Christmas Fun

Yesterday I had a baby shower to go to and since things with the holidays have been crazy, I was running a bit late. Luckily I was able to find a brownie mix in the cupboard because I was suppose to take brownies. Hailee loves helping in the kitchen so I let her help me make the brownies. I left her with the brownie bowl and spoon and went to finish my hair. Soon she came into the bathroom and I saw her cute little face all covered with chocolate (not to mention her shirt and pants.) When I told her she had chocolate on her face she stuck her tongue out and licked all around her face. So any part of her face that was chocolate was just because her tongue wasn't quite long enough to get it. It made me laugh. After a quick face wash and outfit change for her, we were ready to go.

Todd just has one more final to take HOORAY! That is one thing I won't miss with Todd graduating. I think I stress more about finals then he does. This is not to say that Todd doesn't study or take them seriously. He works very hard, but for him it's just a game or competition if you will. Not a competition with his classmates, but with the test and the professor. He loves it. He is the only person I know that is actually smiling/excited to go take a test when I drop him off at the testing center. It was the strangest thing to me when we first got married, it just seems unnatural to me to be excited about taking a test. I have to say that I am so proud of him, he has worked really hard and done well. Even with a health disadvantage he continues to do well. After today it will just be family time. Hailee and I are looking forward to it.

Mall Shopping

I am one of those people who try their hardest to avoid the Mall and other major shopping areas the month of December. Yesterday I remembered why. They shopping part wasn't so bad, it was the parking lot after that drove me crazy. Everyone is in a hurry, and for some reason people forget to be courteous while driving in the mall parking lot. Oh well we survived and I finished my Christmas shopping for Todd. I am so excited! Now if I can get Hailee to keep them a secret, she has a really hard time keeping secrets for Todd. She has already told him one things we got for him (the thing we bought last week), she was just too excited.

We did have some funny moments. On our way I was asking Hailee what she wanted to get for her dad. Here was here list. 1. A new house 2. A new car 3. A tree. Hmmm, not quite in the budget and the tree she wanted to get was just way too big, it was in someone's yard.

Here are some funny moments we had a the mall.

1. Discovering Disney store. They recently opened a Disney store in the mall. It was the first time Hailee had even seen a Disney store. The though that came to my head was the line from "The night before Christmas" "Visions of Sugar Plums danced in their head." But in Hailee's case if was visions of disney princess dancing in her head. It was so cute to see the joy in her face.

2. B-line for the shoes. Well the whole reason for our trip to the mall was to find something for Todd so out our way to a store for him. While walking Hailee saw a little kiosk with specialty children things. What caught my precious little 3 year olds attention, none other than shoes. She is going to have a serious shoe addiction when she gets older. I guess I can't complain because she comes by it naturally. She is such a cute shopper. After we found the shoes she was really good at helping me pick something out for Todd, she is quite opinionated when it comes to colors and things.

3. Wishing for a dog. At the mall they have a few fountains and Hailee noticed there was money in them. She thought it would be fun to get the money out. When I told her that money was for wishing she wanted to make a wish. She threw in her nickel and said "Oh I wish for a dog." Then looked at me and said "Mom I wished for a dog." I hope we don't have a little girl who is too disappointed on Christmas morning.

4. Music fun. Well by then end of our trip she was ready to go home. We got in the car and of course it took forever to get out of the parking lot. After a couple of minutes she asked that we turn off the Christmas music. "Mom that music is making me sick." I couldn't help but laugh.

After we picked up Todd I had a Relief Society dinner to go to so they went Christmas shopping together. They had such a fun time and Hailee saw Santa Claus for the first time (poor child, I really try hard to avoid the mall). Todd said it was so funny this is how their conversation went.

T: Hailee come over here and look at this.
H: What is it dad.....oh it's Santa.
H: (After a slight pause) What is he doing here?
T: Just talking to kids. Do you want to talk to him?
H: No, I don't think so.

