Happy New Year!!!!

So I never really understood why start a new year in the midst of winter. It's cold and dead outside. It doesn't make sense to me to 'set a goal' to 'lose those ten lbs' in the middle of January when all a person (meaning me) wants to stay inside in my cozy house and watch episodes of 'The Office', eating delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies. I never understood why people do 'Spring cleaning' when in is gorgeous and beautiful outside- go enjoy the outdoors! Plus, I get out all of my Christmas crap from the back of the closet and have a mess to put away- so I end up purguing garbage. So I do my spring cleaning in January, when I'm inside ignoring the cold weather anyway and still have delicious Christmas leftovers to eat to motivate me to do my cleaning and do my 'new years resolution' of losing weight in the spring- when I want to be outdoors playing anyway- so I believe New Year's should start when spring is here- when everything is reborn and 'spring cleaning' when I already have crap invading my hallways... It's a win-win for me! What's your take on this?

So instead of wishing you a Happy New Year- I'm going to wait a few months- when the groundhog's shadow isn't looming over our spirits- come on Puxotony Phil!
I truly hope 2009 brings each of you much joy and happiness! Ring out 2008- ring in2009! Happy 'spring' cleaning!

Santa Claus is comin' to town...

We spent Christmas Day with Ryan's family, it was a blast! Santa made a guest appearance...

Hailyn with Santa- I guess she was a good girl this year- she got a Baby Einstein play gym- and she LOVES it!

Ry's mom and cousin Jeremy...

Our little family...

Ry's family

On Christmas Eve, we ventured out to my side of the fam- it was a lot of fun! The grandkids renacted the Nativity story- the babies were the sheep- Hailyn was supposed to be a sheep too, but wasn't being cooperative...

We did get a picture of her costume though...

This is a picture of her cute onesie (dainties4u@blogspot.com)check it! Doesn't she look like a gift? Well, she was our gift this year!

Her Christmas Eve jammies... a little gingerbread girl in the corner- too cute!

The back of them- sweet!

Her Christmas dress

Baby's First Christmas...

This was Hailyn's first Christmas and boy was it AWESOME!!! We've celebrated all week long...
On Tueday we went to my sister's house, where my brother in law Steve made some AWESOME chilli and Hailyn got SPOLIED!!!!
Here's baby's first Christmas!Her hairbow matches her shirt perfectly... thanks Tavia!


Hailyn opening her first present...

My siblings- and Ryan- Steve was taking the pic- wish I got one of him in it!

What we found under our tree...We got a Hailyn for Christmas!!!

Hailyn had a stocking at my sisters- she must've been a good girl this year! It had tons of formula- 'candy' for her... and a rattle... and a...she got spoiled, that's put it that way!

All the stockings were hung...
Yes, we have a lil bit stocking for our lil bit and a pink stocking for Bailey...

And here's Santa' s little helper...

Stocking Stuffer

In the spirit of peace and goodwill towards man, Ryan and I had a funny idea to have Hailyn be 'our stocking stuffer'. She enjoyed it VERY much- ha! Yes we plan to torture our children with incriminating pictures- enjoy!

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow!

Ummm... LOVING this! Hailyn's first snow day! YEAH! It never snows in Vegas and there's like 4 inches here- I feel like I'm in Utah! It's FUN!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

BAH HUMBUG no more! So I decided to stop being a GRINCH and broke down due to the request of my honey!!!
Ok, so Ryan asked me on Sunday night, "uh, where's the Christmas tree?" I replied "in the garage" like duh, of course it's in the garage, where else would it be? He gave me puppy eyes and the lip and asked if I would be putting it up this year. (Uh, I put it up last year and he asked me WHY I bothered to put it up- men, and they say women change their minds-whatever!) anyhow, I couldn't resist so monday morning, I busted out the Christmas tree and pulled out decorations from the back of the closet which was a feat in and of itself. So Ryan comes home to some decked out halls... and everything else in the closet. Yup folks, if I was going to dig in the back of the closet, I was going to do some 'spring cleaning'. It's still a work in progress...
Anyhow, here are some pics of our holiday decor...
Here's some ornaments that my grandma made- she also made me and all my siblings stockings- they are very beloved...


My stocking for now... ( I plan to retire it and make Ry, Hailyn and I matching stockings)

Ryan's stocking- yes we're 'grown ups'- haha- never! He loves Batman, I love Princess Aurora..

Stewie! Every year Ry and I get an ornament, and I'm getting Hailyn an ornament each year- so when she leaves the house she'll have those Christmas memories to take with her- just like I did! (I'm also doing new PJ'sfor a Christmas Eve present so we'll have blingin' pj's Christmas morning)Oh, so Stewie has a laser gun and the present says "to Lois"

Our first ornament together! Est. 2004!

I found these smore's ornaments- love 'em! Love snowmen and smores- best of both worlds! I got the teacher one last year when I was teaching. Baby's first Christmas is obviously Hailyn's ornament this year (as she gets older the ornament will be in the stocking like mine were)

The only nativity set we'll have up for the next few years:)

Ok, so I made these ornaments with my students two years ago- love 'em! I ended up making a whole bunch- they look like giant marbles and are stunning in person!

