Winter Fun

This winter has been quite different from last year...it's been cold and snowy! Even with temps hovering around freezing, we have still been able to get out and have some fun! 

One day during Christmas vacation, we met Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle Thane and Auntie Kim up at the Sno-Park for some snow-shoeing. 

 Trying out the new snowshoes from Grandpa Jay and Grandma Kelley!

 Along the North Fork of the Nooksack River

Grandma and Annaliese

We woke up one morning to a light dusting of snow at our house as well. Annaliese wanted to go out and play in it so we got all bundled up and went outside! Haleigh wasn't impressed and I'm pretty sure it took us longer to get dressed than we were actually outside for!

 Making snow angels

For Christmas from Uncle Jon, Auntie Sarah, Reed, and Kieran we received a membership to the Whatcom Museum which has an area called the FIG which is designed specifically for kids. It has all kinds of fun activities so we decided to check that out one cold morning.

 'Milking' the cow

 This room had a mirror on one wall and a blank screen on the other where you could make fun shadows; the lights changed colors and the kids could also select different music to dance to. 

 Fancy magnets

More magnets

 Getting ready to play outside

22 Months!

At 22 months, Haleigh is a bundle of energy, full of smiles, and super fun to be around. She is so easy-going and puts up with a lot from Annaliese! Her personality continues to develop and she has figured out how to communicate her wants and needs without actually saying much!

Sleeping: There haven't been any changes in Haleigh's sleeping patterns. She still goes to bed between 7:00-7:30pm and sleeps through the night, waking somewhere around 7:30ish. Lately the girls have been sleeping until 7:45 which is absolutely wonderful! (There was a day last week where they didn't make it past 6:15 though.)
  Nap time happens every afternoon around 1:00 and typically lasts about 2 hours. Occasionally she will also take a short morning nap, simply because she looks so tired or will fall asleep in the car on the drive to pick up Annaliese from school (which is about 10 minutes!)
  Haleigh sleeps with her purple bunny and a cup of water and usually is asleep within minutes of laying down! She is still in her crib, although I think for safety reasons we may be close to transitioning her into a bed. Annaliese has gotten Haleigh out of the crib several times this past week. I don't know how they do it but so far it has worked out ok!

Eating: Haleigh loves to eat and she will try just about anything. However, she has been in a mood lately where she will only eat dinner if someone is feeding her. She loves to have cereal for breakfast, isn't a fan of deli meat, and wants to have what everyone else is having. Ideally, I think she would prefer to just snack all day long!

Clothes: Mostly 24 months/2T at this point although some new 2T pants are quite a bit too big. She still fits into some of her 18mon fleece jammies too. Shoes are sz 5.

Talking: We are slowly starting to hear more words from Haleigh, but for the most part it is just a lot of grunting and pointing. She has a word for anything to drink "wa-wa" and can say 'yeah' 'no' 'aw-ya' (awesome) 'hewwo' (hello) and will mimic a few other things occasionally. Her first two word phrase is "no mama" which she uses a little too frequently!

And the Christmas Fun Continues!

We did the Hendricks Family Christmas on Christmas Eve this year at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Kyle had to work for a few hours in the morning, so we all met up around 11:00 for an early lunch. The goal was to have a relaxing day and to enjoy the present-opening process and hopefully prevent any of the kids from having a breakdown from lack of sleep or too much sugar! I think we were successful! 

I tried to put Haleigh down for an early nap but since I forgot the pack-n-play, that didn't work. She just climbed right out of the bed and Annaliese went upstairs to rescue her! So she stayed awake for the whole day and did remarkably well! 

We opened a few presents after lunch and then got everyone ready to go to the Christmas Eve service at church. We arrived plenty early and Annaliese was very excited to show 'her church' to Elias! 

Trying to figure out the packaging for Elias' recycling truck

After church, we went back to Grandpa and Grandma's house where we continued opening presents and ate a delicious dinner of ham, baked potatoes and various salads. 

 Attempting to get Grandma and Grandpa by the tree with the grandkids...

Haleigh and Uncle Thane

Haleigh and Mallory

 

Uncle Ben and Haleigh

They were definitely tired by the end of the night. 

They put music on the tv and are 'watching a movie' together!

Christmas morning we spent at home with just the four of us; we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then opened up the presents from each other and from the Gillette side of the family. We spent most of the day playing with all our new toys! Thank you everyone! 

 Trying to figure out what these things are for!