In The Hartland

My Dearest Lia,

2012-01-31T13:14:00.000-08:00

My Dearest Lia,
As the birth of your baby brother approaches, I find myself reflecting on the fact that we were given the gift of four years together. This was never something your father or I planned on, but I can't help but be grateful for this extra time that we had. Not many mothers have the opportunity to devote all their time and attention to one child for such a long time. During these years, you truly became my best friend in many ways. You have been my constant companion--at my side for almost every waking hour of every day. Your pleasant, happy, and obedient demeanor have always made you such an enjoyable companion and a ray of sunshine in my life. I will always treasure all of the memories we made during these years. The fun we had, the laughs we shared, the adventures we went on, the things we learned. I will forever be grateful that you were my first born. You have taught me so much and will always hold a very special place in my heart. I love you more than words can express and look forward to embarking on this new adventure together of having a baby in our home. It is such a comfort to know that you will be there holding my hand along the way.
Love you always and forever,
Your mother

38 Weeks: The Final Bump Post

2012-01-29T21:48:00.000-08:00

Since I have basically been posting an updated baby bump picture every four weeks since mine first appeared, I guess that this will be my final photo as I do not intend on still being pregnant at 42 weeks! We are now on the final stretch of this pregnancy as my D-Day is in just twelve days. Who knows if this little guy will come early, on time, or late. My gut instinct? I think late, but I hope I'm wrong...

Being Showered!

2012-01-28T23:30:00.001-08:00

Tonight my friends, Megan and Stephanie, hosted a baby shower in my honor. It was so fun to spend an evening filled with great food and fabulous company and to receive some much needed gifts for our baby boy on the way. Opening up all of those presents of adorable boy clothes made me so excited for this new addition that will be joining our family soon!

The line-up of delicious food that Stephanie and Megan served.

The adorable diaper cake that my friend, Julie, made for me!

Some of the ladies hard at work on one of the games we played.

Megan explaining the rules to the baby-themed version of Catch Phrase that she and Stephanie made up.

Christy, Mary, and Alecia listening closely.

Stephanie reading the Mad Lib story that the group helped write about "my life." The finished product was far from the truth, but highly entertaining.

Posing for a quick pic with my sister-in-law, Natalee, and my mother who both drove out for the shower.

After food and game playing, we dove into the gift opening. Here I am opening up a present from my sister-in-law that consisted of a homemade blanket...

and onesie with a matching tie sewed onto it!

My mother made her traditional baby quilt in the blue, green, and brown colors and jungle theme of our baby nursery. As always, the finished product was beautiful and received many oohs and ahhs from the crowd.

And more gift opening.

My good friends from church: Megan, Stephanie, and Wendy.

Thank you, everyone, for a wonderful evening!

S.W.A.K.

2012-01-22T16:04:00.000-08:00

Sealed With A Kiss.

This is one little girl that can't wait to meet her baby brother!

Less than three weeks to go...

More Fun in the Snow!

2012-01-18T22:08:00.001-08:00

Well my wish from the previous post of hoping for more snow sure came true! On Monday, we had some little flurries in the morning and more that night. As as result, Ron's work and Lia's preschool were cancelled on Tuesday. So, Lia and I set out instead for a little snow play date with her friend, Kaylee, and her mom, Megan, that morning in a nearby park. The girls had a good time playing around in an untouched field of snow. However, the big storm came in Tuesday night and continued through most of today. As a result, everything was cancelled again so the Hartland fam had a grand ol' time going out two times today to play in our neighborhood that was transformed into a winter wonderland. We have loved having Ron home for five days straight (thanks to MLK Day being on Monday) and have thoroughly enjoyed watching Lia become a true fan of snow play and sledding for the first time in her little life! More cold temps and freezing rain are predicted for the days to come, so we shall see if Ron can stretch this impromptu "vacation" out any longer!

The aspiring models, Kaylee and Lia, pose next to their freshly built snowmen on Tuesday.

The girls showing off their snowballs.

Getting ready for a fight!

Touching up the large snowball left behind in the field next to the park.

The girls working hard!

Lia heading out today with papa to try her newly purchased Barbie-pink sled!

And off they go!

We first tried out the sled on the little hill in our front yard. Lia immediately fell in love with the activity and would finish each run in a snowy pile of giggles and smiles!

Lia started rolling around in the snow each time she walked back up the hill in our front yard. She just thought it was the funniest thing!

Now that is one happy snow bunny!

Mother and daughter posing in front of our frozen rhodies.

After some front yard sledding, we ventured out into the street for some snowball throwing.

Lia getting up close and personal.

The two girls ganging up on papa!

Lia running from her father's throw!

Next, we headed off down our street to try out some longer sled runs.

Off they go!

Walking in a winter wonderland.

A final family photo to finish off today's morning fun in the snow.

L-I-A

2012-01-16T10:26:00.000-08:00

Warning: Proud mother moment.
We first saw Lia "write" her name with a stick in the sand last summer while we were camping at Ocean Shores. Since then, she has written it many times with various crayons or pens, but the letters usually come out looking a bit haphazard. For example, the "L" sometimes faces the wrong way and looks more like a "J" and the letter "a" often times resembles a circle with a stick coming out of it. However, yesterday, Lia had a breakthrough and wrote her name almost perfectly on her little whiteboard! I was so pleased that I had to snap a picture of my daughter holding her finished product beaming with pride. Not too bad for a girl that isn't even four yet!