Need I say more? If any of you know my husband, you know you will ALWAYS find Diet Coke in the fridge at our house

Love smore snowmen and ice cube snowmen- AWESOME!

The tree!

So although the decorations are up late, at least they're up! I kicked the grinch- bah humbug spirit and now have awesome Christmas decor in my home- now, if I can clean up the aftermath BEFORE Christmas... ahh... that is the goal now. I'll keep ya posted! I need some elfs to come clean this mess up!

2 Month Check-Up

K, so Hailyn had a two month check up today. Here are the stats:
Weight: 11 lbs 12 oz/ 70-90 percentile
Height: 23 1/2 inches/70-95 percentile

Hmm... Hailyn was in the 90-95 percentile for height and weight before, now not so much. She is taller than she is chubby- and I keep trying to squeeze her into newborn clothes- but she is getting too tall. Sigh. I am trying desperately to keep her little, but she keeps insisting on growing! But she is healthy and well and doing great. I asked Dr. Hodapp about her pulling on her ear, because she didn't have an ear ache and no fever, well, it turns out she is starting to teethe- yup at two months. guess it can happen! She doesn't have teeth yet but her gums are ripening! It makes sense because she has been knawing on anything she can ahold of! She also got her shots today. She did fine, cried after, no biggie.

Oh, and her beautiful strawberry blonde hair is falling out and in its place- white hair- just like Ryan. We were both toeheads as children and Hailyn is following suit!

A stage mom again????

Kicking andn Screaming (me kicking, Hailyn screaming)
My baby looooves photo shoots- normally:) So, one of the coolest people I know wanted to shoot some newborn pics of Hailyn- yeah! She does AMAZING pics- I'm always up for that and was SOOOO excited for Amber to shoot her- I was seriously jumping up and down. Well, Friday was the BIG day and Hailyn- with her cold (which I didn't recognize til later- thought she was fine from earlier that week- she wasn't) was cranky, there was no hard surface, by the time she calmed down the light was gone- huge sigh. Sorry Amber:( She got one shot which I think turned out beautifully- Hailyn was sick (ah stage mom-I felt SO bad!)and I feel doubly bad because Amber came all the way down from Utah and the shoot was a flop- the model was not cooperating. (Amber I should've listened to you- and my gut- knowing what you needed now, could've done it at my house-way easier! ahh, kicking myself!) Anyhow, here is the shot...

Sorry it was a flop Amber:( Maybe someday she'll brave doing another Tidwell shoot??:) I think I was being punished for wanting something too badly- coveting and what not- sigh. Love you Amber:)Glad I got to see you!THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Baby it's COLD outside!!!

Uhh, ok, so my pics are a little out of order here- the santa outfit is from last week from church. This week, well, Hailyn caught a cold that I had this past week. I am hoping she gets better soon. Friday gave me false hope:) and we have missed seeing friends this week (Laura and Ryan, Calli...) I'm hoping she will be up and about soon!

SANTA BABY!

Here is a picture of Hailyn last Sunday- check out the santa boots!Thanks Mimzy!



LOVE 'EM! Here's a cute outfit that says- can you guess? SANTA BABY! Loving these outfits!Thanks Auntie Amanda!



More Christmas outfits to come!

HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING?

Ok, my favorite time of year because of the music, and in church today we busted out the Christmas songs. YEAH! Except Hailyn started SCREAMING during The First Noel. No biggie, she had a wet diaper, changed her she was fine. I thought nothing of it. Well, during our closing song- Hark the Herald Angels Sing she did the same thing. I chalked it up to she didn't enjoy my love of Christmas music like I did, Ryan chalked it up to perhaps I wasn't one of the herald angels who should be singing- really, is my voice that bad? I truly never knew. I was always one to sing in church situations. I love singing. Karoke, church songs, busting out in the car, but I never knew if I had a good voice or not- perhaps I know now?

I'm such a stage mom...

My sweet angel- or something like that...



As I was posting the awesome pictures of Hailyn below, I realized I left a story untold, one of frustration, and I needed to share it. The story of how I became a stage mom.

In attempts to get the grandparents and great grandparents pictures of my lil' bit, I called JC Penny's because I had a coupon deal. They told me that they were arranging an angel shoot for ONE day only and would I like to bring her in for said shoot. Absolutely, what would be more wonderful than a sweet, sleeping picture of my little sweetie dressed up as an angel and give as gifts to the gparents and such. Oh, Hailyn is not even FOUR WEEKS OLD yet. So, I make the appointment for nine am, first one out the door. I get there a little before nine, they tell me that my appointment has been double booked, (ahh) and would I mind waiting forty minutes- they will throw in some free pictures- ok fine. Well, then the nine-thrity appointment shows up, is frusterated that "I cut in front of them" say what? and so I am rushed through the shoot time. Hailyn wakes up and she is FURIOUS and crying hysterically. So, aside from all this, I decide to keep going with the shoot- it is one day only after all, and I had this coupon and I was getting free pictures and yada yada. Well, the people that also had the nine am appt (double booking jerks) had forty minutes for thier shoot- I had ten. Perhaps if I had forty minutes, I could have fed her, soothed her and maybe got one good shot of a calm serene angel. Well, I only got ten minutes, so I got a screaming, bewildered looking angel.

