Weekend and Claire video

The Saturday before last, Chris and I decided to drive to Woodland Park a city about 25 minutes away in the mountains. We are so glad we did. Not only was the drive beautiful, but we found a fantastic Mexican restaurant that is worth the drive. I love living in such a beautiful place. It is so relaxing that I have these views so close by.
Driving back home
Hallie liked the mild salsa. Dad and Mom LOVED the hot!
Daddy and Clairey before we left on our adventure
Pretty Hallie in the car


I also want to share a photo from a different day. Poor Clairey. Hallie had been playing with her and wore her out. She fell asleep in her bouncer with a toy still on her head.


And finally, not a lot of you get a chance to see Claire's personality because you are so far away. It really is so sad that you can't see her sweet disposition at this age. She'll only be a baby for such a short time. Here is a little video that captures her amazing smile.

Sunday Dresses

four months old

I can't believe that another month has passed. Here I am again looking at pictures of my gorgeous daughter and simultaneaously rejoicing that those rough newborn nights are gone while lamenting the fact that she is growing so fast. Claire is incredible. She lives up to the meaning of her name: clear and bright. She doesn't need swaddling anymore, she has started sucking her thumb, and is sleeping through most nights. She likes biting her hands and feet and trying to chew on her large green plastic key. She is almost always smiling and continues to laugh with a funny grunting sound. She puts herself to sleep quickly at both nap time and night time. She loves to look at herself in her crib mirror and thinks it is hilarious if you shake your head back and forth. I continue to be struck by her big eyes-- they are one of the first things I noticed about her. I love this baby to pieces.

Little girl, full of dreams

More Hallie funnies

Hallie loves to call me "momma" and "mie-mie." She is really clever with switching sounds around. She loves to change the sound of words. Remember the "apples and bananas" song? I like to eat, eat, eat ipples and bienienies. That is what she does. Although to my knowledge she has never heard the song. She likes to do it with our family names. For example: Daddy, Mommy, Hallie, and Clairey are called "Deedee, Mimi, Heely, and Cleery." Which is where I think she got "mie-mie" from. And it just stuck.

Also, she has a funny perception of time. She keeps describing things as if she is going to grow younger and not older. For example, she tells me when she "gets little like Claire, then she can have a pacifier." And no, she has not read F. Scott Fitgerald's short story "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" or seen the Brad Pitt movie for that matter.

The Master

Here's our master bedroom. Chris and I love the blues and greys so far. It reminds us of the sea. Even though we love our mountains of Colorado-- we miss the Pacific Ocean and this is our nod to it. I cannot wait to paint the walls a light grey blue.

I edited these photos of us through the years in photoshop and then printed them on 12 by 12 photo paper at Costco. I lowered the saturation on the photos to give them a more timeless quality. I also thought it complimented the blue and grey tones of the room better. When I first told Chris to try the "H" in the middle, he thought I was slightly crazy. But, he didn't say a thing, gave it a try, and loved it!

I look forward to white base boards and window frames.

We still need fancy towels and hand towels for the towel bar under our wedding photo. We have been looking for two months but haven't found something right yet. So for now, just look at my plain white bath towel (it is nice and fluffy though).

I would love to pick out a new light fixture eventually. And I like how the bathroom cabinets are done here (on a great decorating blog).

The color on the walls of the Restoration Hardware photo is called seafoam-- I think it would be great for the bedroom. I also love the framed white wood treatment on the bottom. It might be a bit ambitious for me so far though.

The Girls' Room

This is our little girls' room as it currently stands. Chris and I have dreams of lavender walls (possibly striped) and we will paint the baseboards and the door and window frames a bright white semi-gloss. I've also considered doing a bead board treatment on the bottom half. I am going to start to build a portfolio of ideas and then we'll see how the room transforms from there.

About Hallie

Hallie eats a sandwich (any sandwich-- turkey and cheese, hamburger, s'more) by taking it apart and eating it piece by piece. She seems to have an aversion to biting into all those layers!

Any time the sun is up, Hallie calls "morning." We can't convince her that morning is only when she gets up. We tried to tell her that morning is just around breakfast time and the rest is "daytime." Then she just started calling everything "morning-daytime."

Hallie had a bad dream about owls at my parent's house a couple months ago and she can't stop talking about it. What's worse-- they were "yellow owls" and one had an "orange hot dog nose." I don't repeat the details back to her but every once and awhile she will just start talking about those "scary yellow owls."


Hallie used to say "to-meyer" for "tomorrow." We got such a kick out of it that we actually miss the mispronunciation.

Hal loves The Lion King recently. She loves to talk about "Simba and Nala and Mufasa and Scarf." That's right-- she says "Scarf" instead of "Scar." Chris started playing the soundtrack and Hallie is in heaven. She sings along with all the songs and then dances and acts out the orchestral part. Seriously, she will scream and then say "Aaaah! Simba! RUN!!!!!" Or say "watch out-- the hyeenas!" I love how she sings "Hakuna Matata." "A-coon-a nah-ta-ta! It's our probrem fwee philiso-pee! A-coon-a nah-ta-ta!"

When we took Hallie to the temple in Vernal, she told me in a very dreamy voice "I'm going to get married in the temple just like you, Mommy!"

We've reached the stage in life where we have to spell everything in front of her. She has ears like a hawk and can remember anything you say as long as she lives.

She is already very thoughtful of her sister's needs and always finds a way to include her in what we do.

lucky

Just feeling lucky to have the kids I do, and the spouse I do, as well as the network of family and friends that I have. I'm also really grateful for something real to have faith in. This picture of her reminded me of all that.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Today my parents celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary!


Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! It was so great while growing up knowing that my parents loved each other and would be together forever. Thanks for the great example you set Mom and Dad. We love you!

Dan and Jessica's Visit

We were so excited to host our first visitor's to the new house. Dan, Jessica, and little Danny stayed with us for several days while they were in town recently and it was so fun to have them. Danny and Hallie got along very well. Hallie was good about sharing her toys and Danny was so patient when Hallie bossed him around. One of Hallie's new favorite movies is the Disney cartoon, Robin Hood. I heard her tell him "Danny, you are a boy and so you are Robin Hood and I am a girl so I am Maid Marion." Throughout the week, Hallie would frequently say "Come here Danny called Robin Hood." Danny loved to run around in the backyard and didn't mind at all that most of the toys were princesses and tea sets. What a sweet one!

Chris and I enjoyed talking with Dan and Jessica. They are devoted parents and their new little girl who comes in December will be such a fun addition to the family. Since Dan and Jess celebrate their anniversary on August 3 and Chris and I on August 4, Mom watched our babies for us on August 5 and paid for us to go on a nice joint anniversary date. We went to Castaways a pirate-themed restaurant in Manitou. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was great.

Some other fun things we did during their stay: a picnic at the zoo, the Focus on the Family Center, and of course lots of eating and window shopping!

Thanks for coming to stay with us Dan, Jessica, and Danny!

before our big night out
Dan and Jess at Castaways

Danny relaxes after lots of play

Danny and Jess at Focus on the Family

Family Reunion

This past weekend, Mom Hinkson threw a Vincent family reunion for her siblings and their families. It was a great way to honor their parents Herbert and Phillis Vincent. We congregated at one of our favorite city parks. It was filled with pine trees and just perfect if you ask me. We had a nice, shady picnic spot and it was near a huge grassy meadow as well as a playground for the kids to play on. I was happy because I got to meet family members that I had never met in our eight years married. I am really proud of Mom for organizing this. It was definitely a big success and I know her parents would be so proud of her.