Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Feelin' Crabby

You gotta love toddler humor. Baylee has a few bath toys that she loves to play with-right now they consist of ducks and crabs. A lot of times after showers she will lay them all on the bottom of the tub and they lay down with them. She'll tell me "I taking nap!" One time she even made her towel a blanket and pilllow. Today was a different one though. After the shower was off she stuck her little stuffed crab between her legs and kept saying "I pooping crabby!" It was hard not to laugh, but I had to tell her it wasn't the best thing to be saying.

She's also got quite the imagination as she keeps saying that our Cuddlesac (it's like a beanbag couch but foam) is "the biggest mountain!" and she "can't climb mountain. Kinda slippery. Need Mousekatool. Oh Toodles!" Ok, you might need to have watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for that one. Today she also started whimmpering that she was "stuck in big tree", which happened to be the tiny crack between the cuddlesac and wall. So I had to "pull" her out (she wasn't really stuck). Like I said, quite the personality. I just had to write these down so I don't forget them, and I thought someone might enjoy a laugh.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Party Time!

Here are pictures from Baylee's birthday! It's a new camera and I didn't know I needed to turn the date imprint off, so sorry for that (the first one didn't have the right date set even)...

The Birthday Girl:
My sad attempt at making a castle cake for her birthday (I needed fondant to make it look a lot better):
We did a swimming party for Baylee's birthday. HUGE thanks to my Uncle Warren and Aunt Patti for letting us use their pool and house. We found these Snow Whites at Party City for $1:
Swimming in the pool (actually getting out of the pool):
Pinata time! Baylee didn't really want to hit it though (thanks Ryan , Anna, & kids for the cute princess swimsuit-it went perfect with her party theme!):
Baylee made out really well in the present department. Thanks everyone for all the wonderful presents!
Back at home Baylee decided to try on the Snow White outfit from Uncle Scotty. It was too cute:
Yesterday one of her presents finally arrived. We ordered her a reversible Belle dress and Princess towel from Disney. They got here a little late, I was hoping I'd have them for her party, but better late than never. So, here's Baylee modeling her Belle dress:
Baylee had a great birthday! Thank you to everyone who came to her party or sent presents and cards and called! She loved every minute of it, and loved hearing people tell her Happy Birthday and singing to her. I can't believe she's 2 already!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Happy Birthday, Baylee!!!

Our cute little Baylee (I guess she's not too little anymore) is 2 today! Time really does fly by with kids! They really do grow so fast!

Baylee when she was first born:
A year ago for her first birthday:Baylee now:We are so lucky to have Baylee! She has such as sweet personality, but also keeps us laughing. Even though she is a non-stopper and keeps going all day, we still love her so much and wouldn't trade her for the world! She makes every day interesting, and is such a wonderful kid. Happy birthday, Baylee! I can't believe you are 2 already!

Oh, and just in case anyone was wondering, Baylee has now been "paci"fer free for about a month! Yay, Baylee!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

This Family Reunion Made Me Feel A Year Older

This year my birthday fell right in the middle of a family reunion. Ben still made sure that my birthday was not forgotten, and put most of the celebrating on Friday. My parents and Annie took Baylee and I to meet Ben for lunch at Rainforest Cafe. The food was really good, just a little slow, and Ben of course had them sing to me. Who doesn't love being sung to in front of a restaurant full of strangers? After lunch my dad watched Baylee so my mom and I could go get massages (yeah, I know I'm a little spoiled). After being nice and relaxed, my parents watched Baylee again so Ben could take me out to Fondue (kid-free) for dinner. It was nice to have dinner and a little shopping just the two of us.
Saturday I got a cute bday present from my sister-in-law Jenny. It also had a matching one for Baylee's birthday too. Very cute aprons, Jenny! We love them!Saturday was also the first official day of the Higgins Family Reunion. We had a BBQ at my Aunt Melissa and Uncle Doug's, and Baylee was so excited that we got to go swimming.

