Snow Day

For Christmas, Ava finally got snow clothes! This is the first time she's had any..I'm pretty sure that makes me a terrible mom.. So when it snowed today, Chad came home for lunch to take his little girl out for her first snow day. She was so excited! She cried when she had to come in because she was just getting the hang of how to make a snow ball. It was really cute to see her try to maneuver in the million layers I put on her. It was worth it. I already promised her we could go out later today...she's my little snow bunny.


Ava fell over and couldn't figure out how to stand back up...so funny!

Christmas '09

Christmas was amazing this year! We went to the Talbot's house in Orem for a few days to spend the holidays with Chad's family. Jake and Amanda were there. Chad's brother Brett and his wife Marnie were able to fly in from Texas. And as some of you know, Wes (Chad's little brother) is temporarily home from his mission for back surgery. So it was no small feat that the whole Talbot family was together this year for Christmas. We thought Chad would end up having to work on Christmas day, but we got really lucky and he had the whole weekend off. What a fun time. We spent a lot of time with cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles. We also got together with the Birrells and played a lot of fun games. Pretty sure it's been a while since I've laughed that hard. It was so much fun!
Ava was of course spoiled. Her favorite present she opened Christmas morning was this little guitar. She wears it non-stop and she really loves playing the guitar with Chad. I surprised Chad with a new guitar for Christmas, so he and Ava rocked out all weekend. The most incredible thing is, she actually plays it the right way. Her form is excellent. She has the whole hand-coordination thing right AND she plays in the "power stance" that her daddy and uncles taught her. So cute. So here are some pictures of that. It felt good to be back in Orem. We're kind of in a weird transition where we aren't quite adjusted to Ogden yet, but Orem really isn't home anymore, either. So we're just trying to feel like SOMEWHERE is home... But it was a really great Christmas. I got a sewing machine because I am going to attempt to make my baby's bedding. Wish me luck (if any of you have done that and have cute patterns or advice, please let me know!!). I really hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Home for the Holidays

So the reason that I have been so lame at keeping on top of blogging is that we recently moved to Ogden. It happened really fast and was way unexpected. Chad is considered self-employed being a financial advisor...which means that we have private insurance...which as most of you know is ridiculously expensive. Our monthly premiums and deductible have been so crazy, but we were just dealing with it. So then Chad was offered this job in Ogden where he can still do his financial planning and work for this company that offers full benefits from day 1. So this has been a HUGE blessing for our family! We have been really happy with everything. It just happened so fast, that we're just barely feeling settled. We found out on a Friday that Chad got the job and we moved on Saturday. We feel really lucky to end up where we did and how everything is coming together. I have loved being close to my family. Ava loves it up here with all of her cousins so close, too. So that's the deal- we live in Ogden right by the mouth of the Canyon. Our view is beautiful, our ceilings are vaulted, and my parents are 10 minutes away. I have no complaints. All of our furniture isn't here yet, so I'm going to hold off on pics of the inside until my house is put together.. So here is how it looks from the outside. I am really really really going to miss my family and friends and young women in Orem. A lot... We were down there for 4 years, so it's a huge change not to be right there by them. I loved our ward and being close to Chad's family. I will miss it a lot. We are just going to focus on starting here in Ogden and getting ready for our baby boy!

Update!!

Ok so here is a much over-due post for Halloween and my birthday and So You Think You Can Dance. Seriously- I'm such a slacker on this blogging thing... But here it goes anyway- My birthday was in October and I turned the big 2-6. It sounds really old. 25 sounded ok, but for some reason, 26 just sounds really close to 30 (which apparently scares me!) And being pregnant and sick, all I wanted for my birthday was a cute and comfy velour suit and FOOD! Lots and lots of good food. So my cute husband took me to the Melting Pot. Oh my word...It was so good. I absolutely love amazing food. The fondue there is amazing and it was everything I wanted and more. Chad also surprised me with these beautiful flowers.



Ava was the most beautiful Cinderella I have ever seen. She wore this costume night and day for weeks. She acted like such a little princess in it, we couldn't help but just humor her and let her wear this dress whenever she wanted. Ava was a little sick over Halloween, so we didn't do much trick-or-treating. We just took her to trunk-or-treat and called it good. She loved all the candy, but was really shy about asking for it. It was fun to finally have a toddler that understood what she was doing on Halloween. She loved it! After taking Ava out for a bit, Chad and I went to Amanda's Halloween Party. We had so much fun. Amanda is SO cute and creative. She went all out and had the cutest treats and drinks. Way to go Amanda!



