lately...

So we have decided to start phasing out Halle's naps...it's not going so well, as you can see!

We were thinking (hoping) that by not giving Halle naps, she might sleep in more in the mornings. But, that's not working:) She still loves to get up before 7:00! Not cool. And as you can see from the above picture, she still definitely requires the occasional nap! This was really so cute, she just fell asleep right at the supper table! But wow, that was a terrible time for her to fall asleep--it was soooo hard to wake her back up!

Also, we are just loving the outdoors! Although it is kind of cold lately, we all have spring fever and we have been spending lots of time outside!! Kaine and Halle are loving it, as you can see:)

And Layla is just ecstatic to be outside. I doubt she remembers much from last summer, so this is like a whole new world for her! The cold doesn't seem to bother her at all:)

And today, I was getting my hair cut and we decided to have Halle's hair trimmed, to make it a little more even...her first haircut!! She held still and she was so cute. She said now she is like a mommy, because she got her hair cut:)

Here is the "after" picture...hard to tell much of a difference, but it looks more even and healthy now! What a cutie!!

Hope you are all enjoying the somewhat nicer weather! Have a good rest of the month...I can't believe it is almost April!!!

celebrating halle:)

We had a good time celebrating Halle's third birthday! I thought I'd post some of the festivities:)

We were off duty a couple of days before Halle's actual birthday, so we decided to go to McDonald's as a family to celebrate. We considered Chuck E. Cheese, but it had been less than 2 months since we went there for Kaine's bday...we decided to do something a little less chaotic:) Our kids really love McDonald's!! (and actually, confession...so do I!)

Here is Halle with a birthday french fry:) She looooooves french fries, and Kaine always goes for the apple fries! Go figure.

they are getting to be such good friends!

And this little sweetie is just a content little girl:)

A group shot...a pretty good picture minus Halle's extremely cheesy smile:) But actually, I like it, I think it's still a good picture!

Here is Halle, soooo excited after just going down the slide ALL BY HERSELF! If you know Halle well, you know what a major feat this was. See the next picture, to see what this slide looked like. She is usually terrified about stuff like this, but she was so brave! And of course, once she went down it she didn't want to stop!

I still can't believe she went down this thing by herself!

Layla was loving the playplace, too! Nathan is such a good dad...he took Layla through the tunnels and slides numerous times! Such a difference than all the other parents who are always in the playplace (the ones who just let their kids go and spend the whole time texting?) Of course, I also just sit and watch (not text) but I have a pretty good excuse since I am 8 months pregnant:) It sounds almost impossible to navigate through those tunnels!

So then we were on duty on Halle's actual birthday. We celebrated her birthday with our residents, and my parents and Jill and Ivy were able to come up, too! (Aaron had worship practice at church). And Nathan's parents were visiting Jenna in Magdalena. But anyway, we had a good evening! Here is Halle, looking very excited about her My Little Pony cake:)

Nathan and the residents made Halle a really cute pinata! Halle took a couple of swings at it and then wanted Kaine to finish the job:)

Here she is, wearing the pinata!

We gave Halle a bunch of headbands with interchangeable flowers. Kaine wanted to try one on so bad, so I let him do it ninja-style:)

And here is Layla modeling one:)

So then, about a week later, we went to my parents' house to celebrate Halle and my dad's birthdays. Here is our family playing Halle's favorite game as of late...Farmer in the Dell. She just loves it!

Halle holding up a really cute dress from my parents

And blowing out candles with my dad:)

Wow, that ended up being a long post! We had fun celebrating with Halle. Happy Birthday, again, Halle! We love you!

Happy Birthday to Halle!!

Our sweet little Halle Rae is 3 years old today! Halle is such a joy to have in our family. She has so much personality it is amazing! She is such a sweetheart, a girlie-girl, and so affectionate...and she has a very strong will to go along with it all:) We pray that God will use that for good--we know she could do amazing things for Him someday!

Here is Halle with her birthday breakfast...pink cream of wheat:)

Such a sweetie!

We love you so much, Halle Rae-Rae! We thank God for allowing us to have you as our daughter. We hope you have a very Happy Birthday!