Todd said they didn't see him until the end of their shopping trip and she was really tired after running all around the mall and going up and down the escalators. He also said that she wanted to listen to music again. Her new favorite song is "Away in a Manger" or as she says it "the Catta looey song" She is trying to say "The Cattle are Lowing." That part is her favorite. It's cute to hear her sing it. So overall a very successful shopping day for our family.

The Nutcracker

Here are some pictures from Hailee's ballet class performance. They did a little dance to a song from the Nutcracker. It was really fun. Hailee was excited because Todd got to come and watch. They are so good with the kids and Hailee is learning so much and more importantly having a great time.

D - O - G

So I discovered that Hailee knows how to spell "dog." As I've been talking on the phone to people I've been telling them they story of Hailee wanting a dog for Christmas. Since I didn't really want to bring up a dog again I've been spelling it when talking to people on the phone. A few days ago I asked Hailee what she wanted for Christmas and she responded "a D - O - G." Thinking that she was just repeating what she had heard from me I asked her what a D - O - G was, to which she responded

H: A dog mom.
N: How did you know D - O - G was a dog
H: Mom, dog starts with D and ends in G.

Well she's right, but I'm not afraid to spell anything in front of her, I might have to resort to using foreign languages. Too bad Todd speaks Korean and I speak Portuguese. It worked out much better for my parents since they both spoke Spanish. Luckily now she knows we are not getting a dog until we move to Oregon. She is counting down the days now until she can get a dog. Last night she was a little sad as she was falling asleep and I asked her what was wrong. She said, "Oh mom, I just miss my dog so much."


In other Hailee news she read "Zac the Rat" all by herself. It's one of those first readers with simple-easy-to-sound-out-words. She is getting really excited about reading. She first read it with me and was so excited that she had to go and read it to her dad. It was so cute to see.

My other favorite story of the week was Hailee and her gloves. I just got her some new little gloves for when we are just running around and not really playing in the snow. It is her first pair of gloves, she is just used to having mittens. Well at first she would get her fingers mixed up in the different finger spots. One time when we were struggling she said "Oh mom, these little piggies are so confused."

Christmas troubles

Santa might be in a little trouble this year. This is the first year that Hailee is really getting into Christmas. Last year she was excited for Christmas morning, but there was of the anticipation excitement before Christmas morning. She just woke up Christmas morning and was excited to see presents for her under the tree. This year we have been talking about Christmas for at least a month. Well last week we discovered that Hailee has decided that she wants a dog for Christmas. After playing with my cousins dog, Hailee told me that she wanted to ask Santa for a dog for Christmas. I told her we would need to talk about it. That night I had Todd talk to her about it and he was confident that it had all been taken care of. They talked about how we didn't have room for a dog.

Two days later I asked Hailee what she wanted for Christmas. She told me that she wanted a dog and to not worry because she would ask Santa to bring a bed too. So that night we talked about it again. She had an answer for everything we threw at her. When we asked what else she wanted for Christmas she responded that she already had enough toys and that she really wanted a dog. Todd brought up the idea that we don't technically have a yard for a dog. That didn't bother Hailee in the least. She could just make a yard, all she needs is some wood, dirt and sticks. At the end of our conversation she said, don't worry dad I will just ask Santa Claus.
So after feeling like a horrible parent and worrying that my child's first Santa Christmas was going to be ruined I asked my sister for some advise. She suggested that I take her to the toy store and she if she got interested in any other toys. It worked! We went online toy shopping and she got excited for some Charlie and Lola things. Later when we wrote a letter for Santa Clause she wrote about Charlie and Lola things, a jump rope, and a jump rope for her baby sister. (No this is not an announcement, she is just excited about having a baby sister). Later we did talk some more about the dog and decided that when we move to Oregon will be a much better time for a dog. I think she still would love a dog, but now at least I have her excited about something else as well.

Todd and Hailee
Before going to bed we interrupt Todd's studying so we can read our scriptures and have any family discussions that need to happen (like not being able to get a dog until we move to Oregon. This is Hailee's favorite time of night. (BTW Todd is wearing a white shirt, not his underwear.)