A few weeks ago, SYTYCD came and toured in Salt Lake. We had awesome tickets on the 3rd row. We also had backstage passes. The dancing was incredible. It's fun to watch on TV, but it was amazing to see it in person. Seriously- amazing! This is really embarrassing to admit, but I'm pregnant so I don't really care, but there were a few dances that seriously made me emotional. They were so fun to watch. But then when it was time to go back stage and meet the dancers, I felt like a 12 year old girl...because that was the majority of the people there screaming and yelling to meet the dancers...That too was a little embarrassing, but it was still fun! Bless Chad's heart...he totally just let me be an idiot and have fun with it and came with me. He is so sweet to just humor me the way he does. (I'm having technical difficulties getting these pics up, so I'll post them as soon as I figure it out!)

Dear Baby Boy:

My Dear Sweet Baby Boy:

I love you so much, but I'm becoming quite certain that you might be the death of me... You see honey, I'm 16 weeks pregnant with you and I'm still throwing up. Not only am I still throwing up, but you're also making my emotions a little unstable and unpredictable. So your father is beginning to think I'm an emotional basketcase. If you have anything at all to do with any of my crazy hormone levels, will you please give me a little break?! I am so happy you're in my life now and I absolutely love feeling your little kicks and flutters. But your father might start looking into institutions to check me into if things don't start easing up soon... So just keep growing healthy and strong so you can come see me and I can hold you.
I love you always and forever,
Mommy

Home-Made Sushi

If you have met Chad and the topic of food has ever come up, then you know that he LOVES sushi. We are currently in the middle of a very fun "challenge" we are having with Jake and Amanda. We are all Food Network fanatics and thought we'd get a little creative with our cooking. Each of us will be taking a night and making a completely new meal we've never made and serve the rest of us. Amanda started things out with an awesome meal with these delicious sweet potato fries and black bean burgers. Chad was next. And if you let my husband get a little creative, he'll go nuts. He stinking made sushi. I'm not a sushi-eater myself, but he loved it. It was well-received and Chad did a really great job. I was way impressed he pulled it off. He was also very proud of himself, so we took some pictures to brag. One of the rolls is a Teriyaki chicken roll with avocado and cream cheese. His other roll was crab, avocado, cucumber and cream cheese. They were topped with unagi sauce (whatever that is). Anyway, my turn is next so it's going to be hard to top how gourmet his meal was.

Park City with the Talbots

A few weeks ago we all went up to Park City for the weekend. We went with Chad's parents and Chad's sister Amanda and her husband Jake. It was so much fun. We went to the Olympic Park, hit the outlet malls, ate lots of yummy food, and watched a great BYU football game. We went to this show at the Olympic Park and watched this awesome show with skiers jumping off these insane jumps into the water. AMAZING! It was really relaxing and we had such a fun time. I love Park City, and I'm pretty sure I could live there one day. It's perfect for me...unfortunately, it's way expensive. So for now, we'll just enjoy a weekend up there every so often.

Potty Training...

With another baby on the way, we're really trying to get serious about potty training Ava. But with me being so sick still and Chad gone a lot, it hasn't been a huge success, to say the least. But we're trying. So here is just a little moment caught on camera to show how funny our Ava is. When she is sitting on the potty, much like her father, she enjoys reading material or something to entertain her. I'm just going to let the picture do all the talking on this one.

More Love on the Way!

So all of Chad's dreams are coming true. He is actually breeding Cougar fans. And luckily, there is another fan on the way!!! We are having another baby that will be here April 6th. We couldn't be more excited and can't wait to meet him/her. I'm only 13 weeks, so it's not much, but every day gets us a little closer to meeting our new baby. We've had a few little problems getting to this point, so we're very grateful for this baby. A few months ago I had a miscarriage at 11 weeks. After a very emotional recovery, we really felt like we wanted to continue to grow our little family. It was a little set-back, but we are so happy to have a healthy pregnancy so far. I have been VERY sick...and it doesn't really seem to be letting up yet. Much thanks to Zofran and a very patient husband, we are getting along just fine. Ava is also very excited to have a baby coming. She often talks to my belly and gives her opinions on our name choices. We couldn't be more excited.

