visiting collette

This last weekend we got to go see Collette and make a stop at Ikea. We first drove to Ikea to pick up a piece of furniture that barely fit in our car. It was a large cabinent to better organize things and to put our tv on top of. After Ikea we got to go see Collette! We actually arrived at Collette's house when she was out so we enjoyed the beautiful weather in her front yard. Within a couple of minutes Collette got home and started walking towards us and Hallie with a huge smile crawled across the grass right to Collette, it was really cute. Collette has been such a good friend and we all enjoy seeing her. It was fun to see all the improvements that have been made to her house too. Before we started the drive back home we went to and Indian restraunt and the food was delicious.At the restraunt.The food was so good, it doesn't look so appetizing though all packaged up.Oh, and I almost forgot...Hallie has a tooth cutting through! We discovered it on Saturday during the visit. Then it felt like a tiny piece of sand on her gums. Now you can feel the width of the tooth and you can see a small white line on her bottom gums in the front. Now we KNOW why she has been sleeping so badly at night.

*Berret put together the cabinent we bought and it is working great (Hallie can't get into it!). We also rearranged and we really like the living room set up much more now.

berret's hair

Trying out a new hair styleSide.Back. What do you think? Well maybe not...How about this then?Maybe just the usual.

I'm so glad Berret is such a good sport. He was in serious need of a hair cut and Liz was nice enough to find some time in her busy schedule to fit him in. Our good friend Liz is awesome with hair, it was worth waiting for her to get back in town so Berret's hair would be done right. Thanks Liz!

to the park

What a nice evening to go to the park.Find ourselves a patch of grass.Explore.Be adored by mama.Give dada a turn too, I guess.Like my exploring hat? I think it really adds something to my ensemble.Wait. What is that, a french frie? Yes, yes it is a french frie that squirrel is eating.

I guess the squirrel is more likely to work it off than the lazy bums before us who didn't even throw away their Mctrash. Good thing dada cleaned that up for them.

august 7 months

Hallie has become quite a handful. She is all over and into everything. Her crawling keeps getting faster. She sits herself up with ease and will sit up steady as long as she wants. She now pulls herself up where ever she can and is starting to move along things while she is up. Falls happen alot though and she has little bruises on her face from her new adventures. She now REALLY enjoys her jumper and actually jumps in it which is nice for me because it is a short period of time when she is happy staying in one spot. When she is really excited or happy she will bounce herself while she is crawling, when we pick her up, where ever she is (Berret and I think this is really cute). We're introducing her to new foods and she actually liking it now and isn't quite as messy when being fed. She does lots of talking and likes experimenting with her voice making new sounds. Hallie is a happy active baby that loves to explore.I can't really put bows on her head anymore because she won't stay still. With all of her movement now, they tend to fall off anyways.Taking these month pictures is more challenging, she tends to find more interesting things and can actually crawl to them now.

before bed

This weekend we got Hallie some new pajamas. We only had a couple of pajamas that fit her right now and she is growing out of them fast because they become too short with the attatched feet. She also gets really frustrated in the footed sleepers when she tries to crawl because her leg will move up the leg of the sleeper, footed section and the rest of the leg will trail behind her as she crawls. These pajamas are really stretchy and fit tighter which make them better for crawling. They'll grow with her more because they are 2 pieces, stretchy, and don't have attatched feet. Plus I like how they show off her cute little arms and legs and her big tummy.

I haven't posted a video of her crawling yet so here it is.

All the activity makes her REALLY ready for bed.

family pic

We took Hallie's 7 month pics along with some other pictures and a few quick family pics. I have no idea how it happened but half of the pics were gone and we have to retake her month pics so those will be coming soon. For now a family picture...the best we are able to do on our own with the timer.

STOP!

-STOP right where you are!--Hands up please.-"I don't have all day, I have some serious business with some toys""Finally..."

"Play time!"

nights

When Berret gets home from work we eat dinner, he studies his CPA stuff, then he practices the guitar and I try to get other things done or keep Hallie from distracting Berret too much. Then we might go for a walk, go to the store, work on something in the apartment, play with Hallie, play a game etc. After all that we usually like to wind down to a movie or something like that. Last night I picked Berret up from work so we could get a bike shop before it closed to get a bike rack for the back of his back to strap his lunches to. Then we went home to have that usual evening. Hallie had a fun playing around while Berret practiced.She kept pulling herself up to look at Berret and to mainly attack his book.

Last night we watched some stuff from Disney on the Front Lines (thanks for the DVD Phillip). Hallie likes to wind down like we do and usually falls asleep while we watch something. Sometimes it is the only way we can get her to go to sleep.She is so sweet, I can't get enough of her. Last night I stalled putting her in her crib so I could just hold and look at her.

lately

One evening early last week after a nap we found Hallie like this in her crib. She learned to pull herself up. We lowered her mattress that night.She still pulls herself up but at least she isn't in danger of climbing over the railing.She likes to pick out her own toys somtimes.She now enjoys trying out new foods. She eats the best though when I let her get messy. She gets frustrated if i try to keep her fingers away from her mouth or wipe her mouth too much. She enoys eating this way and will last longer with the whole feeding process.Last Saturday we went to the farmers market and it was a ton of fun. It was small but a good size for us and we got to try out some new things. After the market we explored a bit in down town and went out to eat.There is a carton of raspberries on the stroller and we ate them all before we even made it to the restraunt.When we got home that Saturday we went to the pool. There was hardly anyone there and Hallie had a ton of fun.Hallie loves playing in the water but gets a bit tired of us holding her constantly so we got her this awesome starfish float. Now we can hold and play with her and when she needs some space, put her in this float which even gives her shade.

erica visits and more

We made sure to have Erica over before she went to Indiana. (It is still sooo wierd to me that the Peacocks are in Indiana now. It was crazy going to Portland and not seeing ANY Peacocks.) Hallie had a ton of fun with Erica.My brother Sam is letting Berret use his guitar to learn on. Erica went with us to the music store to make sure we got the right strings for it. The guitar is all restrung and spiffed up now. Erica also showed Berret some helpful sites for guitar stuff. I have no idea why Berret is making that face in this pic.Warren and Allison happen to be in town that night too so we got together and ate dinner and played afterwards. Hallie and Danielle are so fun to watch. They actually interact now and steal toys from each other.The tunnel is a big hit with Hallie and Danielle got to give it a try too.And what were the boys doing while we were all infatuated with the babies?Playing games...it cracks me up how serious they look.

Erica made sure to serinade Hallie before she left.