M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

It has been too long since I have blogged, but after realizing how long it has actually been I figured I should jump on the bike again. So much has changed...for now I am just going to talk about our vacation back in April because it was fantastic. Prepare yourself for picture overload. 

For our vacay, which we justified for many reasons, we went on a DISNEY cruise!! Yep, they are crazy expensive and the only way we were able to go was due to Richard's sister and her husband. You see, they were performers on the ship for a year (Aladdin and Xyzma) so we got on the ship for FREE. FREE-99!!! As long as we paid for our airfare and a couple nights in a hotel, the rest was paid for. Why wouldn't we go?! So we set off to Florida to have the time of our lives. Here is a disclaimer, like any vacation with a toddler it wasn't all butterflies and rainbows, but for the majority we look back on the good times and laugh at the extremely tough times. 

We took a flight that had three connections (sigh)...it was cheaper. We thought it was going to be terrible however Henley was impressively good and manageable. When we got to the hotel a worker gave her a balloon and she ran around the lobby and our hotel room for a good two hours just enjoying her independence.

We stayed at the All-Sports Disney resort and it was perfect for us. Huey, Dewey and Louie were right outside our room and we made at least a 15 min pit-stop to greet and wish them goodnight each time we passed. Who needs a cruise when you have these ducks to entertain?!

We went a couple of days early so we could enjoy the hotel for a day and hit up DisneyWorld. The day at the hotel was so relaxing. Swimming twice, lots and lots of wandering around the hotel grounds, and three trips to McDonald's. (The food at the hotel was insanely expensive and McDonald's was within walking distance, so we let fast food win. Don't judge.)

This picture is more for me. Henley went through this phase of wrapping all of my shirts around her neck and head.

Tyler, Rich's little brother, flew in a day later than us and we met up. In the picture above we were on the tram to DisneyWorld. We made it all the way there and didn't end up going in. To not bore you with all of the details, let's just say that this day didn't work out in our favor. It was a bummer. On the bright side, Rich is pulling off the "hard guy" face pretty well.

When we got on the ship they had an amazing welcome party, with music, dancing and a bunch of Disney characters. Henley loved it...heck, we loved it. We ate the free ice cream until our stomach's hurt and danced the day away with streamers in hand.

The next day our first stop was Nassau, Bahamas. Summerisa was nice enough to be our tour guide and direct us to the stuff that really mattered and bypass the other tourist traps. First, we hit up the Queen's Staircase. It was majestic in all sense of the word. We all loved it. Notice she is still carrying around a streamer. That is her type of toy.

After the Queen's Staircase we did a little shopping and Henley, being a normal toddler, wanted everything. We finally settled on a set of maracas and a little pull turtle. The shop owners loved talking to her and one even picked her up and bounced her around. Mama was not a fan of that. 

Next we went over to Atlantis and the beach. At this point we were sooooo sweaty and extremely tired, so by the time we got to the beach all we wanted was shade and a nap. I wish I could say we loved our time at this beach...Henley cried for most of it and constantly had sand sticking to her over sunscreened body. She eventually gave up the sand fight and instead embraced it. Also I got knocked down by a wave and along with my body slamming down, my swim bottoms went down too. Many people got to see my full moon that day and much more. Awesome.

The beach was beautiful and if we were to go back I would have done the beach first and the other attractions later so we could have enjoyed it more. Luckily we had other beach times that were much more successful.

That night we were back on the ship and felt privileged to meet our first characters in their formal attire. You can kind of see Henley's excitement above but it doesn't do it justice. She jabbered on and on about the character until we got up close and then froze. Then the second we stepped away she couldn't stop talking and pointing. 

Those first few days we had some good times, but the best was yet to come. Stay tuned.

1.5 years/18 Months

 

Well we have made it to the 1.5 year mark! When do you stop telling people your kid's age in months. I think I will start now so others no longer have to calculate in their heads how old my child is. Here are a few things about our little nugget at 1.5 years old. Every morning I am greeted with either "Hi Mom." or "Heeeeyyy" when I go get her. It makes the early mornings a lot more bearable.

^^We are currently living with my in-laws and one of her favorite things to do is stand on this doll house. Not necessarily playing with the doll house, just standing on it.^^

^^She has really picked up on the different types of animals these past couple of months. She can do the onomatopoeia for a dog, horse, chicken, dolphin, owl, cat, horse, and elephant. The horse and dog seem to be her favorite.^^

^^Henley is a lover of taking objects in and out of containers. This little token jar has given her hours of entertainment and the markers in her pockets was a full day activity.^^ 

Her love for the swimming pool continues to increase.

^^She is my best little helper. I kid you not, she helps me clean the house. When I say it is time to clean she requests a rag with a little water on it and wipes anything off I ask her to. And pushing around the vacuum is fully entertaining in her eyes. I hope this keeps up.^^ 

 A few more things:

- Her top front teeth are finally showing. She has been a slow teeth sprouter, but they are coming in. Huge gaps and all. 

-  She is talking and understanding more and more every day.

-  She is so sweet and nice to other babies and is constantly telling people to "shhhh" when babies are around. Probably because I say that a lot when we babysit her younger cousin.

-  Her love for silliness and laughing is contagious.

-  She is a mama and dada's girl

-  Still loves her binky and blanket

-  Favorite food is blueberries or grapes

-  Favorite movie is Rio (hands down)

-  Favorite thing to do is be outside or play with animals

-  Loves piggy back rides

-  Gets very excited when I let her roam through a store while I follow her or pretend to chase her. She gets a real thrill out of it. 

- Loves saying prayers. Amen is her specialty.

We love this age so much! Just as we think it can't get any better it somehow does.

