~ The Healds ~

Sunday, March 11, 2012

January

Well here I am already into March with no posts about January or February. My attempt in this post is to summarize January the best I can considering it was two months ago...here we go! :)

January kicked off with ringing in the New Year in Fortuna at Sarah and Pat's wedding. The had a beautiful ceremony at the Catholic church in Ferndale, followed by a fun reception at the River Lodge. Hannah was mesmerized by Sarah in her wedding dress. At the reception she loved being on the dance floor (no surprise!) and especially had fun dancing with daddy. We kept her up as much past her bed time as we could (10:00 pm) and then my parents took her for the rest of the night (thanks mom and dad!), so that we could stay and ring in the New Year with Nicole, Shaun and friends.

Hannah doing one of her silly smiles

I love watching the two of them together

watching the mother/son dance

So happy to ring in the New Year with two of our favorite people

staying warm by the fire outside

With the beautiful bride Sarah (friends since preschool!)

After returning home from Fortuna we still had a week of Christmas break left. We enjoyed relaxing at home, doing art projects, enjoying some beautiful weather outside and of course Hannah had a blast playing in her new room with all her Christmas gifts.

Loves her new light up Hello Kitty tooth brush

vacuuming her room like a big girl

playing disc golf with mom and dad

reading stories to dad

We headed back up to Fortuna the second weekend of January for a baby shower that I threw for my sis. It was held at the Scotia Inn (where she and Shaun got married). I'm bummed I didn't take more pictures. Being the hostess I got a little distracted, however I made sure one of her friends got lots of shots. We enjoyed a delicious brunch, gave Nicole some helpful (and entertaining) mothering advice and enjoyed watching her open all her gifts (my favorite part!!) I am so excited for my niece (Lilly Claire) to arrive. I'm really hoping it will be before I travel up to see my family on the 17th. (fingers crossed!!!)

My sis as a baby (so cute!!) Even though the calla lilies didn't bloom in time for the shower, they still looked beautiful and bloomed the next day for Nicole and Shaun to enjoy at home

centerpieces were precious outfits for Lilly (this one from my mom)

party favors...Personalized suckers by Polly Lops

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Big Girl Bed

For a few months leading up to Christmas Hannah had been asking about getting a big girl bed. Most of her friends had transitioned out of their cribs and had told her about it. We decided that we wanted to time her getting a new bed with Christmas (making it a gift from Santa) and having her switch rooms in December also gave her plenty of time to get used to it before her sister arrived. On her Christmas list she of course asked Santa for a big girl bed, along with a pink vacuum. :) Because decided to have her move bedrooms, we were able to set up her new room the week before Christmas without her knowing about it. Hannah had been saying forever that she waned a pink room with pink everything. Josh and I knew we couldn't handle an over the top pink room, however pink with accents of greens (her other favorite color), yellows, etc...we felt would be perfect. We decided to get her a day bed with a trundle. I loved having one of these growing up because they don't take up as much room as a full or queen size bed and whenever I had a friend come over I was able to pull out the trundle for them to sleep on. She will also fit into this bed for a long time. :) I had a lot of fun shopping for bedding and accessories for her new room. It was fun yet challenging searching for things that were both cute and inexpensive. One of my favorite buys was her pink flower light from Ikea that we placed on the wall above her bed as a reading light.

Christmas morning we put a big bow on the door to her new room. She didn't pay much attention to it when she first walked past because she was looking at gifts under the Christmas tree. However after checking out her new vacuum and then insisting on putting it in the hall closet with our big vacuum, she noticed it yet again and this time asked about it. We asked her if she thought Santa gave her a door, she replied no, but suggested there might be something for her behind the door. Upon opening her new bedroom door, she just stood there, completely still for a minute, taking it all in. She then turned to us and asked if this was her big girl bed. When we said yes, she could barely contain her excitement. :) She quickly went into her room and asked if she could sit on it. Once on her bed she started wiggling around with excitement and then asked to get under the covers. She then proceeded to tell Josh and I that she was sleepy and that we should head back to our room and go back to sleep and that she was going to sleep in her bed. :) It was too cute!

She loves sitting and reading in her little yellow leather chair

Josh decided to make Hannah a toy box for her new room. He spent a couple days working on it and it turned out great (plus it holds a ton of toys!) Hannah absolutely loves it and I love that she has something her dad made for her. After he finished making Hannah's he started brainstorming about the style of toy box that he'll make for Jordyn someday. :)

To the right of her door is her vanity, baby doll crib and dresser drawers

It is so much fun to see how much Hannah loves her new bedroom. She wants to be in there all the time! She loves playing on her new bed, setting up tea parties for mom & dad and takes pride in vacuuming her room to keep it clean. Have I mentioned how awesome it is that we got her a vacuum that actually vacuums!?! I didn't want her to have just a toy one because I wanted her to see the results of her hard work, and let's face it she's saving us some vacuuming time. :)

busily cleaning her bedroom

I was surprised at how easily she transitioned into her new bed. Our biggest struggle was getting her to stop reading before bed. After switching to her new room we continued our nightly routine of bath & then books, however once she moved to her new bed she wanted to continue reading books on her own after we were done. We love that she loves to read, however we'd look at the video monitor an hour later and she'd still be awake reading to herself. :) After a couple weeks of this we made up a new rule of 10 minutes of reading, then lights out. She's ok with this as long as we tickle her back for a minute before leaving the room. :)

our sleeping beauty

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Winter Break Fun

I can't believe I am just now posting about the holidays, but better late than never right? I thought I could motivate myself to get back in the habit of posting more often, but so far no luck! :) This holiday season was especially fun. Unlike last year Hannah understood & was very excited about everything leading up to Christmas. To the left is one of the two ornaments she made for us at Stacy's, it brings a smile to my face every time I look at it. This is the 3rd year I have a homemade ornament with a picture of her in the center. It is so much fun hanging them up each year, we love seeing how she's changed & grown.

