched the bigger kids play with balls!

If she gets any cuter, I don't know what I'm going to do!;)

Michele and the kids came over on Monday night and Alexis was Aunt Michele's girl!  She did not want Michele to put her down at all.  When I look at this picture, I am just so happy.  I love my family so much!!!

My sweet silly girl!

Alexis loves to watch Mickey Mouse and especially likes to stand at the tv to do so!

Big Girl!

Alexis has learned how to put her arms up when we say "big girl!"  She always has the biggest smile when she does it.  We sure love our big girl!!!:)

 



Siesta Scripture Memory Team: Verse #3

How is the month of January over already?!  It flew by!  Now that it is February 1st, it is time for the third memory verse for the SSMT.  I decided to memorize Proverbs 15:1 this time around: "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."  Bryan and I are reading through the Five Love Languages together and we talked about "words of affirmation" this week.  I have come to realize lately that this has become a much more important love language to me than it used to be.  I have also realized that my words to Bryan can cause trouble as much as they can cause him to feel good about himself!  I need to work harder at thinking through the things that I say to him before I just spit them out.  Oh, Lord, I desperately need your help!