Part of Hailee's letter to Santa (this one was actually to Santa's reindeer). She wrote her name on the top. She wrote her name for the first time in Arizona at Thanksgiving. We were all writing letters to my cousin that is on a mission and the kids were busy drawing pictures. Well Hailee decided that was the perfect time to write her name for the first time. We sent the letter to my cousin and I've been trying to get her to write it ever since. But if I suggest it she refuses to do it. It has to be all her idea or it's not going to happen, gosh she has a lot of her father in her. She thinks her name is spelled Hialee, at least she is getting all the letter in there. When I told her the A was in the wrong place she looked down and said, not it's just fine mom, see (pointing to her name) the A is right there. What could I say, the A was right there so I just praised her for writing her name and she finished up her letter to Santa's reindeer.

A week in review

Since I haven't been as good at posting recently I'm just going to write about some of my favorite Hailee stories this week.

Snow Report: By the end of the week our snow had almost disappeared. Hailee was very vigilant in checking the snow and letting me know the progress it was making. She was very sad that it was disappearing. It finally all melted yesterday, but we woke up to snow this morning so she was very pleased. One morning this week when we were taking Todd to school she said "Dad the snow is all melting." Todd, not realizing what a sad event this was for our little girl, responded, "That's good Hailee." To which she responded "Dad, it's not good. The snow IS melting, that is not good." She couldn't believe that snow melting was considered to be good by her dad.

Ikea Chocolate: So I have discovered that Ikea chocolate squares are great for bribing Hailee. She'll do almost anything for a chocolate square. One night I was getting her ready for bed and I was trying to get her to blow her nose (she hates getting her nose cleaned out). Our conversation went like this...
N: "Hailee I will give you an ikea chocholate."
H: No thank you
N: I will give you two
H: How about three. I will do it for three.
Already learning how to bargain at the age of three.

Sisters: Hailee has decided that her cousins are also her brothers and sisters. I guess it rubbed off on Cambria. Over Thanksgiving they had such a good time playing together. Stacie told me that the other day Cambria asked about Hailee (she is getting tired of only having brothers).
Cambria: Mom, Hailee is my cousin and my sister, right?
Stacie: Yeah I guess so
C: If Hailee is my sister how come she doesn't live with us.
S: Well sweetie I think her mom would miss her too much if she lived with us.
C: Her mom can come live with us too
S: Well I think her dad would miss them too much.
C: Mom, he could come too. (with a voice like "duh mom, they all could come"
Wouldn't it be nice if life was really as simple as 3 and 4 year olds make it.

Sleep Talking/Dreaming: It looks as if Hailee has inherited some sleep things from both her parents. On my side of the family everyone either walks in their sleep or talks in their sleep. When my mom was growing up in Mexico City she slept walk out of the house and walked down to her bishops house, squeezed through the bars and tried walking inside. Luckily it was her bishops house so they just called my grandpa. After that my grandpa put chairs in front of her so he would hear if she tired leaving again. Todd on the other hand has very exciting/adventurous dreams (I dream about very boring day to day things.) So the other night I was up late working on a few things when I hear Hailee talking in her sleep. She was laughing and having, what sounded like, a very funny dream. A little while later I heard her get a little sad so I went into check on her. She was out of bed and had tripped over her little piano. I think it kind of woke her up so she was a little sad. So far my favorite dream she has had was the one when the Alligator was trying to make her grow whiskers and the tooth fairy came and saved her and flew her away and the Alligator was snapping up at her. What an imagination.

Sleeping Beauty: The last couple of nights Hailee was wanted to play Sleeping Beauty before going to bed. She assigns us who we're going to be and takes turns. We are either assigned to be the princess, the prince, or the dragon. She likes reenacting the final scene where the prince defeats the dragon and wakes up the princess with a kiss. Todd likes to give her a hard time and pretends to be a prince that is afraid of the dragon, or a dragon that doesn't want to fight the prince, or a princess (yes even Todd takes his turn being assigned the princess) who doesn't want to sleep and miss out on the fun. Every time Todd gets out of line with the story Hailee is quick to correct him. Last night it was so funny. I was the dragon and he was the prince.
T: But I'm afraid of that big mean dragon
H: Price just fight him, I'm going to sleep
T: You're just going to sleep and leave me to fight him
H: Yes, it's okay, you are just fine...go ahead, I'm sleeping
T: But that dragon is so mean
H: It's fine price, just fight him them come give me a kiss.
It's so funny to hear them go on and on that way.

