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I have posted 4 new posts in the last couple days. Make sure you keep scrolling down so you can see all of them. :) Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

13 Months Old

Hallie is now 13 months old. The months continue to fly by. She has really started to turn into more of a toddler/older baby this last month.

*She started walking a week ago. It's like a switch just went off in her head and said I'm gonna walk now. It wasn't just a couple steps it was half way across the room. She still crawls part of the time, but each day she walks more and more. Now her scuffed up legs and feet will start healing since she won't be dragging them around as much like she did with crawling.

*She loves water! We went to Seven Peaks last week and she had a blast. She only had a handful of near drowning experiences. :/ She definitely thinks that she is bigger than she is. She thought she could go in the deeper parts of the water and keep up with the bigger kids. Not the case. She looked really cute in her little ballerina swim suit that Grandma Roberts gave to her for her birthday. Love the chubby ballerina idea.

Playing in the stream in our back yard. This is one that we're really gonna have to watch.

*She is a silly baby. She is always making us laugh with the things she does. She started doing this and Mikkele thought she needed to join her. Funny girls.

*She went on her first 4 wheeler ride with Jeremy and the other kids. She was a little unsure. She's not a fan of loud noises. During Art City Days we got to ride in a hot air balloon, she did not love that. The noise of the burner was way too much for her. We got a picture of that, but forgot to pick it back up from the hot air balloon people. :(

*She is talking more and more. She says mama, dad, no, dodo (dog), Dell (Kell), K sound for kitty, makes a sound for dog and horse, and a small thank you. She jibber jabbers all day long and it's always at the top of her lungs. She is a loud little baby.

*She is perfecting her signs.

*She is still into everything!
*Her hair is getting longer on the top and in the back. Now if only the sides would grow. She has 2 different hair-do options. A pebbles type do on the top of her head, or a clip pulling her hair to the sides. I can't wait until we can do more with it. (Not that she'll hold still to do anything too involved.)

*She goes to sleep between 7:30-8:00pm and gets up when Grant wakes up around 7am. Most of the time I can give her a bottle and she will go back to sleep for another couple hours. She takes a nap about 2 hours after she gets up for the day. And she takes another nap in the afternoon around 2:00pm.

*She is a good eater. She will eat just about anything we put on her tray. How else do you think she gets her budda belly? Some of her favorites are green beans, strawberries, bananas, vienna sausages, PB&J sandwiches, carrots, and yogurt.

She is such a fun ball of energy! We love having this little girl in our home!

dōTERRA

About 6 weeks ago I was introduced to a company called dōTERRA. At that time, I was very skeptical of most natural healing type medicine. Hallie had recently finished a 10 day course of antibiotics for an ear infection and her ear started oozing again. I was really frustrated with all the trips we've made to the doctor and the multiple rounds of antibiotics that she has been on for her ear infections over the last 6 months. I mentioned my frustrations to a friend and she recommended I try some of her essential oils. Even though I was a little leery, I decided it wouldn't hurt to try. The worst case scenario would be that it wouldn't work and we would be heading to the doctor for another round of antibiotics. To my surprise, after ONE treatment, the oozing had stopped completely. We never had to go back to the doctor, her mood improved because the pain was gone, and the gross oozing/smell was gone!!! After that I was hooked! I knew I wanted to learn more and experiment more. So I decided to sign on as an Independent Personal Consultant (IPC). Since that time I have learned SO much and still have so much to learn. I have also used the oils to benefit our family in so many ways. Some ailments we have treated are ear infections, sun burns, bug bites, mosquito repellent, constipation, burns, mood enhancement, immunization support, upset stomach, calming fussiness, knee pain, stiff neck, headaches, congestion, difficulty breathing, coughing, cuts, eczema, and diaper rash just to name a few. While we wouldn't go to the doctor for all of these, sometimes the over the counter medications we have just don't work as good as we would like. The oils worked for all of those ailments and even more! I am excited to be able to help take care of my family quickly without spending as much time in the doctor's office. Another thing I love about this company is the support from the leaders of the company. I have never felt alone while building this business.

During the month of May, our team had a contest. Those that produced the most would get to go to a retreat training meeting at a cabin in Park City. And I was able to go. I was 2 days packed with intense but uplifting training by some of the best leaders in the company. I am very lucky to have had the chance to be able to attend. We stayed at this fabulous cabin outside of Park City. It was an amazing environment and helped all of us grow closer together as a team. Thanks to Jeremy and Natalie for watching the kids so I was able to attend.

