April Happenings

What a great month so far!

How can it go wrong with all the great warm weather!!!

Here are some pictures of life lately with us:

At my birthday, when I first took a picture of him with the new camera. :)

Easily on of my favorite pictures of my little man.  He is a sweetheart.

He loves his duplos.

My study area...my plants are still alive today but barely....

Getting ready to play outside!

Matching hats with dad!

I have been loving this little book!  You write a little something every day, and in five years you have such a fun memory.  Thanks K!
*can be found here

Where has march gone?

This month blogging has been off my to-do list.
It's been quite the month.
My emotions have been flying everywhere, and I have been bursting into tears for no reason.
I apologize to everyone who I have not been as kind or as thoughtful as I should have been.
I feel like this past month has stretched me in every direction, and I hope that I have come out of it a stronger, happier and more determined person.

To recap:
*I had a delightful lunch/afternoon with my Grandma G.  We had a great time eating at Red Lobster, and she took me on a generous shopping spree.  Everyone should have a Grandma G telling them how beautiful they are when they go shopping. :)
*Mr. H and I were able to attend the temple with our ward and do sealings.  It was such a great time: we were able to do some Elder Nelson's family names, which I thought was great. :)  We enjoyed pie afterwards and loved hanging out with our friends.  Thank you Sister Baldwin and my parents who babysat C.
*The H family had a birthday dinner for me which was so nice of them.  They do such a great job at including me in their family and supporting my family.  It was really great to see everyone!
*Mr. H had spring break, and we decided we needed to do a couple of fun things. We went skiing for the day at Powder mountain and it was a BLAST.  Such a gorgeous day, perfect snow and we had a ball together.  It was so nice to be together and not be plagued by so much worry and stress.  Thank you to the H family who babysat C for us. :)  Also--Mr. H tried snowboarding this time and he was SO good!  He looked so cool going down the slopes, which motivated me to try some harder runs as well.

*I was able to go up to Idaho with my cute parents for my cousin's wedding at the end of the week.  Mr. H and C had a daddy-son bonding day which I was told went very well.  I had a great time with my family up in Idaho.  My cousin looked beautiful and the wedding was gorgeous.  It was so great to see my family!  We had a really nice visit with my grandparents who both have had major surgeries within the last couple of months.  So grateful they are all well!
*The next day we took C to the U of U's Art Museum.  It was really fun!  C loved pushing his stroller through the galleries.  The following pictures were in a really odd exhibit, which featured a live birth on screens inside.  We didn't stay for very long. :)

*That afternoon we got to attend my other cousin's Andrew and Nikki's wedding.  It was lovely, and they are such delightful people.  It was fun to see my G side of the family.
*St. Patrick's day came and went....I totally forgot and Mr. H came home and pinched me.  Oh well, maybe next year we'll get into it a little more.
*Here in the village we get to enjoy a lot of free things at our activities.  There was a pizza night, and you should have seen how quickly our little neighborhood devoured that free pizza.  Seriously: if you say free, people are going to come.
*We got to go to the temple again, while Grandma T watched C at City Creek.  It is always so good to go to the temple.
*Mr. H got to fly out and tour Boston University. He had such an amazing time.  He got to stay in a gorgeous hotel and be wined and dined.  He loved meeting with everyone and felt really excited about it.

Instead of a selfie, he took a picture of his food instead.

*C and I headed to my parents for the weekend.  It is so nice of them to let us hang out there with them.  We enjoyed hiking and relaxing together.  I got to meet up with a friend and her baby boy and we chatted and let C run around the playground.  It was so nice to see her.  My parents and A and I played a rousing game of Settlers of Catan.  It was really fun.
*My birthday came!  My sweet parents pulled out the birthday table cloth, and then we headed to Sill's cafe for a birthday breakfast with my friend K.  It was delicious!  The scones are a must have.  We then borrowed a bike trailer and all of us took C on a bike ride.  It was gorgeous and really fun!  C loved being pulled!  We got home, and had a delicious birthday lunch and cake.  It was so nice of K to come up from Provo and be with us.  She is a true friend.  My parents were so sweet in hosting C and I for the weekend.  They always make it so nice and just take care of us.  It's always hard to have Mr. H leave, but they made so we didn't have to dread it.  Later, we all took naps, and then C and I met up with Mr. H's parents for ice cream.  It was fun! C likes ice cream! (But only from Grandma T).  Then C and I headed to our adult session of Stake Conference.  My presidency was in charge of the nursery.  It was so sweet, the girls that had been asked to come babysit all had to cancel at the last moment.  The man in charge of finding people was starting to get really stressed out.  But then his daughter, who's birthday also was that day, said "Dad, I'm turning 12 and would like to do service for my birthday."  So their whole family did the babysitting for the nursery that night.  She was such a good example to me of putting service above selfish wants.
Anyway, after that session, I got C to bed and finally got to go get Mr. H from the airport.
We celebrated together the next day, and had a delightful time!  Thanks to everyone, I got a fancy new camera!  I'm thrilled!  It was great to celebrate with Mr. H and C.
I don't feel like I'm 24, but I'm sure it will be a great age to be.  :)