All Done

All done with the MBA Cookbook, I'm now just getting started on Christmas. Well first I need to clean up three days worth "of not really paying attention to what Hailee was playing with while I was trying to get the cookbook finished up." Yes she is very good at keeping herself busy, I just wish she was better at keeping things clean while she did it. Still I can't really complain because she was very understanding while her mother was a little crazy. After a morning of playing and having a good time together I'm taking a moment to blog then we'll clean the house, go to ballet and get out our Christmas stuff out. I'm so excited!

Yesterday we did take a little time out to go to Krista's school. Krista is in a child development class and needed a little kid to come to school with her Hailee was more than excited about the chance to go to school just like her dad. All morning she had a million questions about what was going to happen. It was so cute she had to get her back pack all packed before we left and when we got to Krista's school she didn't even look back to see if I was still there. She had such a good time and had to show Todd all the different things she had done at school.

After school we stopped by Brenda's house just for a minute and Hailee finally conquered her fear of dogs. It's been a long process, but was sped up by visiting Freckles in St. George. At the beginning she wouldn't even be on the floor if she thought Freckles was in the house. By the end of our trip she was okay to be on the floor with him, and occasionally pet him if there was someone else by her. Then when we were playing in the snow the neighbors dogs came out, she got a little nervous and wanted to be held. I told her they were nice dogs like Freckles, to which she responded that they weren't as clever as Freckles. At Brenda's house Kelsey has a little pint size chihuahua dog named Sadie. She is seriously 2 pounds. Hailee has always been afraid of her, but Saturday she was a little more comfortable. She still didn't want to play with her, but she wasn't wanting her outside. On Wednesday after school she finally realized that a dog would be fun to play with. She enjoyed picking her up and giving her the bone and she even let Sadie lick her had. I don't think Sadie enjoyed it nearly as much as Hailee, but it was so cute to watch. She treated Sadie like one of her dolls. Now my little Hailee wants a Sadie dog of her own for Christmas. I told her to talk to her dad! Next time we're over I need to get pictures. It's quite funny to see.

Let it snow, let it snow...

Hailee catching snow on her tongue.

Hailee and Ruthann in the snow.

Okay I have to admit that waking up yesterday to the snow was very fun. I was a little sentimental and was thinking about when we move we probably won't have snow as often. I was thinking I might even miss it a little bit.

Hailee was, of course, so excited for the snow. I was even able to find all her snow clothes, minus one mitten. Ruthann came over and played with Hailee in the snow. I took pictures. It was so cute to see Hailee trying to catch falling snow flakes on her tounge and thoroughly enjoying every second of the snow. Just before going in she wanted to make a snow angel. I wasn't sure if she knew what to do, but before I knew it she had plopped down and started wiggling her arms and legs back and forth. Below I am posting a little video clip of Hailee making a snow angel.

Oh it was so beautiful day, snow covered trees and the whole world white. I was even enjoying it myself. That is, until that evening when I had to go and drive in it. I hate driving in the snow. It seems like every first big snow of the winter it takes the street cleaners about a day before they get on the ball. So after sliding all around town I was very glad to be safe and sound at home again.

Hailee playing in her "office"

The other day I was working and Hailee was playing by herself. She kept coming over the the printer and taking a piece of paper. After a while I started listening to what she was playing because she was going through a lot of paper and I was curious. She was playing office. She was interviewing her favorite princesses. I caught a little on video before she noticed me. She was asking them questions and then writing them down. She was saying things like "What is your name....Cinderella...Cinderella what....Cinderella Cunningham...okay Cinderella Cunningham (writing down on her paper)" This continued on and on through all her princesses. At the end of the video she was interviewing Jasmine next and when she turned around to call her over she noticed I was taking a video of her. She is such a busy little girl.