The cabin we stayed in.

A different angle of the cabin.The view from right above the cabin.

The view from our cabin.

If you have any questions about any of the products or the business, please let me know!

Cheer Clinic 2010

Mikkele participated in the Springville High School Mini Cheer Clinic again this year. This year Rietta was in her group. They are the two cute girls in the blue shorts amongst all the other girls. They had a great time learning the cheers and dance.
During the performances Hallie was really cute! She was dancing and cheering too. I wish I could have gotten some video or pictures of her, but it's kinda hard since she was sitting on my lap.

The kids also get to participate in the Art City Days parade. My mom showed up for a surprise visit right before we were going to walk over to watch the parade, so Mikkele hadn't seen her yet since she had to go over to the parade staging area early. Here's a video of her surprise as she was walking in the parade and saw her grandma on the sidelines.

Hallie's Birthday Party

Hallie's birthday party was a lot of fun. We decided to do a cat themed birthday party because she is obsessed with our cat, Sparkey. As i was doing a google search for cat cakes, I stumbled upon a recipe for a kitty litter cake. I thought it was hilarious and knew that I had to add it to our menu. Since it looks a little unappetizing (well maybe a lot), I decided I should probably have a regular cake as well, and of course Hallie needed her own cake to dig into as well, so yes, I made 3 cakes! All of the cakes were made from scratch and without eggs in them so Hallie could eat them. This was my second attempt with the egg replacer. I think the cakes turned out really yummy. The only thing I could see a difference in was the fluffiness of the cake. These cakes were a little more flat.

Kitty Litter Cake

Cat Cake w/ toasted coconut for the fur.

Hallie's personal cat cake

Singing Happy Birthday

Aunt Lisha a.k.a The Pooper Scooper

Hallie was pretty timid with her cake. It really took some convincing to get her to dig in and eat it. And even then she wasn't as aggressive as Mikkele was with her 1st birthday cake. She really doesn't like to be super dirty.

Present Time
She got a lot of fun summer time clothes and a few really cute toys.

Aunt Lisha gave Hallie a tutu and demonstrated how not to wear the tutu. Thanks for the demonstration Lish!

Hallie knows how it goes.

Mommy and the birthday girl

Having some fun in the grass and watching the other kids play.

Check out that Budda Belly...so funny

Yay for Hallie the big birthday girl!

Happy Birthday Hallie May! We love you!

11 and 12 Month Old Post

I have been so far behind on my blogging that I never got around to doing Hallie's 11 month post. And now that she is a year old, the last two months have all mushed together and I can't separate what was going on from one month to the other....so I'm just gonna have to combine the two.

STATS
(At her 1 year check up)

Weight: 23 lbs. 15 oz. 89%
Height: 30 inches 76%
Head: 46 3/4 cm. 92%

If you compare those stats to the last few months her height and weight gain has slowed down, but her head growth has increased. 92%! What a noggin! It's a Gallier trait to have a big head. But if you ask my father in law, and now Mikkele as well, "Having a big head just means you have more brains than everyone else." So there you have it people...be jealous of the brains that my girls have. :) A 3 year old neighbor girl even commented on it one day, and you know how honest 3 year olds can be. She tells me, "Your baby has a big head" I just said thanks Lola, I know! It was funny.

OTHER FUN TIDBITS

*She can stand up for quite a while without holding onto anything. Now she just needs to try and take some steps. (Sorry the video is sideways)


*She can walk with assistance. One of these days here soon she will get brave enough to do it without help.


*She has 7 teeth and is working really hard on the 8th one.
*She is on straight cow's milk and she is eating big people food. (Well at least the things without eggs in it.)
*She goes to bed around 7:30-8:00 and gets up around 7:30. She usually sleeps all night long, but has a night here and there where she will get up once or twice, but can get herself back to sleep.

*She takes 2 naps during the day. Her morning nap is about 1 1/2-2 hours after she wakes up in the morning. And she will usually sleep for 2-2 1/2 hours. Her afternoon nap is usually a lot shorter, only 45 minutes-1 1/2 hours.
*She loves to go outside. It doesn't matter what is going on outside, she likes to be apart of it. Anytime the door opens, she bolts it. She loves to swing, go on walks in the stroller or wagon, jump on the tramp with Mikkele, or just scoot around the grass or cement. She has a new funny crawl when she is on the cement and doesn't have pants on.

Going on a walk to the park with her friend Kameron.

