November, A Recap.

Well, this month really got away from me! I can't believe how quickly time goes at the end of the year.

Halloween was good at our house! We had the cutest cow ever.

We took Hallee to a couple of houses in the neighborhood. Andy dressed up as a farmer and walked with her.

By the time we hit the third and final house, Hallee had had enough! So we took her back home to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters. Hallee enjoyed seeing other kids in their costumes! She enjoyed helping us carve our pumpkins, too. She was a little leary at first, but eventually dug right in!



The first week in November, we decided to get Hallee's hair cut.

It had gotten really shaggy in the back. It was pretty uneven, so we had them trim the back up so that it was more one-length. I decided not to have her bangs cut. They really hang in her face now, but I think they'll grow out fast. They're already down to the end of her nose. Her haircut sure made her look grown-up!

Hallee had her 18 month check up this week. She weighs 27 pounds (80%) and is 33 1/2 inches tall (90%). This was the first time she was able to stand on the big girl scale instead of laying on the baby scale. She actually ran up to it and wanted to get on it. Unfortunately, she wouldn't stand next to the wall to get her height measured. So I had to make her lay on the baby scale for that. At that point she started crying and lost all trust in the nurse. Hallee didn't want anything to do with anybody. The doctor got to look in her ears, and that's pretty much it. It's a good thing they're used to kids! Four shots later, and we were out the door.

Hallee is growing up so fast! She is an awesome sleeper. She sleeps from about 9:30 at night until 10:30 or 11:00 in the morning. And she takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. (Have I mentioned how much I love that kid?) She tries to copy everything we say. She is adding more words to her vocabulary every day. She loves to dance. We have a nursery rhyme cd that we play a lot, but her favorite is Lady GaGa :)

Thanks for checking on us!

A New Bellybutton

Well, I no longer have a gallbladder.

A few weeks ago I was kept awake one night by persistant pain right below my ribcage. I couldn't get comfortable. Ibuprofen didn't fix anything. I fell asleep briefly on a heating pad, but I got very little sleep. I had this pain a few times before during the night, but it has always gone away by morning. That morning came around and the pain was still there. Andy was working, so it was just Hallee and I at home. A few hours before Andy was supposed to get off of work, he called and told me he had hurt his elbow at work and they were sending him to the ER for x-rays. He came home a while later with a diagnosis of a bone contusion and a prescription for pain pills.

Meanwhile, I was still having belly pain. I called my folks, who were headed to town for an unrelated event, and asked them to come watch Hallee instead, while Andy and I headed to the ER. I was put in a room two doors down from the room Andy had just checked out of. An ultrasound showed that my gallbladder was "full of stones" and would need to be removed. It wasn't infected so, after my pain was controlled, I was allowed to go home and schedule surgery for the next afternoon. Andy didn't even get to take any of his pain pills as one of us had to drive home and take care of Hallee after my parents left. He's such a nice guy!

So on Monday afternoon, I checked in for a Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy. It was quick and (fairly) painless. I was home by suppertime the same day. The worst part was the lift restriction of 10 pounds for a week (which inclued Hallee.) Luckly, Andy was able to take some time off of work and do the heavy lifting around our house. I didn't realize how often I lift Hallee (into her highchair, into her crib, onto her changing table, into the bathtub, etc.)

Now, 10 days post-op, I'm feeling much more like my old self. Minus one gallbladder. As long as I'm careful with Hallee's knee when I lift her to my hip, things are good.

Back to School

The school books are wide open an our house! Andy decided a while ago that he wanted to go back to college. He is attending The University Center here in Sioux Falls and majoring in Business Management. He is taking 9 credits this semester, two classes on Tuesday nights and an internet class. Going to school, along with working full time, is making him a busy guy!

I also enrolled in a community education class put on by the Sioux Falls school district. I'm taking a digital photography class every other Wednesday night this semester. Photography has always really interested me. I know some about the various camera settings but I haven't quite figured out how to apply them. I'm hoping this class will help with that. Anything that gives me an excuse to take more pictures of Hallee is a good thing!

Fortunately for me, Hallee has a few years before we send her off to school!

Slacker

I have been really slacking at posting updates on our blog lately. It's not really that I've been to busy or anything like that, I just kind of feel like we haven't done anything blog-worthy. Which in hindsight isn't true at all. So here's an update of what we've been up to lately.

We've spent a lot of time at the swimming pool.

We've ridden a few horses.

(This one didn't move very fast.) We've fallen face first onto cement.

We've done some laundry.

Andy got rear-ended on his motorcycle. Andy's fine, but he sure misses his motorcycle. He also had sinus surgery on Friday to fix his deviated septum (completely unrelated to the motorcycle accident). So he gets to spend a couple of weeks off of work at home with Hallee and I.

Speaking of Hallee, she is starting to talk. She says Dada, Momma, Papa and something that sounds a little like "doggy" and "Diesel". She has her bottom two molars and is working on the top ones.

I'm going to try hard to post more regularly. I hope I can hold myself to that.

Hallee swinging in her new sunglasses!

Hallee Loves to Swim!

Hallee loves the water so we have been using the heck out of our pool pass this year! She has so much fun swimming.

A Mind of Her Own...

I was taking Hallee's clothes off of the clothes line the other day while she was playing nearby. Hallee came running over and grabbed this pair of pajama pants out of the basket. She tried and tried to get them to stay on her head. Hallee handed them to me, whined and pointed to her head. So I obliged her and put them on her head. Every time I tried to take them off, she screamed and pointed to her head! So Hallee played in the backyard with pajama pants on her head for nearly 15 minutes! I can only imagine what the neighbors were thinking!