*This past week was really stressful.  Mr. H and I have been trying to decide our future, and man it has been really hard!
So to calm our nerves, I picked up Mr. H from school and we just drove.  We decided to let C play at the Church History Museum (which was so cute!).  We then walked around Temple Square and just enjoyed being together.
We tried to go to the temple again, but got there too late.  So to make the best of things, we headed to Gourmandise.  It was amazing.  Thanks Mr. H for knowing how to help me destress. :)

The future is always a hard thing.  I really wanted to do the right thing for our family.  I started stressing out about Mr. H even getting a PH.D. He had been given another offer at Stanford for a master's program, and so we had to rethink some things. But ultimately, we knew that Mr. H should get his Ph.D.  I know it's such a long road, and it is breaking my heart to think about leaving my beloved Utah and family.  C has the most amazing family, and it makes me so sad they will not be close.
But, I know that Mr. H and I have been led to this point.  It may be a really hard road, but I know that the Lord will bless us.
We then had to decide between University of Pennsylvania, and Boston University.  Such a hard choice. Both are amazing schools and have great programs. Through the whole journey, I have been rooting for Boston.  I thought it would be so easy.

But it has been VERY hard.  We wanted to go to the place that will help Mr. H the best with his career. We wanted to go where the Lord want's our family.  We wanted to make the best decision.

I have learned a lot about prayer.  I was making myself sick, going back and forth between these two places.  Both had some amazing 'pros'.  As we both prayed, we both felt very good about attending Boston University.  There is so much worry about moving to such an expensive area, and the future is uncertain, but we do know that going to Boston is what we are supposed to do.

Mr. H submitted his acceptance and we are excited! We still are stressed and worried how things will all work out, but we are happy to have a plan! We will be moving at the end of the summer.

We can finally breathe!  We celebrated last night by making midnight waffles and giggling and getting excited about our future.

Time is going so fast, and I can't believe the month is over.  But things are good and life is good.  We couldn't be more blessed.

Some random pictures of C:

C and his friend E.  They both insisted on sitting in that chair together and reading books. 

If you notice, those are ear buds around C's neck.  He loves wearing it around his neck for some strange reason.

In like a lion...

Isn't that what they say about march? "IN like a lion"????

Idk.  March has crept up on me and I literally can't believe spring is here.

Last week, the Hogle Zoo did a free day.  

A bunch of girls from the court packed up their strollers and headed out. 

Some of us decided to walk. (*note: 1.2 miles uphill).  

We looked pretty hilarious with our big stroller train.  

The zoo was fun!  

C definitely liked it more than last year, but there were SO MANY PEOPLE!!!

Herds of children surrounded every pane of glass.

Both C and I got overwhelmed by the crowds.  

Our favorite part though were the sea otters.  They would swim by and do flips and it was awesome.  

Thankfully, we were able to leave by noon, and we were amazed at how many strollers/children/cars were headed up Sunnyside Avenue.  

C has been being pretty funny lately.  

He leaves "cheesing" where he'll scrunch up his eyes and squint at us.

He loves trying out new words, like 'back pack' and 'baby'.  

He also is into water lately...

what a mess.  

I was able to go to my friend's baby shower.  It was a blast.  There is nothing like taking a bunch of girls with babies and talking all night long about babies. :)

Mr. H got to give a presentation down in Provo on Friday.  We spent most of the night before prepping, and him presenting to a half asleep me.  He likes to give it to me, because I then tell him what I understood and he modifies.  I loved being in Provo.  Props to both of our moms who came down to support.  

He did an awesome job!

February Fun!

This month has flown by.  

So C got sick with pneumonia.  It was quite the bummer of this year. Then we all got sick.

But we got BETTER. :)  

So now we get to enjoy the sunshine.  60 degree weather in February?  AMAZING.

We got to celebrate Valentine's day.  We made homemade heart shaped pizzas and played with C.  Then we tried to watch "A Philadelphia Story".  It had a lot of potential, but ended up being a little weird.