*We turned her car seat around. She is loving this new adventure. She can be found giggling and squealing while riding in the car for no apparent reason other than being able to see everyone.

*A lot of the time when she is sitting you can find her ankles crossed. It is so funny. Such a lady at such a young age.

*She loves to give herself kisses in the mirror while I'm getting myself ready or helping Mikkele do her hair.

*She loves to sit on Grant while he's in his chair and give him loves. She loves her big brother.

*She is already getting quite the little attitude. She will throw her head back and kick and scream just like a child in their terrible two's. I think I'm in for it when she's 2 and 3 since she's already pitching fits.
This is how she tells us no!

*She is saying a few words that have meaning. Mama, Dada, "K" sound (for kitty), dodo (for dog...Mikkele said dog the same way. CUTE!), a slight uh-oh when things are dropped, and a bunch of other jabber that doesn't make sense yet.

*She can do the sign for more, all done, and milk. She is the most consistent with "more" though.

*She is into EVERYTHING!!! I can't take my eyes off of her for a second! She is a fast little punk!
Example #1: It got quiet for a few minutes one day, so I went to find her. I found her in the bathroom playing in the toilet with certain womanly items she had found in the garbage. She was dunking it and then shaking it in the air. After throwing up slightly in my mouth, I stuck her in the bathtub to quarantine her and start cleaning the bathroom, and then gave her a bath. YUK! We now try our best to keep the bathroom door closed, but anytime it's open, she knows, and beeline's it for the toilet.
Example #2: Somehow Grant's diaper gapped open and ball of poo dropped out onto the carpet in the front room without me knowing. When going to check on Hallie at another quiet point, I found her playing with said poo ball. It was all mushed into her hands, on her face, and her breath smelled like it. Again...after throwing up slightly in my mouth I went and cleaned her up. No matter how hard I scrubbed her, the poo smell would not leave. YUK!
Example #3: She likes to eat dirt. Whether it's from outside in the flower garden or in a flower pot, she gets a handful and shoves it in her mouth. I just don't get it. At what point do kids quit putting things in their mouth??? Mikkele and Grant were never ones to put things into their mouths.

Despite her nasty habits, we love our little girl so much! She is already turning into an older baby and pretty soon she won't be a baby anymore. It's kind of sad! I have really enjoyed the baby process a lot more this time around. I think it's because I appreciate the things she is doing a lot more (for good or bad). I think with Mikkele I took things like sitting up, and crawling for granted. And since Grant can't do those things it makes me appreciate it more. It is a miracle how quickly children learn and how much they change daily. Take time to appreciate the little things your kids do!
LOVE YOU HALLIE MAY!


*birthday post to come soon...I promise*

Preschool Graduation

Grant graduated from preschool on May 19 and 20. It may seem a little excessive to have 2 graduations, but he is just extra special, so we thought we should do it twice. :) But really...most kids come to the preschool on Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday so Miss Rachael does a graduation for both classes. Since he goes Monday-Thursday he gets to do it twice. But it works for us because saying goodbye to these ladies just once wouldn't work for us! Grant has been SO lucky to have spent the last 2 1/2 years with the most incredible teacher and aids!!! They have been a huge part of our lives for the last few years, it's really going to be hard not coming back next year. While I know Grant is ready for Kindergarten (and I am too...all day kindergarten!!!) I just wish they could all move with him everywhere he goes. I really love each one of them for who they are and what they have done for my little boy! I'm really going to miss them! Good thing Miss A is employing Miss Britt and Miss Shea at the snow shack this summer. And since we frequent the snow shack and keep them in business, we'll still get to see them all the time. :)

Onto the graduation....the kids sang some cute songs, we watch a video of things they did throughout the year, and then had the graduation ceremony. Miss Britt helped him do the actions to the songs. I love the look in his eyes as he looks up at her. He loves her so much!

Can yo see the little hula Grant on the chalk board to the left of Grant and Britt? So cute!

Check out that smile. What a handsome boy! Love that kid!!!

Grant accepting his graduation diploma and goodie bag from Miss Rachael.

And he got a bear crown since he is a "beary special graduate".

Getting some last snuggles and kisses from his Miss Britt. Oh how he will miss her. She found out on the morning of graduation that she is going to be staying with Miss Rachael's class for part of the day and then a rover for the district the rest of the day, so there is a good chance he will get to see her on occasion. What a wonderful graduation present!

Now when is August going to be here??? Let's get this kindergarten thing started!