Girl's Day Out

Three generations of girls went to Downtown Disney on Saturday, November 10. Hallie, Mommy, and Grandma "Laine" enjoyed roaming the Disney store and ate lunch at the annex of Ralp Brennan's Jazz Kitchen.

Happy Birthday Chris!

Today, November 25 (it's past midnight at my house) Chris turns 29!

Snow baby

Ha ha ha! These pictures make me laugh so hard!

Thanksgiving

Even though the turkey and pie took much longer, my Thanksgiving pride and joy is my cornucopia. I have been making this ever since Chris and I were married. It is so fun to make something so pretty for our table. It combines two of my favorite hobbies: crafting and cooking. We had the most pleasant Thanksgiving in our apartment. Chris' mom and brother, Michael, were kind enough to visit and bring more good food. Our menu consisted of: Sage-Butter Roasted Turkey, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Corn Bread Dressing, Herb Dinner Rolls(made by me); as well as Pinapple Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans and Bacon, Asparagus and Cheese Sauce, and Cranberry Sauce (made by Mom Hinkson). For our appetizers, Michael made a to-die-for Spinach-Artichoke Dip and I made a cheeseball. For dessert, Mom made a lucious pumpkin cheesecake and I made my apple pie. Before dinner we quickly stated what we were thankful for-- the common denominator was family. Hallie loved the food (and has since polished almost all our leftovers). After dessert, we cleared the Thanksgiving table and put out our Christmas tablecloth and nativity. We wanted a fun way to usher in Christmas and we couldn't think of anything more to be thankful for than the Savior, so the nativity seemed perfectly appropriate.

Hallie and Brooklyn: Then and Now

February 2007



Hallie and Brooklyn are both one! Brooklyn celebrated her birthday on November 16. Brooklyn is my dear friend Julie's baby. We have been friends since kindergarten. We played on the playground together, we were in Brownies together, then in junior high and high school we did Show Choir together. Then, as fate would have it, we had our babies together (well, two months apart). Look how much our little ones have grown!

November 2007

Wedding

Joseph, Karen, Mark, and Amanda
Great Grandma Skaggs and Hallie Laine
Michelle and her favorite little girls
Grandpa Skaggs (or as Hallie pronounces it "Boppy") and Hallie Cat
The boys and the babies
My first friend, my brother Mark
Hallie and her Aunt Kaylene
The best babysitter was the two-year-old.
Amanda slowly twirled Hallie around in her stroller.

Dan and Kaylene's Wedding

Thank goodness for Mark! Half the credit for this blog goes to my brother lately because this is the second time I am featuring his photos. Here are some of my favorite that he took. Dan and Kaylene look spectacular, don't they? Everyone who sees the pictures comments on how pretty her dress is. One thing that was particularly special about the wedding is that Mom, Karen, and myself all got our hair professionally styled at Kaylene's salon, Bella. Bella is located in Naples and is down-right ritzy--and fun! It was so special to be together and to watch our future sister get her hair and make-up done. She looked gorgeous. Meanwhile, my Dad and Mark watched Hallie and Amanda all day. (Thank you so much, by the way.) Hallie was enthralled with Aunt Kaylene in her wedding dress. Dan and Kaylene, next time you read this know how proud we are of you and how much we love you!

In addition to the beautiful bride, I think my Grandma Skaggs looks spectacular. Today my Grandma and Grandpa have been married 57 years. Even though my Grandpa has passed away, I know that their marriage is eternal. They will be reunited again where they will continue to be in love forever! I love you Grandma and Grandpa!

Cousins

I sat Hallie and Amanda down for some cousin pictures. Here are the results...

Needless to say, this gave me a new appreciation for the child photographer.

obsession

I forgot to mention Hallie's other new obsession-- eyelashes. She started touching my eyelashes soon after she discovered her hands. However, in the last month she is obsessed with her own. Normally, she will suck her thumb with her right hand and use the other four fingers to gingerly brush the lashes on her right eye while simultaneously using her left hand to sweep her left lashes. I can tell she is really tired when I lie her down in her crib and she immediately goes for her eyelashes. I know it's quirky but it is just another reason why I love her.

Make sure to click on the picture to check out her already lushes lashes when she was just four-weeks-old.

Uh-oh!

Hallie is really into saying "uh-oh" these days. Anytime she drops something, sounds of "uh-oh" bounce through the kitchen. Two days ago when shopping I bumped the cart into a display. "Oops!" I exclaimed as Hallie echoed with "Uh-oh!" Even as I write, Hallie dropped her sippy cup off her high chair tray and said "Uh-oh!" three times!


Here is a major "uh-oh!" that happened a few weeks ago. Hallie was playing in her favorite spot-- just around the corner of the couch when I crawled around the corner to check on her I noticed she was chewing on something. I stuck my finger in her mouth to pull out what I assumed would be a Cheerio. I laughed so hard when I pulled out a large leaf from our fake ficus tree. It was so unexpected and her face was so innocent and unassuming.

We're back!

We're back from California. I am tired but wanted to do a quick post for all the patient family and friends who looked at the same post for over a week while we were gone. Needless to say, we had a wonderful time on our trip. We had some good quality time with family and several friends. Dan and Kaylene's wedding was beautiful. They looked amazing. I will have to take time to post the details as well as all the many pictures in the days to come. In the meantime, please enjoy these pictures of Hallie and Amanda that my awesome brother Mark took. They are so fun together. They really enjoy each other and were very affectionate.

Hi!

Not much to write today, just want to show you these cute pictures of Hallie. Make sure to look back at the "Hallie's first coloring creation" post-- I was able to update it with more pictures.