giggles

My 28th Birthday!

I had a fantastic birthday at the beginning of January that I've been too busy to blog about. The funny thing about turning 28 is that about halfway through last year I honestly forgot how old I was and told people I was "28" when they asked. One day I finally did the math and realized I was 27 and had wasted six months telling the wrong age! So, now that I am 28, I am sort of used to it already! To me the late twenties are just plain fantastic. My early twenties were definitely a sweet time of bliss and love for Chris and I. But in some ways, I was so eager to finish my degree and so excited to start our family that they were a little rushed. But my late twenties are a great time because I know myself better and I am more comfortable in life. I think the thirties will be even better. But I know these will always be special years in my life because they were the years when my children were babies.

My birthday this year was, as usual, spread out into several fun days. (I am spoiled, I know).

On Saturday, Mom H. watched our girls so Chris and I could have a super date. We first went shopping at one of my favorite home decorating stores (Real Deals) where I picked out some cute Valentine's Day decorations and purchased a heavily clearanced nativity set. Next up, we parked downtown and enjoyed the architecture and atmosphere while we walked hand in hand. We went to my favorite local bookstore, Poor Richard's. For lunch, we had the tastiest hamburgers at Giuseppe's Old Depot Restaurant, a renovated Denver-Rio Grande railway station, where we watched four trains roll by. After lunch, we went to the Pioneer Museum to look at the exhibits. We love that old buidling and the cool artifiacts and art within it. We also stopped by Montaque's Parlour, a tea shop at the edge of downtown. Chris ordered a chocolate pastry and I had cinnamon cardamom herbal tea.

That night, two of my girlfriends (Chris and Melissa) and I went out to eat at The Elephant Bar. I love that restaurant! We talked and laughed and then went to Chris' house and talked some more. It was a blast.

On Sunday, Mom H. made me my birthday dinner. I can't even begin to tell you the deliciousness of her chile rellenos. I love them so much, I could eat a pan right now! We chowed down on her amazing meal and had birthday cake and lots of fun.





On Monday, my real birthday, Chris surprised me with the day off work! I slept in, took a bubble bath, then dined on my traditional birthday breakfast of Krispie Kream donuts. Then, we went shopping and had lunch at Red Robin where I had a free burger and ice cream because it was my birthday. Hallie ate my birthday ice cream because I was saving up to go to Cold Stone for my free birthday ice cream (sign up online for birthday clubs to both locations). In the afternoon, I worked and then in the evening we went shopping again at Target. At the close of the night, I opened my gifts. It was a fun, sweet, family day.

I have so many blessings in my life. But my greatest blessings are the people I share it with. I am so thankful for the family I grew up in, married into, and am currently raising. I have incredible friends back home and new, fun friends in Colorado. All these people are the greatest birthday presents I could have.

Hallie's "Pink Princess" Room

I am so excited about Hallie's new bedroom. So much so, I am posting photos before I have even put up the curtains.

You can see from the photos that she is quite pleased. She kept spinning on her bed and saying "Oh, thank you so much!" Chris and I are thrilled with how it turned out-- particularly me. I think it reflects her personality perfectly. It's both sweet and vibrant at the same time. I think it will be a place that can inspire her to dream. Because, honestly, that is what it is doing for me so far! We still need a bed skirt (we want it done in white matelasse). And we need to hang the curtains and new blinds. I also forgot to take pictures of the word "dream" above her closet door. This was a really fun, creative project for Chris and I to work on together. It was great to bounce ideas off each other and then turn them into reality. Chris is the one who found the bedspread that looked like what I kept picturing in my head. He is also the one that spent the most hours painting the Pottery Barn pink and perfecting the white trim. I taped and painted the stripes on the main wall using a color I mixed myself. We created the faux canopy by painting a basket we had and hot gluing old IKEA curtains to the inside. Then, we screwed it to the wall. We did a similar treatment in our studio apartment when we were first married. I put scrapbook paper in picture frames to repeat our pink stripes and black checked patterns. Then, I used ribbon and more scrapbook paper to reinforce the theme again on her bulletin board. Hallie picked out each picture for it herself. The side table is the one I had growing up, Chris painted it last year for me. Everything in this room (except the wall paint and bedspread) were either heavily clearanced or re-used from other rooms we've done before. Thank goodness for paint! We hope you enjoy her sweet room as much as we do! Updated pictures with curtains to come soon.

Hallie's Pinkalicious Day!

It is no surprise that Hallie loves reading. She has her books memorized. It is straight fact that Goodnight Moon was memorized at eighteen months. She often quotes lines from her literature to me. For example, if she ever falls down she says "I trip! I slip! The tray does a double flip!" These lines are from Fancy Nancy. (Of course she normally finishes the rest of the book from memory, but I will leave you with just these lines).

One of Hallie's most-cherished heroines is the title character from Pinkalicious. Pinkalicious, as you might deduce, loves all things pink. Hallie likes to run lines from the book as if we are doing a play. She'll tell me "Mommy, say 'What color do you want?'" (Pinkalicious' mother says the same thing). Then Hallie will enthusiastically respond "Pink!" and smiles "Pink, pink, PINK!"

Today, Hallie had a Pinkalicious day. She made Pinkalicious cupcakes, had her finger and toenails painted pink, wore a pink dress with "pinktails" (pig tails), and officially started life in her new pink bedroom. It was Pink-a-tastic!

nine months old

I can't believe that Claire has been alive for as long as I was pregnant with her. Last week, Claire turned nine months old! I can't tell you how much I love my little "lovey baby." She is just a ball of cuddles and giggles this month. Hallie and Daddy have her laughing all the time. She still loves to be held and loves to snuggle. She can do hand motions to several songs. She even recognizes if she is doing the wrong signal and will self-correct it. It looks like she is holding up to the French meaning of Claire, "smart girl." Clairey still has the craziest hair on the planet. Now that more is growing in, it looks a little darker. She holds her own bottles now and I think she prefers it that way because she will pull it out and think about life, and then smack it back in when she is in the mood for some more. She laughs at toys that have flashing lights and loves to snuggle baby doll toys. Her crib is filled with her current favorites: her "my first baby," glow worm, elmo, cookie monster, and a new brown-haired soft dolly (pictured below). I let her play with it at the store the other day and because she was laughing so much with it, I just couldn't go home without it. I cried to Chris the other night about how fast Claire is growing up. I think eight and nine months is my favorite baby stage. They can laugh and try to be social, but they still are cuddly little babes. In ways I want her to stay this age forever! I like that both my girls wait to crawl around. It preserves their baby status just a little bit longer. Happy nine months, Clarinet!

John's visit

We were so thrilled last week when John called and said he booked a flight to see us. On Saturday night, I picked him up from the airport. On the way home, we dined on burgers at Culver's and shared an ice cream. The greatest thing about having John is that he is a.) enthusiatic and b.) gracious. He acted like we had the best house in the world and that we lived in the best city in the world. Of course we firmly believe both but it is great to hear it from someone else. On Sunday, Hallie was sick so Daddy stayed home with her while John and I went to sacrament meeting at church. Afterward, I drove him through Palmer Park.

John requested our family tradition for lunch-- tacos (just like Grandma Skaggs makes). We talked and played with the kids. Uncle John even wore Belle's dress for a second and played with the prince while Hallie played princesses.

After the girls napped, we packed in the car and drove through The Garden of the Gods.

The following day we did a little window shopping, took John out to Chinese, Hallie opened her Christmas present from John, and Chris, Hallie, and John went to the zoo.

We had such a great time with Uncle John. We love him and appreciate his thoughtfulness.