Katie's Pics

Here are some of Katie Haller's Pictures from Ohio!

Christmas in Ohio

Check out this lovely family: A Dad, a Mom, three sons, one daughter, two daughter-in-laws, two grand-girls and one more on the way! Such love. Christmas this year was spent in Ohio. We ate a lot of food, laughed and played with Ari.

Bill helped rock Ashlyn to sleep a couple of times; so sweet.

Yah, Katie in front of the camera and not just behind it! I loved watching Katie with Ashlyn, she was so tender and caring. I also am so looking forward to Mark and Jill having their sweet baby girl in just a few short weeks!

Christmas afternoon, we went and visited Grandma Haller. I'm sure we overwhelmed her with our crazy loud presence, but hopefully she was as blessed as we were to see our girls.

Oh, the bliss of a new toy on Christmas morn!

And lastly, here's Uncle Dave with Ashlyn who consistently smiled the entire weekend. I'm pretty sure people only heard her cry a few times! We had such a fun time in Ohio for holiday festivities and Jill's baby shower.

Ashlyn @ 6 months

Update: I originally posted this post on her 6 month birthday but I wanted to finish writing about the things she's doing and eating but I went to Ohio and got lost in the crazy shuffle of Christmas. Updates are below.

Well, out little chunky monkey is 6 months old! Half a year? 'Oh-my-gooohness' (As Ari says). She is such a happy girl. Her schedule is not consistent but she usually takes two big naps and one short one at dinner time. She still wakes up 2 or 3 times in the night and we're beginning to feed her solid foods and hopefully, that will help her feel more full and sleep a few extra hours! Ashlyn's eyes might stay blue or green! I'll love it either way but I am biased for loving my green eyes. She weighs around 16 0r so pounds but we'll have more updated stats soon at her 6 month check up. The weight doesn't matter, check out those rolls!

Ashlyn is always smiling, mostly all day long. She rolls all over the house and thats her quickest way to escape or chase Ari's play. She is starting to use her consonant sounds like dada-dadda and making all sorts of noise when someone is talking to her. Ashlyn has the grab dexterity down pat and is frequently grabbing food off my plate and straws from my cups. She has such interest in food that we've begun to feed her a few things here and there: bananas, sweet potatoes, rice, avocados. She is flexible thus far. I'm fairly certain she'll pop a tooth out soon like Ari did at around 7 months. She has been gumming things and rubbing her tongue along her gums. So sweet!

Ari wanted to assist in the photo session and this is where she thought the 6-month card would look best. So funny!

Christmas with Grammy and Grandpa

My parents came by for a short 24 hours between the Eaker's and Myrick's Christmases (I was in the middle for once!) I donned their new SUV 'Santa's Sleigh' because the trunk was filled to the brim with goodies for the grandkids! It even smelled like Santa's sleigh!

Ari received her first kitchen! She mixes up her letters and calls it a chicken. Hilarious. Its adorable, wooden and has all sorts of cute features. Mom also found her a blender and mixer that work 'just like mommy's' HA! Love it! She has been playing with it nonstop.

Here she is makin' muffs.

Ashlyn Claire received an adorable rockin' cow. She loves it!

Thanks M&D for coming and giving us such fun and nice gifts!

Now off to Ohio!!

If you're wondering...

Ashlyn's still super cute!

Yep.

A friendship's beginning

Ari has a new friend that she received as an [early] Christmas present. Her name is Raggedy Ann. Ari's Great Grammy Claire made her with love, including her heart. So sweet and special to me because I remember playing with my Ann as a girl.

Ari calls her doll 'Dan' because she just found out Dan's name and has therefore donned Ann, 'Dan'. Confusing, yes but I know it will change.

She likes Ann to eat with her and to sit on the potty. She carries her outside and plays chalk with her. Ann has eaten oatmeal and cheese and was allowed to play in the fort today to read books.

Ann has red yarn hair, a triangle nose, red and white stockings and a permanent smile. Ann is currently wearing a diaper and Ari lies her down to change her when I am changing Ashlyn. Ari really cares for Ann. (We have a monopoly on all A names, by the way).

I love this new friendship and am amazed at how Ari is learning to play. Thankfully, she's never alone because Ann is there with her. Thank you, Grammy Claire, for making her.

our little counter...

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Early last week, we went as a family to the farm up the road (where we get our pumpkins) to retrieve our Christmas tree. Temperatures have been in the upper 50's or 60's for the past two weeks and it feels almost sacrilege for me to get a Christmas tree in this warm weather.

But we did it anyway and brought home a skinny yet tall guy. Ari kept calling it a treat (and not because I bribed her with a treat if she would stop breaking the ornaments)! She didn't really understand what was going on but we decorated and hung the lights. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.... at least inside. Outside, rain is currently pummeling our house as wind blows furiously the leaves off the trees.

We tried getting some cute shots of the girls with the lights but they were too giggly to be cooperative. Ashlyn was trying to eat them (While plugged in) and Ari kept looking at them crossed-eyed. Dan and I cannot stop laughing at this picture below:

Here's our little Ashlyn Claire, sitting by the decorated tree! Yah for first AND second Christmases!!

Ari Taylor 23 Months! (noooo! Too soon!)

Ari Taylor:: Miss Independent. Spirited. Adorable. Sweet. Sassy. Fiercely motivated. Strong. Spunky. Intelligent. Ari is growing right in front of us and I dont like it one bit. Tonight, I saw some teenage girls all circled together and my heart was heavy with trepidation for those future days. I just want my little girl to stay little.