Overall, it was a nice night and really great to be with Mr. H.  

So I wanted C to hold the flowers all cute and this was the best we got. :)

He loves helping me cook.  So we made special V-day cookies to celebrate. 

I took Mr. H and C out to the bird refuge on Saturday for a homework break.  Grandpa W also came.  It was fun.  I wanted to see bald eagles, and we saw one.  So that was cool. 

C and I had to go shoe shopping.  He grew TWO sizes since the last time I was with him.

That little boy is growing!

I took C to his Dr.'s appointment for his 18 month check-up.  

10 % weight

70 % height

96 % head!!!!  As Mr. H always says, big heads hold big brains.

Since Mr. H is going to important interviews and open houses, we decided to pay for a professional haircut for him.  (I have cut his hair our whole marriage).  Well, I guess I will continue cutting his hair.  He came back with it looking extremely short. This is a running battle between us, as he always wants it really short, and I like it a little longer.  He smiled, and said "I told her to go short".  I laughed, and laughed....which wasn't that nice of me.  Next time, we'll save the money and I'll just cut it how we always do. :)

We enjoyed President's day.  I discovered Savers, and also that they had a 50 % off sale.  It was awesome.  We went pant shopping with Mr. H.

It was hilarious.  He told me was a 32" by 38".  So I gathered up all the pants I could find in that measurement.  We got into the dressing room, and the pants could literally almost wrap around him twice.  He started panicking that he had lost so much weight.  I started thinking we were going to need to try the little boy section upstairs.  But then we realized I had brought all the 38" by 32".  ha.  Mr. H was relieved to not have to go to the boy's section.  And just as a side note, we could not find his size anywhere.  :(

We finished this season of Downton Abbey.  For some reason, that show has become 'our' show.  I loved this season.  And I loved being able to snuggle with Mr. H as we would watch the episodes.

Mr. H flew to Philadelphia this past Wednesday.  He was so excited.  I got to give him mock interviews, and ask him all sorts of fun questions.  He looked handsome  and confident.  We dropped him off at the airport, and then C and I headed to City Creek and played on the big sky bridge.  He loved seeing the trax trains, cars and people walking underneath us.  We were able to meet up with my brother's mission companion's family and chat about our cute missionaries.

I spent the rest of the week in Centerville.  It was awesome.  I got to be a buddy for O and go to a karate class, my brothers played with C, I got to hang with my awesome parents, my dad made me delicious crepes, and we tackled the task of organizing and sorting all the pictures in the house.  I am so lucky to have such a great family.  We both loved staying at their house.

Sunday we picked Mr. H up from the airport.  He had a great time, and enjoyed being in a new place.  

I encouraged him to take 'selfies' on his trip. 

This week started off really hard.  But I think I'm learning that hard things that happen may seem really bad or unfair at first.  They may break your heart. You may think that things like that shouldn't have to happen.  But I think I learned that hard things and trials NEED to happen.  We are able to draw near to our Savior, and He will heal our hearts.  We must experience trials to learn from the master Healer.  He shows His love for us by making up for our weakness, and giving us peace that we can't find from any other source.  

Here's to a sun filled week with HOPE, BRIGHTNESS, and LOVE.

Spring is right around the corner! 

18 months

C is officially 18 months. (And a couple of days) 

To start of this new chapter of life,

he is officially sick with pneumonia.  

However, he is on the mend so we attempted to do a 18 month photo shoot.

As you can see, emotions are all over the board at this time of life for C.

I think the biggest change in the last three months for me is how fast he is learning new things.  

He loves parroting new words, with some favorites including 'bird', 'pepper' 'love you' and 'emma'.

He loves climbing things.  His new favorite is to climb into the dishwasher.  

He loves pushing buttons.  On the TV, computers, cameras, you name it.

He loves helping cook.  He pulls over a chair and stands next to me and plays with the utensil drawer.

He loves the fridge and finding bags of cheese inside.

He has started turning all the knobs on the stove, as well as using the toaster---much to my chagrin! 

He loves reading books.  He has started pointing to things in his stories and saying what they are, and he has memorized the pages with fun sounds, mimicking them as well.

His favorite book is "How do Dinosaurs Go to Sleep"

He loves playing ball. Still.  It is safe to say he is obsessed with them.  He asks for them when he wakes up and loves his collection.

He likes 'winking' and making his 'cute' face.

He dislikes getting his teeth brushed.

About a month ago, he gave up his 2nd nap.  He goes down now around 12:30 and takes a two to three hour nap.  He goes to bed at 7:30 and wakes up around 8.  It is great!