The weekend before Christmas we headed over to Lincoln to have an early Christmas with Josh's dad, step mom, stepsister (and family) and brother (and family). It is so much fun watching Hannah, Camryn and Mazzy play together (they are really close in age) and are all very into imaginative play so listening to their conversations is quite entertaining. :) We enjoyed a lasagna dinner together, the girls decorated cookies, played, played & played some more :) and then opened Christmas gifts. I'm so excited that my sister-in-law Cassie, is pregnant with her second also and due this summer. Can't wait to find out what they're having!

enjoying dinner at their own table

putting sprinkles on their cookies and then of course licking their fingers clean :)

playing with their new gifts

hanging out

cousins :)

Josh and I decided last year that we're going to trade off every other year celebrating Christmas here at home in Rohnert Park with Josh's family and up in Fortuna with my family. This year we stayed in Rohnert Park. We had Josh's family over to our house for dinner on Christmas Eve. We decided to do soup and salad. Each family made a different type of soup (potato leek, split pea with ham and sweet & sour), we had a big green salad and enjoyed different types of bread. All the soups were so delicious!! A new tradition we started this year, is going to look at Christmas lights after dinner on Christmas Eve. The kids of course loved it and the adults did too. :)

the girls were mesmerized

sleigh ride

Some other Christmas Eve traditions we started this year:

making gingerbread houses (this is something I always did with my cousins as a kid and absolutely loved!)
letting the kids open a gift (a pair of matching pajamas)
after everyone has gone home we put out cookies, milk and carrots for Santa and his reindeer
Hannah gets to open a gift from mom and dad (a new Christmas book) that we'll read before bed that night. I love that she'll be starting a holiday book collection of her own to share with her family some day.

They were so excited about their new jammies I couldn't get a picture of them holding still

giving her new book a hug :)

all ready for Santa

Hannah was so excited for Santa to come. That night after we put her to bed (for the last time in her crib), she called me back in a few minutes later to ask if Santa had come yet. :) I had to remind her that Santa didn't come until we all were asleep. This year Santa brought Hannah a brand new bedroom with a big girl bed (I'll post pictures and share stories on a different post).

holding her stocking after opening presents on Christmas morning

After Christmas morning at our house, we headed over to Josh's mom and step dad's house for Christmas brunch with the family. We enjoyed her delicious homemade quiches, french toast casserole, muffins and fresh fruit. The kids had fun opening gifts from Grandma & Papa and from each other. Following brunch we headed home and all took a nap (Hannah's first in her big girl bed) and then headed over to Mel and Dustin's for Christmas dinner. Christmas Eve and Christmas day were filled with lots of family time and many fun memories. Looking at the holidays through the eyes of a two year old is so much fun.

opening gifts with her cousins at Grandma and Papa's

We loaded up luggage, presents and hit the road to Humboldt the Wednesday after Christmas. Hannah was very excited to see her family. Her excitement did not overpower her tiredness however, and she slept most of the way there. (Love our good traveler!) Our trip up to Humboldt consisted of lots of family time, relaxation and getting together with friends. It was so nice being able to be there for 5 days. :) Wednesday night we enjoyed dinner at Shamus in Carlota (our last time eating there before they moved locations). Thursday late morning we headed out to Centerville beach to hike & enjoy the beautiful coast. We weren't really sure how long the hike was going to be until we actually got started. It was a lot steeper and further than we had originally thought, but we kept on hiking (with two 2 year olds .) Both Hannah and her cousin Brody did well for such a long hike. That afternoon we enjoyed lunch at the Lost Coast Brewery and then took the kids to Bounce-A-Palooza.

dinner at Shamus

ready for our hike down (that little beach down below was our destination)

finally to the bottom

Hannah and her cousin Brody ready to slide

With Lisa, Karen and Nicole

Family pic

she loves her Auntie and Uncle

We enjoyed Christmas dinner and opening gifts at my parents that Friday. Hannah was very excited about her gifts... new pink/green glow in the dark soccer ball, ballerina jewelery box, vanity, princess dress up clothes, adorable new outfits, lots of princess stuff, owl pillow to match her new bed, and a toy cash register (that she loves using for playing one of her favorite pretend games "Costco"). She also enjoyed opening her 3rd Christmas stocking. :)

Hannah and dad

checking out her new vanity

admiring herself in the mirror

big hugs for her new pillow

We had a blast ringing in the New Year at my good friend Sarah's wedding. (I'll post pics later)

Josh and I loved having Christmas at the beginning of break this year because it gave us an entire week off after the New Year. After returning home from Fortuna we relaxed at home, enjoyed going out to breakfast, getting some things done around the house, taking a trip to the Discovery Museum and watching Hannah enjoy her new bedroom and toys. She also started session #2 of winter swim lessons.

Loves having her own shopping cart when shopping with mom and dad at Olivers

Using her new vacuum to clean up the pine needles after removing the tree. She spent 20 min. vacuuming the living room area and did such a great job that I didn't need to vacuum.