She is learning so much lately. ABC's, numbers, colors, animals. We work with notecards for her letters and I can say with cautious confidence that she knows/recognize A-G. Still in love with Elmo and Sesame Street, Ari loves to color and use crayons and chalk on all the places she's not supposed to (walls, floors, furniture etc). Ari loves kitty cats (at the petstore next to Trader Joes), dogs, being outside, walking, playing with her tiny stuffed dog "Woof, Woof", reading books, playing "find you" with Ashlyn and me/Dan, sitting on Dan's lap using his computer mouse and much much more. Days are full of activities!

Ari is starting to use words and phrases to get her point across. Sure, she still screams and whines when she tries to get her shoes off and cant... but she is communicating so well! "Shoes, Off." "Dadda, push, cart." One of my favorites is when she wants something to eat, she'll say "Eat. Food. 'Nack. Pleessh. Ni-Ni (Thank you)." So that she covers ALL the polite basic phrases into one long sentence. That should cover it- Just give her food.

Speaking of food, Ari eats so much food! Our monthly budget is getting bigger because of her. She will eat anything, all day. Her current favorites: coconut meatball curry and paleo pumpkin bread. One afternoon, she was in the kitchen being quiet (which as all parents of toddlers know is bad news bears)...she had opened the junk drawer, somehow knowing the location of my secret stash of dark chocolate! I found her enjoying a piece or two of her own. "Choco-eat"

Ari loooved swimming in the water this past weekend. We had a blast watching her experience new things and spend time with family. So much is happening in her life and we are blessed to be able to watch it happen from her perspective.

Almost to two years. oh my. Tears.

Florida Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Florida. Quite possibly the best weather ever. Gorgeous breezes, sunny and cloudy afternoons. Naps with all the doors open... And "Schimmin" in the warm pool (heated)!

Great Grammy Claire came too and brought her homemade goodies like tutu-tutus for the girls and Panda! So wonderful to spend time with her and the Eakers, Myricks and of course, Grammy and Grandpa.

Loads of good food. Sorry, no photos of turkey and fixin's...just my favorite breakfast of French Toast and fruit. Diets were broken, with severe pleasure. Key lime pie was out-of-this-world. I dream about it.

Ari was so brave in the water. Fearless actually. Just walked right in and let the foamy and frothy November water splash and pummel her chunky little legs. Dan had a good time too boogie boarding in the ocean and running into the glass door... oh, and seeing how competitive my family is in cards (Rebecca and I won Nerts-Woop woop!!)

Ella Grayce was there in her sweet sweet spirit, generously giving out wet kisses to Ashlyn.

Zac and Allie are always entertaining and playing with Ari. She loves to watch them play and tries her best to keep up. All the kids were awake and hyper ready to go at 7am! Also, I'd like to note how much I love the way the kids say "Awww, she's soo cuuute" to Ashlyn.

Here are Grammy and Grandpa with their lovely brood (note the Notre Dame attire, bad luck obviously in our loss to Stanford).

We had a fantastic time and thank you for all the food, gifts, fun times, laughter and a place to stay. It was crazy-but-wonderful!

5 Months!

Five Months!

Might me one of my favorite baby months. I remember Ari at this age; they grow so quickly. Ashlyn is such a little chunky little muffin. Her skin is so soft and her demeanor is sweet, gentle and kind. She doesn't even shout much when she's hungry. She just whines, grunts and moans. No shrieking or shouting (like her sister!). Ashlyn does NOT sleep well though. Naps are sporadic and infrequent. She wakes up frequently in the night and though she falls asleep after eating, I'm not able to get her to sleep longer than 5 or 6 hours at a time. I.AM.TIRED.

What she lacks in sleep consistency, she makes up for in smiles. This girl never stops smiling. She laughs, giggles and talks all day long! Ashlyn smiles with her mouth wide open, like she's shouting. Her toothless little gums are such a sweet sweet feature.

Ashlyn loves to roll around on the floor. She'll spot something and roll towards it till she grabs it and puts it directly into her mouth! The girls are learning to share and are beginning to play well together. They giggle often at each other making my heart melt daily.

Ashlyn might sprout a tooth earlier than Ari (7 mo) but we'll see. She is chewing on everything. Ashlyn loves her bunny and the taggie ball. She loves to stand in the exercauser thingy and stands there while I cook! She is a great baby and brings much joy in our home!

Just ornery

sooooo cute!

(post dinner messy face & nose)

Sprout

Check out Ari's pony-tail!

The Halloween Post

Chipotle, the burrito place, has had for two years in a row, an opportunity to get $2.00 burritos! Last year, we were s'mores! Well, this year, the challenge was to dress up in support of small family farms.

Using the internet as a resource, I found a few ideas to make a couple of chicken costumes.

Here I am with my hatched chick and my baby chick. Super easy (less than $10 total) and really cute!

We did not go trick or treating, just out to eat and to bed!

(I dont know why this is underlined! annoying)

Ari's costume is a white boa cut and safety-pinned to a white sweater. I used washable paint in her mohawk. Her feet are cut-up Forever 21 bags (which are a perfect yellow color)!

So fun and cute our little chickies!

Thirty Day gratitude challenge

Join me at:

www.groundedgirl.com

for a 30 day thankfulness challenge!