He loves cuddling, and loves to cuddle on Mr. H's chest.  

He loves singing songs, with "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" and "5 little monkeys" being some of his favorites.  *I do have to mention sometimes I think he more likes seeing me and Mr. H jumping around looking silly than actual singing.

He loves playing the piano. He has picked up from seeing the other kids play, and loves using both of his hands, and will play little melodies. He also likes pounding the keys.  But I am excited as I watch him figure out the instrument.  

He loves playing "Ring a round the rosy" and "Hide and Seek"

'No' means 'Yes' in the H household

It's crazy for me to think that this little boy is already a year and half, and I am so grateful for him. Parenting is definitely difficult, and the toddler stage is bringing new challenges, but it is also such a blessing and joy to watch him grow up.

C one year ago! at six months

*not to be confused with Cat. :)

Saving Money Monday: Walmart Price-Match

Hey team.

So we're ALL sick now.  Which is a bummer of the century.

Hopefully that will be over soon.

I still need to post C's 18 month stats.

Anyway,

I've been trying different ways to save money.

Some friends kept telling me about Walmart's Price matching.

I am not a Walmart fan.  HOWEVER, I am a fan of eating lots of fruits and vegetables and having enough food in the house so Mr. H and C don't starve to death on Sundays.  

SO, I started price matching this month.  I thought I would share what I am finding with you every monday.  I just write down the prices at other stores and then tell the checkers.  They are so great about it.  Seriously. 

Here is for the week of February 10th.

MILK: $1.99 a gallon (skim, 1 %, 2 % generic brand) @Rancho Markets

DaVINCI pasta: $0.88 each @Reams

1 lb strawberries: $1.88 @Sprouts Farmers Market

6 oz blueberries: $1.88 @Sprout's Farmers Market

yellow onions: $0.39 lb @Reams

green onions: $0.39 a bundle @Reams

Cilantro: $0.39 a bundle @Reams

Cache Valley Shredded Cheese: $1.98 for the 8 oz @Ridleys

Roma Tomatoes: $0.50 lb @Rancho Markets

Grapefruit: $0.50 lb @Rancho Markets

Bananas: $0.49 lb @ Fresh Market

Red and Green peppers: $0.50 each @Sprout's Farmers Market

*in Salt Lake locations

Some tips on price matching:

-write down the prices and places you've found

-tell them you want to price match as soon as you start checking out

-grocery shop at Walmart in the morning: the produce is in much better condition

-keep to your list!  You will save so much money if you can keep to your list.  

So an example of our weekly menu:

Monday

Tacos: homemade tortillas, beef, cheese, tomatoes, spinach, green onions

Tuesday

Sloppy Joes on multi-grain thins, paired with sweet potato fries.

Wednesday

Pasta w/ fresh tomato sauce + frozen vegetable we have on hand *our favorite is green beans

Thursday

Pad Thai 

Friday

Heart shaped pizzas topped w/ pepperoni, peppers, sausage and cheese

*homemade sauce and crust found here

Saturday

Omelets w/onions, mushrooms, spinach, peppers and leftover sausage

Sunday 

Red pepper alfredo sauce on whole wheat rotini.  

I try and keep to about $50.00 a week on groceries.  This includes ALL our food.  

Happy Monday!!!!

late night talks

C and I are sick.

He's sicker than me, but we're both sick sick.  

Luckily Mr. H came home last night a little early and saved us both.  

The olympics started!  The team ice skating was last night and in all my sick glory, I felt my heart get bigger as I watched the beautiful performances.  

We have good news in our house!!!  We are either going to be living in Philadelphia, PA or Boston, MA for the next little while.  SO EXCITED!!!!!

So I've been of course researching my little heart out.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia

Boston

Boston

Last nights conversation:

Mr. H "I'm thinking we should get rid of our car when we move."

me: "WHAT??!!!!" No way!"

Mr. H "It just doesn't make sense financially to keep it when we'll live in a city with awesome transportation."

me: "How will I go grocery shopping with kids???  how will we go places?"

Mr. H "I don't know....you could take a stroller?"

I knew I had to talk some sense in him: "How would we go CAMPING?"

pause 

Mr. H "You know, you have a point there."

My friend K and my mom came over and hung out for awhile yesterday.  It was a blast.  Those two are funny: I think my favorite line of our conversation:

my mom "K, do you not like Mitt Romney?"

pause, K "I'm like GO HILARY CLINTON!"

:)

Anyway, we're getting so excited.  

So here's to a long, great weekend in which we can feel better and keep dreaming. :)