Santa Came!

Here come the gift opening presents.....

Christmas Cookies with Keenan

We went out to dinner with the Shiley's for Christmas Eve and came home to bake some Christmas cookies.

Guitar Hero and Vikings

So, i'm addicted to Guitar Hero 3 and HP loves to dance while I shred the guitar. Also, here we are watching the Vikes get the butts handed to them by the Redskins. Go Dallas!

Merry Christmas

It's been almost a month since we posted so we apologize. I have been traveling a lot and finished up my first term of graduate school. Got an A- on my only class. I'm taking two this term and hope to get the same grades. It's a bit different from last time I was in school.

We have to make a Christmas Day run to Walgreen's. Lil Huney has a double ear infection again (tubes on Jan 9) and I spilled all the fever reducing infant ibuprofen last night about 2:47am. DOH! Oh well, we have a ton of things to post and will do it later on when we get back.

Hope you all had a safe and happy Christmas.

2007's First Gift

Hailey got to unwrap her first gift of 2007. Well, sort of, she's always opening gifts from Grandparents . Now she has her own chair to sit in. She has an interesting style of jumping in, but she loves it already!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Hailey goes nuts every time we go through a store that has Christmas trees out. She is stoked that we have one right in the living room. She got the opportunity to make sure we put it together the right way. Also, the best part of our tree is there are presents underneath. Keeping her out of them until Christmas is going to be.....interesting

Our Little Maid

In addition to being great at laundry Hailey has taken up mopping with Mommy. She needs a little bit of help in getting the mop soaped up but as you can see, understands that she needs to squeegy the handle. Wait, there's no bucket under there. Oh well, can't blame her for trying

Cookie Monster pt. 2

I haven't posted here for awhile, so I thought I would check in. I just got back from trips to MPLS and to Florida for work. It was kinda rough considering I was just getting over pnemonia. I did get to stay a night with the Schippers so that was good. We sure do miss those guys and gals. Thanksdizzle Day (for friends the friday before thanksgiving) is coming up and we're excited for Grandparents to descend down for Turkey day. Here's a picture of Hailey and Nana making cookies. They sure are good. Here's a thought, call someone and tell them you love them today.

Bee at the Zoo!

Tonight Jim, Hailey and I met our good friends Sara, Taron, and Lily at the Zoo for the girls first halloween experience - Boo at the Zoo. After having to walk several blocks to get to the zoo entrance only to find a very long line of people also waiting to attend this wonderful event. The kids costumes were adorable and Hailey had a great time checking everyone out. She did not get scared at all but was not willing to touch anything either. She was good about holding on to her treat bag and everyone thought she was a cute bee. She had a great time despite the non-smiles in these pictures. She was very busy looking at everyone and at the decorations. She saw many different costumes, met a firefighter and a police man, as well as some doctors. She flirted with some boys that were walking near us. She and Lily had a great time and they gave each other "high fives" when walking near each other.

The Fork Master

In the last few days Hailey has been mastering the world around her more quickly than ever. She has finally grasped the idea of a straw and no longer just licks it, but rather gets the contents in the glass through the straw and into her mouth. And then yesterday and today she has mastered the fork. She loves Turkey sticks and will now only eat them if she can you her special halloween fork.

Pumpkin Carving

Yesterday, we went to Sarah, Taron and Lily's house to carve pumpkins. Hailey put on the outfit Gramma Betty Pearl sent her last year and she jumped right in and helped out. Taron had a huge pumpkin and you can see HP next to it.

For those of you wondering, we are feeling much better. I'm still coughing a bit but the meds seem to be helping. It's been almost a month so it's nice to feel better. We have another open house today so keep your fingers crossed.

Just Watching TV

So last night Hailey pulled over the chair she got from Nana Patty and had the controller in hand. It was funny to watch her try and change the channels. The batteries are funky and sometimes there is a special way to hit it to make it work, and yeah, she was trying her best to mimic Beth. Funny stuff.

Go Bulldogs!

