I'm still here....

Just having lots and lots of fun in California with my family. We've been going going going kind of non stop. Hallie is in HEAVEN with her cousin Owen and my sister Elizabeth at her beckon call. I'm staying at Mimi's house while I'm here, but Hallie wants to stay at Nana's house every night... so she does! I haven't seen much of her since we've been here because even when she is technically "with me" she's off playing with Owen and doesn't really have much to do with me. I kind of miss her to be honest. :) But I'm glad that she's having so much fun. Chase has been not the most pleasant person since we've been here. I assume it's the teething. Anyways, we're here. Still alive. Now I'm going to go hit the mall.

Dear Hallie,

Hallie's birth announcement (I know, cheesy saying, but they were free at kiddy kandids)

Hallie's first birthday

Second birthday

third birthday

Happy Birthday (2 days ago) little girl! I can't believe that you are already three. Mainly because you act more like you're 12. :) We had such a fun day on Monday singing Happy Birthday to you, opening your birthday presents, and playing your fun new game. I can't really help but think about the day you were born...that was the longest day of my life. I thought you would never come, but when you finally did I could not believe how beautiful you were. All the nurses were bringing in other nurses all day long to show them this gorgeous baby that had been born. Even the lady who took pictures of all the newborn babies in the hospital took WAY more pictures than she needed to because she thought you were so pretty.

Since then we've been through a lot together little girl. You were born in Idaho Falls, Idaho and by the time you were 4 weeks old had spent time in Utah, California, and moved with Daddy and I to Hawaii for his last semester of school. I spent the first year of your life doing ANYTHING to try to get you to sleep like a normal baby, I don't think your Dad and I have ever been that sleep deprived in our lives. It didn't matter though, because we adored you to no end.

After Hawaii we moved back to California and lived there until you turned two. You had (and still have) and uncanny ability to get everyone around you to fall in love with you. Everyone absolutely adored you and you were spoiled rotten by aunts, uncles, grandmas, great grandmas, my cousins, my friends, pretty much everyone who met you. And you loved every minute of it.

After we had been in California for about a year there were a lot of things that happened all at once. We found out Daddy had been accepted into the Airforce as an officer, I got pregnant with your brother Chase, and we got ready to send Daddy away for 3 months for officer training school in Alabama. That left just the two of us and you kept me sane while he was gone for so long. When I would go to bed at night I would get you out of your crib and bring you into bed to sleep with me so I didn't have to be alone. I felt safer with you there for some reason.

About two weeks after Chase was born we moved to Florida for a year of training. You have absolutely loved it here. You made so many good friends, absolutely LOVED spending all of your time at the beach, and become such a good big sister. Chase absolutely adores you and follows you around everywhere you go. You're so patient with him and that makes me so happy. Now we're getting ready to make another big move (so many moves in such a short amount of life), but we're not worried about you. You love everywhere we go and make friends so fast that we know you'll love Germany just like you've loved Florida.

You are such a smart girl Hallie, actually I've never known a 3 year old as smart as you are. I'm so anxious for the the next 20 years to see where you end up. I hope that you'll use your intelligence to get a good education, develop good relationships with your family, and grow close to the lord. I love you so much Hallie. You changed my life in ways I never imagined. You made me grow up, and I'm so grateful to you for that. Happy Birthday baby girl!

Parasailing....woohooo.

Matt I went parasailing yesterday....it was awesome. When Matt's grandma was here, her and Mallory went and they loved it, so she left us some money so we could go and do it to when I felt up to it. We left the kids on the beach with some of our friends for an hour and decided to go for it. It was amazing, I couldn't believe how peaceful it was up there. After we were done, we went back to the beach and spend the rest of the day there. Matt was fishing, I was laying out, the kids were playing. It's so fun how all of our friends here know that if it's a nice saturday, we can usually be found at 7th street. So there was LOTS of people there with us to hang out with and what not. Our friends Brian and Brittney brought a Kayak and Hallie loved getting to go out on it with them. Anyways, probably our last beach pics from Florida....so sad. We've loved it here. I'm leaving here on Friday to go spend 5 days with Kelsey and Eli, then home to California for a few months. We love all of the friends that we've made here, and we're so excited to see all the new friends that we can make when we get to Germany. Oh yeah, I can't WAIT to see all of my other friends that I haven't seen in so long in Cali. Anyways, here are our pics from yesterday!

This is a picture of Mexico Beach (where we live) from the parasail. Isn't it cute?

Matt and I trying to be cheesy and romantic from up in the sky...failing miserably.

Hot hubby.

That the shadow of our parasail on the ocean, I thought it was a really cool picture.

Hallie and I and the fish Matt caught. She named the fish Dori and kept it in that bucket of water all day. Poor thing was tortured for a good 3 hours before it died. Anything to entertain the kids, right?

Matt and Chase fishing. Cute boys.

Beachin It...

It cooled off enough by about 5:00 tonight that we decided to take the kids to beach and wear them out before bedtime. For once, I allowed myself to be on the receiving end of the camera. So here are some pics of me and my bebes...

Dear Breaking Dawn,

I preordered you WEEKS ago! Why have you still not arrived on my doorstep? I check outside for you 10 times a day, and still, you do not come. Don't you know that the closest bookstore to me is an hour away!??! I thought you would be here to me the day you were released. Everyone has stopped blogging because they are reading you in their spare time, and I'm so worried I'm going to go to someone's blog and they are going to tell me what happens to Bella and Edward before I can read you. Don't you know about my secret crush on Edward and how much I miss him? Please Breaking Dawn, just come, and I'll forget all this lateness ever happened....

A fun little chat with Hallie..

I was putting Hallie to bed last night and she asked me if I would hold her. She's been a little concerned about this whole surgery thing and the whole time I've just been telling her my tummy hurts and the doctor had to fix it. Well somewhere along the way, she figured out the truth. I'm still not sure how. So I wouldn't hold her, but I laid down next to her in her bed. She wiggled up close to me and kind of bumped my chest, then here's how the conversation went:
Me: Oops, be careful of my tummy hunny, don't bump it.
Hallie: Mommy, do your BOOBS hurt?
Me: Ummm, (where the heck did she learn that word) Yes Hallie, they do.
Hallie: Can I touch your boobs?
(Great, where the heck is she picking this stuff up)
Matt:Hallie, do you even know what boobs are?
Hallie: Yes, they're kind of like apples.
Matt: Do you even know WHERE boobs are?
Hallie: Yes, right there (and points to mine)
ME: Hallie, we don't say that word, don't say it any more
Hallie: Ok Mom.

I seriously don't say that word in front of her (I don't think). I don't know where she figured it out.