New Blog

Well, now that I have gotten all caught up on 2011, I am going to switch to a new blog. Here is the new address, if you want to keep checking up on us...

www.ourkindakrazy.blogspot.com

December 2011

We are Christmas crazy in our house and we have so many fun traditions for the month of December. So this post will be a long one. It really was a month of reflecting for me. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and to be a mom to my sweet daughters. They really are my greatest blessings and I love them so much. Now on to December...
This is my girls being sweet sisters one day in December. Like I said, so blessed!

On December 10, Hadlee became an official walker. It took her about a month to get it down. But this was the day that my life changed forever because she was completely mobile. 

We did our traditional sponging of the windows with Christmas stencils for FHE one night.

We did our St. Nick's ornament trip.

Keelia had a Christmas program in preschool that my mom attended with me. She did such a cute job singing her songs.

My mom has her birthday a few days before Christmas, so we had fun celebrating her. She got a huge snow on her birthday, so she and the grandkids built some sledding ramps in the backyard. My mom loves snow and Christmas, so it was perfect for her birthday!

And one of our Christmas traditions is to "hide the pickle." Hadlee wasn't any competition this year and being my first year to have to hide the pickle, Keelia was the winner.

We all got the stomach flu right before Christmas. I was lucky enough to get it on Christmas morning. But I felt much better later that day. Hunter had the girls after church on Christmas day, but I got to have them Christmas Eve. And after a few hours there, they were ready to come home and be with their mom again. (Being without them was very hard for me. There is no way to prepare for your first holiday without your kids. One of the things you don't really think about when going through a divorce.) Hadlee and I were under the weather, but Keelia was on the mend, so she enjoyed it to the fullest. We had a wonderful Christmas together. We are so grateful for the season and for the Savior, who is the reason behind the season. Here are A LOT of pictures from Christmas...

All of my pictures from New Year's Eve are on my phone. But we had our usual spread and let the kids play at my mom's house. We watched the various New Year's Eve shows on TV and had a kids New Year's at 10pm. Some kids went to bed, some stayed up. Mine were both in bed by 10pm. At least from what I can remember. :) 

I've had a lot of years in my life, but I don't think I've ever been as happy to let one go as I was 2011. But at least now it is mostly documented. 

November 2011

Unfortunately, I remember very little about November. Seriously, I shouldn't wait so long to blog. I'm kicking myself for this. Just like I said I would be. And most of the pictures from November are on my iPhone, which hates my computer, so I don't have access to them. If I ever do, I will add them. But here is what I can recall from November.
On November 7, Hadlee took her first steps. It was a bittersweet moment for me, but one I am glad that I didn't have to miss.
Steak-n-Shake opened here and I introduced my girls to it. They were not thrilled like me, but they tried hard. I feel bad for them. For the most part, they are my only friends and they are good sports. But they have do a lot of things with me and they try hard to smile about it. :)
We had family pictures taken by my friend Nicole. Given that we were here clients, she did a fantastic job with what she was given. There are a lot, but here are some of my favorites.

We made "thanks cookies" the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Which is always a treat. This year, Mark was a cookie making machine.
We celebrated Thanksgiving at Matt and Leslie's house. It was beautifully decorated and very delicious. We had an excellent turkey bowl, where everyone got to score and everyone won. I'm not quite sure how that worked, but I am glad that it did. We also got to see the Jeff Young's for a few hours while they were in town.
I owned Black Friday, like I love to. It is really one of my favorite days of the year. I love all the deals and the crazy people. A big thanks to my mom for letting the girls stay asleep at the house while I was out until all hours of the morning. And maybe next year, I can talk a friend into going with me so I don't have to shop alone. But it was fantastic either way.
My brothers hung Christmas lights for my mom and we generally got into the Christmas spirit. Enjoy these few photos.

To kick off our Christmas holiday, we had our traditional gingerbread house building for FHE. We had Mallory along to help us, but I think the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Hunter and I had our first court meeting for our divorce. It didn't go all that well, but at least we got some things figured out and got on our way to having it be done.

October 2011

So, I didn't quite make the end of the year to finish my catch ups. And now I am 5+ months into the new year and I am still not caught up. But I am going to be better. I hope. 
October is a big month in our house. Keelia turned 4 on October 4th. We had to do her birthday kind of early because she had school on her birthday, but her daddy was able to come over on his way home from work, so that made it pretty special. We opened presents and had birthday donuts and she got her birthday balloons. After school, we had the Matt Young's, the Guellers, Nana, Papa, daddy, and Grandma for her party. She wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for her party. I attempted a "Tangled" cake to go with her "Tangled" birthday theme. By the time we left there, we were all exhausted. I think it was a pretty successful birthday. I love Keelia and I am so grateful to be her mom. Here are some pictures.

Also in October, Hadlee turned 1! I can't believe how fast my baby is growing up. Her birthday fell on Hunter's day to have the girls. But he came over in the morning and we did birthday donuts and presents. And in the afternoon, we got lunch and went to the park with the Guellers. After Hadlee's nap, Hunter had the girls. My family celebrated Hads' birthday on Sunday, October 16th. Luckily, she doesn't know the difference. She is such a sweet, spunky girl, and I feel so blessed to be here mom. Here are some pictures.

Keelia continued her soccer camp through the middle of October and loved every second. Keelia also got her hair cut again. She looked so darling with her new do. Here are some pictures.

We had some crazy early snow in October and it didn't take Keelia long to learn to love it. Every time we had any snow on the ground, she wanted to get all dressed up and go out and play in it. Here she is playing in it.

In October, Hunter and I filed for divorce. It was not an easy decision to come to, but it was one that was necessary. It was an adjustment for everyone and still is at times.

One of Keelia's favorite holidays is Halloween. This year was a lot of fun! We went to my sister's multi-ward "trunk or treat," which is a fun tradition and an excuse to dress the girls up and get candy!

We had our traditional "orange dinner" hosted by my sister the Sunday before Halloween. We carved pumpkins and ate all things orange. And as it turns out, having to carve 3 pumpkins by yourself is less than awesome. :)

And here are the pictures from our Trick or Treating. We went with the Guellers and had a lot of fun. The weather was nice and with the exception of a few houses that were too scary, it was pretty uneventful. 

Also, toward the end of the month, Hadlee said her first word, which was..."caca." Turns out, I say that a lot when she tries to eat garbage or things off the floor or street. So it stuck. No judgement needed. I judge myself.