It's starting to get cold so we pulled out some winter things for HP. We remembered the hat that Luke, Sarah and Gracyn got her last year. She's a little UMD Bulldog.

Sleeping In With Daddy

Hailey and I were both sick this past week, so we kind of slept in on the weekend. She got really cuddled up to me and Beth snapped a few pictures.

Keeping Busy

Hailey has been very busy lately. She in always interested in what Jim and I are doing and tries to copy us to the best of her ability. Her personality is showing more and more each day. Hailey is quite funny, sassy, and loves to laugh. She now says hi, mama, dad, yes, up, uh oh, and uhh uhh while pointing for everything else. When she is tired at night she points to her bed and we lay her down without any fussing. Her foot is healing nicely but still has some swelling. Here is what she has been up to.....

She doesn't know what shoes to wear....

She loves any toy that plays music... she pushes this one and then stops to dance while it continues to play.

She loves to help empty the dishwasher, I think she is already looking to earn some allowance.

She loves playing catch with her dad! She even holds her hands out when its hear turn to catch!

She is learning more every day and is continually watching others and trying new things. She tells great stories and appears to be loving life!

Ma! I Sprained My Foot!

Well, lil huney had a little accident at school today and ended up "spraining" her foot. It's amazing looking at an x-ray of her foot cause there are no complete foot bones in there, just a bunch of cartilage and toe bones. Anyway, check out her swollen foot. We felt so bad, we had to get a new Little People toy.

Playin at the Park

We went to the local park with Taryn, Sara and Lilly. Everyone, even Daddy, had a fun time. Hailey really loves the swing. In fact, we had a hard time getting her out cause she refused.

On to GR

Next we got to GR for Tony and Heathyr's wedding celebration! We did start if off with a little party for lil huney though. This is about the time that Beth was really getting sick and we didn't get hardly any pictures. Feel free to snapfish us if anyone has an album. Here are a couple though of the cake and Hailey with her cousins Nathan and Brian.

"Home In Duluth"

I am going to post up a few in chronological order from our trip. We spent one day in Duluth which is Hailey's unofficial home (it's where she started if you know what I mean). I have to admit, both Beth and I really miss it there. It is a great city that we are really fond of. In a weird way it's nice to see the fog, the fleece and college kids. Here are some pictures with Grandma Sue.

Another big change!

I wanted to post here to see how long it takes the news to get out. Anyway, I have accepted a job as a marketing manager with my previous employer "fifty below". We have the house for sale, and will eventually be relocating to the Minneapolis area. I will be working from home so we aren't in a rush mode to move. We don't want to have to drop the sales price of our house and honestly, i'd rather spend the winter in Lincoln. It's excited for us to get back home, but we're also sad cause we've made such great relationships here. Plus, Beth just started a position that she loves so that is hard to. Her support for me as we move the family around is awesome.

I also apologize for not posting up here. It's been a whirlwind for us since getting back from the wedding, but we are going to try to update with several posts this week and weekend. I start my classes for my MBA on Oct. 3 so i've been busy with getting materials together.

For those of you who we saw at Tony and Heathyr's wedding, i wanted to let you know that Beth has been doing better. We are still doing tests and such to try and find a cause for her tummy pains. As you can imagine, it's a long and frustrating process. She is my best friend and an awesome mommy and we're doing everything to try and get this identified. We appreciate everyones calls and support. We also appreciated everyone respecting our wishes to be alone while at the hospital. Things have gotten alot better but there is still an answer out there, and we can't wait to find it.

stay tuned...

Birthday Party at Nana's

Well, we made it to Burnsville just in time for a birthday celebration at Nana Patty's. Birthday week continues to Duluth then Grand Rapids for Uncle Tony and Heathyr's wedding.

I don't like cupcakes Dad!

We had Hailey's friend Lily over the other night to eat cupcakes. (Lily is like a week younger than Hailey). Things were going good, until, well......you can see for yourself.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAILEY!

Hailey had her first birthday on Sunday and we had a great time. She had fun opening presents.

Hailey Pearl-y Whites

Well, tonight Hailey took brushing those six teeth into her own hands.