Here's where the stage mommy in me came out. Determined to use my coupon (oh geez) and the fact that the angel shoot was only one day, I asked if they could re-do her shots because they SUCKED. They said they would squeeze me in next. Well, they kept having appointments, and finally, they got me in at 1:30pm. What was I doing that whole time? Sitting in the cramped little studio of JC Penny's very impatienly with a SCREECHING infant driving them crazy (ha ha- that's what you get for pushing back my appointment jerks and then rushing me!) So we get in there again, Hailyn's ticked as she has been the whole time. She's tired, I'm exhausted, but we proceed with the shoot anyway. The very last picture is the one we ended up with. Was it a sweet serene angel picure? Not my daughter. This picture pretty much sums up the entire day.
HERE'S TO YOU JC PENNY'S!

If you look closely at the future America's next top model (he he ) she pretty much expresses her opinion on the day- that's right, she is flipping the bird- again. I don't know where she learned that! Word, Hailyn.
PS. For the record my 'free shots' included one puny 8x10 and the coupon wasn't applicable to the angel shoot anyhow- thanks JC Penny's thanks. Regardless, after this horrible experience, we got some AMAZING shots from an AWESOME photographer/awesome friend! Oh, wondering what pictures I ended up ordering? The last one- you can't beat the irony of a baby dressed as an angel flipping the bird. She hated the costume, hated the day- as did I and she made it known. Hopefully I got all my stage mommyness out and I'll never put her through that again! I just love this little girl!!!!!
I don't think there is a better way to say merry christmas than to give the gparents a pic of thier granddaughter flipping the bird- ha! Thank goodness for the pictures below!!!

Easy breezy beautiful COVER GIRL!

Due to popular demand, I have posted more pictures of Hailyn. Here is her first photo shoot! We had an awesome friend take some STUNNING pics of her and here are a few (thanks awesome photographer:) We LOVE the pictures!!!!!) I know I'm biased but I just LOVE these pics- they are BEAUTIFUL! (WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD)

To be a size six again...

As many of you know, I am SLAVING away trying to get all skinny and cute (what a better time to start than during the holidays when there are NO temptations- yeah right!) So I read this in my Shape magazine and since I am a person that would rather kill myself for a short time than be moderately uncomfortable for a long time, I'm doing this! It's 20 minutes of working out getting the results of working out for an hour! Us busy people with work, school, kids, whatever can appreciate a forty minutes saved- thought I'd share it!

Pick any cardio you like (running, swimming, the elliptical trainer). Warm up for 2 minutes at a moderate pace, then sprint for 30 seconds at the highest intensity you can muster. Slow down and do 90 seconds at a catch-your-breath recovery pace. Repeat eight times. You'll torch more calories in less time, while you burn fat faster. Follow this cardio session with a few of the following fast firmers for a total-body workout in less than 30 minutes.
• Tighten your tummy: Do two sets of 10 to 12 crunches on a stability ball. Research from the University of Auckland, Tamaki Campus, in New Zealand, revealed that using the ball makes crunches 20 percent more effective compared to hitting the floor.
• Firm up legs: Stand on left foot, hands on hips, and bring right knee to hip level in front. Trace a horizontal figure eight in front of you with knee. Then bend left knee and hop to right, landing on right foot. Repeat figure eight with left knee, then hop back to left to complete one rep. Do 10 reps, then hop back and forth 10 times to complete one set.
• Boost your bottom: Stand with feet hip-width apart, hands on waist. Shift weight to left foot and lift heel of right foot so you're resting on toes. Bend left knee and sink hips back, keeping weight off right foot (toes stay on ground). Rise up. Do 12 reps on left leg, then switch legs and repeat.
• Bare amazing arms: Holding a dumbbell in each hand, stand with feet hip-width apart. Raise arms, palms down, out and slightly forward to shoulder height. Slowly lower them behind you so weights almost touch. Do 12 reps.
• Slim all over: Stand with feet hip-width apart. Keeping legs as straight as possible, bend forward and walk hands out until they're under shoulders. Do two push-ups, then walk hands back and stand. Repeat twice, doing four push-ups, then six.

So I'm doing this- I am now accountable so if you see me shoving cookies in my mouth- you have to stop me! If not, you are an accomplise! Happy holiday eating!

Gobble Gobble!

Gobble 'til you Wobble! Yes that is what Hailyn's shirt says.Even strangers commented. She had a great first thanksgiving hanging out with family in flagstaff, going to movies (she didn't make a sound, even during explosions and shooting, playing games, shopping and eating. It was a fun weekend, and I'm glad she got to finally meet her great grandparents and her great-aunt and uncle and cousins (she's already met great-grammy) and have everyone love on her. It was a blast!