Sunday was my birthday. My dad made us some yummy crepes for lunch, and Ben did a pretty good job at recreating the first birthday cake he made me right before we got married. This one turned out a lot better than the last two. This year's even had a little "surprise". Here's this year's cake:
And the first attempt in 2004 (and this is a more forgiving angle):
Sunday night for the Family reunion we did a salad night and had cake. My grandpa also gave us a copy of the history he put together of the 14th Texas Calary Regiment from the Civil War. His great-grandfather was part of it. It will be interesting to read and I'm excited to have it.

Last night was our last family reunion night. We had some sandwiches, Baylee and Ben went swimming, and then there was a family talent show. It was fun to see all the talents, and we enjoyed hanging out with the family this past weekend!

One of the things Ben gave me for my birthday was a new camera. We haven't been the best about pictures lately, so hopefully me getting a better camera will help! Batteries should last a little longer in this one. We just need a memory card first! I will try to do better though.

I'm am so glad that I have the wonderful husband that I do that goes out of his way to make sure that I always have a great birthday! I appreciate everything he does for me! Thank you Ben! I love you and am so lucky to have you as a husband!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

HHHaapppyyy BBBiiirrrttthhhdddayy!!


Fro those of you who do not know, it is Brittany's 26th birthdat today (July 13th). And I hope she has a wonderful birthday. Her side of the family is having a family reunion here in Arizona this weekend so I tried to celebrate her birthday on Friday. I asked her if that was alright with her and she agreed but everytime I said "Happy Birthday," she would say "It is not my birthday!" I didn't care. I thought it was fun to bug her with it anyway. I also got the people at rain forest cafe to sing to her which she wasn't to excited about. She will probably tell you all about what we did this weekend so I won't go into it. But I do hope she knows that I LOVE her and want her to have a wonderful birthday. I feel like I always try really hard to give her a great birthday but I don't do to well.

Brittany,

You are a wonderful wife and a terrific mother. You have a great sense of humor and a beautiful outlook on life. I hate leaving you and Baylee to go to work everyday but I love coming home to you two. You are the best wife ever and I hope you have a fantastic birthday. And I hope you like my second try at making you a duck cake. Hopefully it won't fall over this time. I love you!!! Happy Birthday.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Beach Day

Yesterday was Beach Day on Nick Jr. After watching Ni Hoa Kai-Lan and Dora, Baylee got really excited. Next thing I knew she ran into our room, and when I went in there two seconds later to see what she wass doing, she had stripped off her Ariel pjs and diaper and was completely naked. She grabbed her lifejacket and ran from the room before I had the chance to replace any form of anything on her little body. I caught her in front of the tv and got a diaper on her, but she refused to put any clothes on, and was crying for her lifejacket to be put on. She later told me last night that Dora had been wearing a blue lifejacket (and yes Baylee does call it lifejacket). I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of Baylee laying on her tummy practicing kicking with it on, but here's a picture I did manage to get:
Baylee is really excited about her lifejacket and always wants to wear it. When we bought it at Costco, she had to wear it the whole time in the store. I guess it's a good thing she likes it so much!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Trains Still Come and Go...Here's What We've Been Up To!

We had quite the busy Fourth of July weekend, so here's a little update on what we've been doing...

For the Fourth we went to the Diamondbacks game. It wasn't the A's, but I think Ben finally got over that. It was, however, a painfully slow game (over 3 hours with not very much action), and being there 1 1/2-2 hours before the game started didn't help. But, for $15 we sat in the nosebleeds, made it in time for the free t-shirts, got a free hot dog and drink, a zoo pass, and fireworks after the game. We had to stand in a stairwell to see the fireworks, but we still saw them. Baylee sat and pointed out all the colors of them and then kept saying "Ooohh, fireworks pretty!" It was pretty cute. She loved them.

Saturday, Scott's girlfriend, Andrea, and her little boy Dylan came to visit. They stayed at our house. Saturday night, after our gourmet meal of grilled cheese, sweet potato fries and meatballs (don't you wish you could eat at our house?), my parents, sister, brother and company, and us all went and borrowed my Uncle Warren and Aunt Patti's pool for the night. Of course Baylee loves swimming and it was a fun night for the fam.