Tea Party Time

Just a few weeks ago we went over to visit Rich's grandma and she had a little tea set that Henley played with the whole time we were there.  Handing us each a cup, then collecting them again one by one. When we left with her screaming in our arms for the cups we thought it might be fun to get her a set of her own. So, on the next snowy day in Utah we made a visit to Ikea and got ourselves a tea set. It has been a huge hit. She absolutely loves it and we average at least two tea parties a day. All she needs is a little water, some fruit or crackers, and someone to sit with her and she is a happy camper.

 ^^Her dad is probably her favorite guest.^^

 ^^She learned how to do "cheers" which is done approximately 30 times per tea party.^^

 ^^And sometimes the parties just end with the host sitting on the ghetto homemade table with her stuffed owl, Goldie.^^

The Holidays All Wrapped Up

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 ^^1.  For the past three years we have said we were going to make it to the "lights" in SLC and have always chickened out because of the low temps.  Shockingly, we made it this year.^^

 ^^Typical Utah family picture.^^

 ^^2.  We had a little kid friendly Christmas bash.  I of course forgot to bring a gift (sometimes I wonder about myself).  Love catching up with old friends.^^

 ^^3.  We splurged and got and Elf on the Shelf.  Those things are a racket!  It was worth every kiss she gave Twinkles though.^^

 ^^4. Lots of cousin time since we were staying with his sister and her 8 kids!!^^

 ^^5.  Examining/adoring all of the chocolates my mom made.  I think we ate about five of those plates in one day alone.^^

^^6. Christmas Eve was a total bummer, we were in bed by 7:30.  Henley had a high fever for about three days and laid/slept on me for basically the entire three days.^^

 

^^7. Christmas Day she tried to power through and was a good sport.  Morning at the Bell's.  Afternoon with my family.  We were definitely spoiled.^^ 

^^8.  Such a proud mom moment right here.  I need a puzzle buddy.^^

^^9.  Day after Christmas.  The girls got vintage princess PJ's from Aunt Niccole who was interning at Walt Disney World during the holidays.  We sure did miss her.^^

^^10.  These two.  Just working their electronics in their scibbies.^^

 ^^11. My dad is fantastic and got a silver mullet for Christmas and wore it the whole day.^^

 ^^12.  Looks like a little electrocution occurred from the Christmas lights.^^

^^13.  To wrap it up on a random note...she loves playing in the sink.  Loves it so much that is all she wants to do.^^

Christmas Photos & Superstition

I've come to terms with the fact that I will never be caught up on this blog.  I'm eternally behind.  I have an explanation for it though.  Henley has never been a good sleeper.  Especially for naps.  When she does take a nap I am walking on egg shells the whole time cause she is consistently unpredictable.  The past handful of times I have attempted to put together a post during her nap time, she will wake up within five minutes of me starting.  No joke.  So I know this is silly, but I haven't dared blog during the precious sleep time.  Whelp, tried it again today and...she woke up three min into uploading pictures.  The superstition lives on.

Anyway, quick post about some Christmas card pictures we had taken.  I wanted to go get them professionally taken for some unknown reason.  However when you try to schedule it on Dec 5 you quickly realize that everyone is full for the season and you have your sister-in-law take them on her couch.  We did them quickly after church one Sunday and there was truly no outfit planning, pose planning, background planning, etc.  We just winged it!  (Is that the proper way to use that phrase).  We definitely had some struggling moments.  Good thing the world has gone digital because we were able to take about 200 pics and find a couple of good ones.  

^^I'll say it...our bottom halves look gigantic in this photo.  Also, Rich's face...he would kill me for posting this.^^

 

^^She already has the duck face down. Selfies here we come.^^ 

 ^^And here was the winner.  Most natural one we could find.^^

Grateful for Surprises

I LOVE surprises.  Always have and always will.  Gifts, events, food - if it is a surprise it makes it about 10 times better.  I am a little picky so it isn't really fair when it comes to gift giving but I can't help it.  Richard was supposed to be home from his rotation in Indianapolis really late on Thanksgiving.  The plan was to meet him at his parent's house around 11:00 pm.  We hadn't seen each other since Sept and only two times total since May.  Basically I was dying for him to get home.  On the eve of Thanksgiving Sharice, Steve and I went to Tandoori Oven, which happens to be in gas station to get some delicious Indian food.  He called me a couple of times because he was supposedly driving to Des Moines.  We got home from dinner and were just hanging out as a fam and in walked Rich!  I was speechless and so happy.  He had told lie upon lie in order to make it a complete surprise, which I approve of.  It was the best gift anyone could have ever given me.  This Thanksgiving will go down in my best memories book.  

 

^^I'm not the only one who missed him.  She wouldn't stop kissing him and insisted on being held by "Dada" for the next 3+ days.  Below is one of my favorite pics ever.  You can see the love for him in her little face.^^

 ^^The Larsen's and Aunt Marla (my grandpa's sister who used to play pro softball.  She has looked the same since I was an infant.  I swear.)^^

 ^^My Grandma & Grandpa Bankhead.  They couldn't be cuter.^^

 ^^The goy-rls^^

 ^^Mastering the fish face for dad.^^

 ^^I finally invested in a carrier cause of a great black Friday deal.  Pretty sure I missed the boat to carry Henley in one.  She looks like a 1st grader in it and my back was breaking.^^

 

^^Hitting up the Aggie basketball game with Grandma and Grandpa.^^

 

Also, on Thanksgiving day we moved down to American Fork to live with his parents for a few months since Rich is working in Salt Lake.  Henley celebrated the move by waking up the first night at 3:00 am and not going back to bed until 7:30 am.  It was a bit of a rude awakening for Rich.  Is it terrible to say that I'm glad I didn't have to suffer alone?  So glad he is home.  We loved 2013 Thanksgiving!