Hallie is now five months old. It’s amazing how much can change in such a short amount of time. We can’t remember our life without her.

On Saturday I was able to drive down to the district and see two great friends that I haven’t seen since my mission. (2 years-crazy!!)  My last companion Sister Maxwell who is from Salt Lake and Kessia Cruz who was a delight to teach.

Driving there was a breeze and Hallie even fell asleep. However parking was a whole other story. After driving around for 30 min with Hallie now awake and screaming I found a parking garage and consented to paying the 16 dollars it cost.  I figured it was a small price to keep me from swearing.

With that said it was so worth it. Sarah (Sister Maxwell) is amazing.  She was in town for a school trip and set side time to see us. One of my favorite things about her is the fact that she always follows through with what she says-amazingly dependable! On top of that she is hilarious and so fun to be around. Kessia is one of the most genuine people I know.  She is unbelievably positive and I would even describe her as perky. Kessia was baptized about two years ago and is now considering a mission. Wow, she would be unstoppable! What a blessing it is to have good friends. Thanks Kessia and Sarah.

Sarah, Kessia, me and Hallie

Kessia and Hallie

Hallie insisted she chew on the straw

Welcome to the new year everyone! I thought that I would post a few updates on our little family.

The most recent Hallie news is that she learned to roll over yesterday. Yeah!! Dad has been practicing hard with her. She is also sleeping through the night as long as she is next to me. She still fights naps during the day because she is afraid she is going to miss something.  She loves watching people and for that reason she also loves the mall. Good for her and mom! For Christmas she received a completely new wardrobe thanks to Nanna and her new favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See which Grandma Crane gave her. (Her eyes never leave the book and its bright pictures.) Hallie turns five months next week! Crazy how time flies.

Ben is still loving his job at the Census Bureau HAHA.  He is going to start trying 10 hour work days (which really means 12-13 with his commute). This would mean he could take every Wednesday off and spend it with me and Hallie. (I’m a needy wife who can’t get enough time with my sexy husband.) He has also been regularly attending the gym at work and I am reaping the benefit of his tight abs. Mmmmm 🙂

As for me, I went running by myself today.  Since Hallie was born I haven’t been exercising as much as I should.  I gained 40 pounds during my pregnancy and I still have 12 lbs to lose. I realize that I am back to the weight I was when I left on my mission, but I lost a lot after I got married and once you drop to a size 2 you can’t go back to a size 8 and be satisfied.  Anyway, the whole reason I’m writing this is because I haven’t felt comfortable leaving Hallie with anyone yet-she’s way too cranky. However, today I changed my mind and my friend Stacey watched Hallie so I could go running.  It was AMAZING!! I hated running until my mission. I think all the rules made running seem almost freeing in a way.  I remember longing to run, which was COMPLETELY foreign to me. The past four months the longing has returned. I’ve been able to go on walks with Hallie and sometimes I’ll run behind her stroller, but today, ohhh today, it was amazing! To be by myself and run was therapeutic. I swear I’ve heard a thousand times that I need to take care of myself first, but I just didn’t think it was possible.  Although I don’t think any mom could put herself first, I do believe that every mom needs to take some time for herself.  I’m hoping that my ‘alone’ running time will help me emotionally and mentally as well give me back my body that I so desperately long for.   Thanks again Stacey I owe you!

That’s what we’ve been up to so far in 2009. We hope you are all doing well and we look forward to seeing as many of you as we can this year.

Ben’s sister came home from her mission yesterday. She served in the California, Anaheim mission and was probably one of the best sister missionaries that there ever was! We weren’t able to be there to pick her up at the airport, but we were able to talk to her on Skype last night. Too bad Hallie was ornery.

Alix, we are so glad you are home and we are so grateful for the example you set for us by serving so faithfully.  You are amazing and we can’t wait to see you on Christmas.

I’ve noticed, and you may have too, that the media has been telling the public that in order to SAVE our economy we need to go out and SPEND more.  This is completely false. How can spending money that we don’t have help us.  I learned yesterday that the government bailout is close to 9 Trillion dollars!! That just about doubles our national debt.

Ben graduated with a degree in economics which means he’s so smart!! 🙂 Because of this I am linking to a recent blog post he wrote explaining this myth. You should read it-he makes it simple and easy to understand.

Hallie is now four months old and she is getting more attitude everyday.  She constantly demands attention and she never seems to stop talking. She really does get cuter everyday.

Hallie’s stats:

Weight: 14 lbs 4 oz (64 percentile)

Height: 25 inches (77 percentile) A little unexpected. 🙂

Hallie ate cereal for the first time yesterday. She loved it! She kept leaning over with her mouth open trying to get closer and closer to the bowl. Hilarious!

Hallie’s new favorite place (besides mommy’s arms) is under the Christmas tree. Last night Ben laid her down and sat next to her while she played with her rattle. The day before I had put an ornament down on the bottom branch so she could see it better. Little did I know that my baseball gene would present itself so early in my daughter.  The first time Hallie swung her rattle and hit the ornament Ben and I laughed.  However, the one hit got her excited and she kept swinging.  Her accuracy was amazing! Well, let’s just say that the ball could only handle so much.
As sad as I am about losing the brand new ornament, my happiness that Hallie already keeps her eye on the ball and is showing signs of being an amazing ball player is my Christmas present this year.

Since Hallie has been on Zantac things have gotten better. Although we haven’t gotten rid of the nickname “pill face” just yet.  Here are some recent pictures of our little pill face.

pulling funny faces

checking out the Christmas tree

having some daddy-daughter time

sucking on her favorite treat-apples

tummy time

mommy’s favorite time

Typical Missionaries

This makes me smile and remember my mission. Good times. I loved my mission!!