Happy 1st Birthday Cousin Mallory!

Cousin Mallory turned one on January 17! Uncle Ben and Auntie Kelsey came up for the weekend and we spent the whole day celebrating! We started the day out with a late breakfast/lunch, presents, some bowling, and cake! (Kind of crazy to think that Mallory and Haleigh were due 2 weeks apart and Haleigh's birthday isn't until March!)

There was an owl theme to the party...isn't this so cute!

 Helping Mallory open her presents

 All the cousins were interested in Mallory's new gifts!

Grandpa built a doghouse for Annaliese's dog Lucy...and Haleigh loved it!

 At the bowling alley

January...where did the time go?

I realized that I hadn't written a post in quite some time, so this will be a bit of a review of the month of January. This past month has been full of changes and overall, they have definitely been good for our family. Kyle quit his job early in the month so he has been around much more! We've been able to go to church together (when we aren't sick,) I've been able to run sans stroller, and Kyle has had lots of bonding time with the girls! 

So now for a few pictures of some of the fun we've been having!

I think this may have actually been towards the end of December...Kim, Thane and I took Elias and Annaliese up to the Mt. Baker Ski Area to go sledding. It took us all morning to pack up and get up there and the kids lasted for about 15 minutes in the snow! But it was a beautiful drive and a lot of fun!

Annaliese didn't really think it was that funny to get a bunch of snow in her face at the end of our sledding run!

Here's a few from around the house, just hanging out at home.

 It's pretty exhausting learning how to crawl!

 Watching something on t.v. (probably Daniel Tiger)

Eating lunch with Tigger and Cat.

 Checking out the play area at the mall while Daddy got a foot massage

 My running buddy!

Evidence that the sun does shine in Washington!

 A cute picture I came across of Annaliese and Elias

 We went out to Birch Bay for a look at the ocean

 Family selfie:)

The view of Mt. Baker from our backyard!

10 Months!

And just like that another month has gone by! With each passing day, Haleigh is becoming more and more of a little person with her own personality, her own wants, and her own ability to play and interact with us. It is so fun to watch!

Sleeping: Haleigh goes to bed around 7:00 and has started waking up about 7:15. I usually find her sitting up in her crib when I go in to get her and I'm greeted with a big smile! There have been a few nights within the last week that she's woken up around 2:30, but a few minutes of cuddling is all it takes to go right back to sleep again.
    She normally takes 2 naps, one around 9:00 lasting about 1 1/2 hours and another one around 1:00. This one can last anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 1/2 hours!

Eating: This girl loves to eat! She prefers finger foods and will grab at the spoon when we try to feed her. This means that most of our meals are quite messy! She is picky about her bananas...they can't have even the slightest amount of green on them or she will spit them out! She also wasn't a fan of tuna fish. Haleigh also still takes a bottle of formula several times a day with between 4 and 6 ounces of milk. (It depends on when she last ate solid food as to how much I decide to give her...but giving her less milk after a big meal=less spitting up! I know, what a concept!)

Developing that fine motor control!

Clothing: With the exception of 1 or 2 outfits, Haleigh is wearing 12 month clothes and they fit perfectly!

Teeth: We have 7 teeth...3 on the top and 4 on the bottom. We had 4 of them come in at once...which made for a rough few days. There was an absurd amount of drooling that happened and the poor peanut was definitely uncomfortable!

Activities: Haleigh loves to be around us and as long as we are nearby, is content to sit and play by herself. She likes to pick up her toys and place them in a basket/bucket/pile and then move them back again. Most things end up in her mouth:) She also likes to jump in her bouncy seat and play with my hair. Bathtime is always a good time and she loves getting kisses and being tickled under her armpits!
     She dislikes having her diaper changed, running in the stroller, Annaliese taking her toys away (Annaliese always decides it's time to clean-up whenever Haleigh seems to be having too much fun with something!), and sitting in her highchair when the food isn't quite ready yet.

Haleigh isn't crawling yet, but she will either scoot herself or roll to get where she wants to be. Annaliese is also quite helpful in dragging Haleigh to where she needs to be...or to where Annaliese thinks she needs to be:) Thankfully, Haleigh is a pretty good sport and puts up with Annaliese's shenanigans most of the time!

She babbles all the time and will occasionally say things like "uh-oh" when she drops something. She has a lot of inflection in her voice already and gets very excited and laughs a lot! She has a pretty adorable giggle! 

Swimming in January!

Auntie Kim and Uncle Thane invited us to go swimming yesterday. They know someone who knows someone who has a nice indoor pool and they invited us over to swim. I planned on taking Annaliese to meet up with them, thinking it would be good to get her in the water again to refresh her swimming skills and Kyle and Haleigh decided to join us as well. 

The pool area was beautiful and there were a lot of floaty toys and slides for everyone to play with. However, Annaliese and Elias seemed to be most content just sitting on the top step. In fact, I couldn't get Annaliese to swim at all! We tried practicing her starfish and she hung on to us for dear life...there was no evidence at all of her having ever taken swimming lessons:( 

 Annaliese was not having fun in the water!

 Eventually Elias made it onto one of the floats, but it was hard to tell if he was enjoying himself or not!

Annaliese preferred to stay on the edge of the pool, either wrapped up in her towel or throwing a ball into the water to Auntie Kim or Daddy. Haleigh was pretty content just taking it all in!

While I was washing all the towels and putting our swimsuits away, Annaliese and I had this conversation...it sums up the experience perfectly!

   Annaliese: "Mom, why did we go swimming?"

   Me: "Well, we thought it would be fun for you and Elias."

   Annaliese, " Well, that didn't work." 

(Sorry for the poor quality pictures on this one...they are off of my phone!)