Sunday after church we had a big family dinner at my grandparents, leading to the only pictures I have. It was fun to have a family dinner with them, my family, and Warren and Patti and kids. After it cooled down a little (its still in the 100s at night, but it feels cooler than 110+ weather that's here during the day), we went outside to track down the new baby chicks that hatched a week or two ago. Baylee is always excited for the chickens at my grandparents, but this was the first time seeing the baby chicks. We finally found them huddled under their mom in the bushes. So here's the best picture Ben could get before our brand new batteries died. The momma hen is the brown in the bushes at the very top, and then you can barely see a little yellow head with orange beak peeking out right between the two leaves:

And here's Baylee running around. The tractor picture of her was blurry, so here's this picture instead. They have the best yard for running around.
Monday night we took food over to my Aunt Melissa and Uncle Doug's and had dinner and swimming. We bought Baylee a little lifejacket like Dylan has that morning, hoping she'd love it and go all over the pool, but I think she was a little freaked out by it. It kept flipping her on her back. She'll eventually get use to it though, and even had fun holding onto the wall and kicking her feet, so she'll pick it up.

Yesterday my dad took Andrea and the kids and I to Arizona Mills to go shopping. It's much easier to deal with them outside of the house than in. It tends to get a little chaotic with two kids that age running around. So, we went shopping. The Disney Store had great deals on p.j.s. Baylee's been wanting Disney jammies, so at $5 a pair, it was hard to pass up. I was a sucker and got her three pairs, even though I should have waited for her birthday. So here's a video of her modeling them for us, even doing the model pose her dad taught her:



Andrea and Dylan left early this morning, so this is what we do now that our house is quiet again. Exciting, huh?

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Slow Tag

Since there's not a whole lot worth writing about right now, I thought now would be a good time for me to do my tag from Katie. She tagged me right before we moved, so this is a little late, but better late than never, right?

3 Joys:
1. Family- I love being a mom to Baylee, even though she's definetly a handful and sometimes crazy. It's also been fun to live by my parents the last two weeks and have my sister staying with us. We miss living by Ben's family too, though! It's fun to get together with family. I also love seeing a lot of my dad's side of the family out here!
2. Shopping-Anyone who knows me knows I love to shop. I think it's genetic... I kinda have a shopping addiction, too. I think I'm getting beter though. Even when I don't have money to spend I love to look. Yesterday was a big shopping day, mostly for Baylee, but I loved it!
3. Food- I love to cook, it's just hard to find the time. Living in California I was so busy and groceries were kinda expensive, so I didn't cook too much. I think I'm going to be doing a lot more of it here though. My favorite thing to cook is desserts. I also LOVE to eat out. I think we had sushi twice last week, along with a couple other eat outs. It's also an addiction. I need to work on those.

3 Fears:
1. Something bad happening to someone close to me.
2. Dying before I have the chance to see my kids grow up.
3. Letting people in and then getting hurt by them.

3 Current Obesessions/Collections:
1. Finding something fun to do for Baylee's birthday- It's too hot to do anything outside, and we don't know any kids, so it'll be all adults. I think my cousin Brooke will be out of town and she has the only kids I know. Any ideas anyone?
2. Trying to find a house we love that's perfect but not too expensive.
3. I guess a collection would be laundry I need to do and cleaning that needs to be done before Scott's girlfriend (I think that's what she is?) comes out this weekend.

3 Random Facts:
1. I think most people know this, but I love long walks. They make me feel good and calm me down. I don't think I'll be going on any for a while though.
2. I am super shy. I hate approaching people, or calling them on the phone. If people talk to me I can kinda fake seeming outgoing, but really I'm not. I don't do well with crowds and I feel really uncomfortable in situations where I don't feel included.
3. I don't want another kid for a while, but I might be starting to reconsider since I don't want Baylee and our next kid being more than 3 years apart. That means I'm getting short on time. Baylee is such a handful and never stops, I don't know how I can add another one. I also love her so much and love giving her my attention that I'm worried about adding another kid into the mix.

So, now I get to tag people. SO let's tag: Wendy (welcome to the blogging world!), Laura, Heather, Brooke, and who ever else wants to do this.