Here's for all you single wives

I know - the term "single wife" makes absolutely no sense...right? Well, for some of us wives, we have come to understand this term very well once football season starts. That's right- to all of us girls who suddenly wonder if you've turned invisible, uninteresting, and less than entertaining, this is for you. I know that my husband tends to be a little extreme with his football passion, but I know there are a lot of us out there who wonder why we are no longer as appealing to our spouses once college football starts. I'm advising you not to take it personally. This is just a side effect of men's one-track minds. Yes- ONE-track mind. Meaning men are completely incapable of giving you all of their time and attention when they are so focused on football (or anything else for that matter). Now in my house, BYU is definitely the team of choice. Chad idolizes them and would secretly give his left arm just to hang out with Bronco Mendenhall or Max Hall (or any other player for that matter) for just one day. He has dreams about playing on their team. Like real dreams- wakes up in the morning and tells me all about how Bronco put him in during the 4th quarter to save the Cougs. Seriously- this is all true. But with my husbands love for the Cougars, he is also obsessed with whoever plays in the same conference so he can eye up his competition. He also watches the teams that are going to play the teams that are going to play the Cougars. Does that make sense? So they don't even have to be playing the Cougars, he just likes to know EVERYTHING about EVERY team. It gets exhausting to try to follow. So here's what I do and I advise you all to do the same- milk it! Milk it for all you can. Let me tell you, it's hard being a wife who suddenly takes a back seat to football, but there is something that we can do to keep ourselves in the game. While Chad is way enthralled in a game, I ask for a back rub, foot rub or he has to play with my hair. Let's face it, he's not going anywhere for a few hours so he can spare the time. Other times I use this time to my shopping advantage. He gets to indulge for 3 plus hours watching a game, I get to indulge in a little retail therapy of my own. It also goes without saying that he gets to spend some quality daddy daughter time with Ava while I enjoy a relaxing shopping trip to the mall. Love it. So while I'm slowly adjusting to being a single wife, it's got its perks. I'd love some input on how you other single wives deal with football season too. We can build a little support group. For all of you wives that don't have this issue, maybe a little advice on what it is you're doing to keep your husband year-round! :) For the record, I absolutely love Chad. I wouldn't change anything about him. He is perfect for me in every way. Go Cougars!

BEAR LAKE!

Every summer my whole family -minus the ones living out of state :( - goes to Bear Lake. We stay in this huge cabin right on the beach. It is one of my favorite things. I look forward to it every year. There are 4-wheelers, jet skis, beach golf, football, beach toys, delicious food, and even better company. For those of you who have not met my family, they are hilarious. Hilarious and very competitive. We turn everything into a competition. In my family there are trophies for rummy and golf. It's almost ridiculous, but hey, that's my family. We set up a golf course on the beach every year and TYLER (sorry- correction) usually wins... This year my dad took home the golf trophy, but we left Bear Lake as me being the reigning champ of rummy. That is a high honor at the Hadley's! I was so excited! We just have a blast together. So much laughing, so many new jokes, it's just my favorite! So here are some pictures of us enjoying a little family time together in Bear Lake last week.

Just a few more things...

So I know that my blog entries have been few and far between. So this post is just a filler of all of the little things I haven't really been adding. Our little family has been doing great. Life is still keeping us so busy. Ava is just as sweet as ever. Here are my new favorite things she is saying now- "Mamma you so pretty!" (You'd think I pay my kid to give me compliments, but she just says it on her own. It is so cute. It also means she has an amazing Dad who teaches her ways to be sweet to Mommy) Whenever I get home from work, the grocery store, or even just the bathroom, Ava will run up to me and say "I miss you Mommy!" I love it. It is enough to make any mother's heart smile. She is also speaking in full sentences now. It's so cute. She loves to say, "Look at me, Mommy" and "What happened?" I think the funniest is when she sees me and Chad kissing, she'll say "Whatchya doing?" She's even started asking "Why?" over and over and over again...I didn't think that started so early. So I guess the point I'm trying to make is that she talks NON-STOP and I love every little word that comes out of her mouth. I'm relieved that Fall is coming because it is my FAVORITE season and it's been a really hot summer. But we have had a blast this summer! Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to- camping with our favorites Kevin and Corinne, hiking, and more zoo.

July 2009!

This month has been crazy. My friends keep politely reminding me that I am such a slacker on my blog...Sorry girls! But here is a little overview of this past month. It has flown by and I can't even believe that it's already August. July began with a little road trip to St. George. My sister Jill who lives in Vegas drove up and met us there. My mom and dad drove and Chad and Ava and I hitched a ride with them. Jill and my mom and I went to the temple and did a session together while the boys took the kids swimming at the hotel. (Thanks Leslie!!) We took the kids swimming and had a blast down there. Tylee and Ava are best friends. They held hands everywhere they went and they cried whenever they weren't together. It was so good to see Jill and her kids. The rest of the month was full of another trip to the zoo, more baseball games, swimming and lots of walks to the park, BBQ's at Becky's and movies and shopping. Jill came up again last week and it was fun to have her here again. Then this past week I was able to go to Girls Camp!!! I'm in the YW presidency in our ward and our girls are amazing. I loved every minute of it! But by the end of the week I was so ready to come home and take a shower. Bless the girls for hanging out with me when I looked like I did... I love them all!