Snow Day

2012-01-15T16:50:00.000-08:00

I have been wondering for awhile now if we were actually going to get any snow during this winter season; however, a few days ago the weather reports started predicting it. Sure enough, yesterday afternoon while Lia and I were sweeping the garage and Ron was working in the yard, the flakes starting falling. It only lasted for an hour or so before stopping. This morning, the snow picked up again and produced a lovely inch or two layer on the ground. Although it was barely enough to count, our church was cancelled (I know, I know, the rest of the country would shake their heads at this, but this is how Washington usually works when the white stuff falls). As a result, we took off our dresses and put on our snow clothes and went out to play for an hour. Being the princess that she is, Lia was not thrilled about having to take off her dress and replace it with some bulky clothes, but we compromised by not forcing her to wear a hat or gloves or zip up her jacket. Oh dear. Regardless, once she got out there, Lia quickly decided that the snow was well worth the required wardrobe change and a good time was had by all!

Lia and mama posing in front of our house.

Lia making a snowball with her bare hands! What a brave girl.

Papa and Lia battling it out with their snowballs!

Some angels in the making.

For some odd reason, Lia decided that our dormant plants and empty gardens needed some water in the middle of the winter.

We normally reserve this stunt for the beaches and the pools, but Ron decided to try it out on the snow. It seemed to work just as well and brought a huge smile to our daughter's face.

Here's to hoping for more snow tomorrow!

Lia Ballerina

2012-01-10T21:34:00.000-08:00

Well, Lia's long-awaited first day of ballet class finally arrived! She has been looking forward to starting these dance classes with her two friends, Kaylee and Rachel, for months now. Unfortunately, the shy bug bit pretty badly as we walked into the building, so I had the good fortune of spending the first fifteen minutes of class in the studio coaxing Lia to follow the teacher through stretches, first position, and jumping in place. Once Lia finally broke free from my side, she had a great time running and prancing around with her friends following the directions of Miss Call. It was just the cutest thing to watch and I have high hopes that this will be a great weekly activity that will help keep us busy through the spring!

Lia finally warming up to her teacher and class after leaving my side.

"Pointing" her toe.

Lining up against the bar!

Lia and her two buddies practicing their leg kicks before venturing out into the studio with their teacher one at at time.

Lia's turn! Lia and Miss Call kicking their legs.

More of Lia and Miss Call.

Completing her walk across the floor.

And it's back to the bar to practice leg kicks from the back.

And it's up onto the tippy toes!

Lia and Kaylee listening carefully to the teacher.

Three ballerinas in the making!

34 Week Update for Lia and Me

2012-01-02T20:23:00.001-08:00

Well, I am now 34 weeks and proud to say that I flew across the entire United States yesterday without going into labor! With the exception of some lovely swollen feet and ankles from our seven hours in the air, I am feeling pretty darn good from our marathon five days in South Carolina for Ron's brother's wedding. Now it is time to just stay home and have this baby! Only a few more weeks to go.

I just had to include this second photo as Lia insisted on having her picture taken right after mine in the exact same pose. Since Lia's first comment to finding out that we were expecting a baby was that she, too, was pregnant with one named "Jonesa," I thought that it was more than appropriate that I include her belly shot. :-)

A Carolina Wedding

2012-01-01T05:42:00.001-08:00

We just returned from a whirlwind five days to South Carolina to celebrate the wedding of Ron's youngest brother. As I mentioned in the previous post, both Lia and Ron had come down with the flu the week before and I was hoping and praying that I would dodge this bullet, but as luck would have it, I came down with it two days before leaving. The thought of flying across the country 33-weeks pregnant and sick with the flu totally stressed me out and caused me to spend my two days in bed worrying nonstop. However, thanks to many prayers and a priesthood blessing, I felt about 80% normal on our long travel day and made it to S.C. without any trouble and by the next day I felt good as new. I am so grateful that I was able to go on this important trip and be apart of the whole wedding experience with my family and see my little girl walk down the aisle in all her flower girl glory. In addition, I was also glad that I was there to help Ron with Lia as she was a little "under the weather" throughout the weekend as it seemed that coming off of a bad case of the flu and an awful cold and dealing with the time change, a busy schedule, and an abundance of strangers was a little more than she could handle at certain times. So we worked together as a team and made it through the weekend in one piece. For the most part, we had a great time and are so happy to have our new sister-in-law, Austin, join the family!

Thursday, December 29th, was the day of the wedding rehearsal at the church in Greenwood. Here is Lia with her two North Carolina cousins and fellow flower girls, Regan and Addison, before taking the practice walk down the aisle.

Austin and Robbie and their bridal party at the front of the church during the rehearsal.

We were treated to a delicious dinner after the rehearsal at the clubhouse in Austin's parents' neighborhood in the town of Ninety-Six.

Ron and his brothers and mother in the entrance of the clubhouse.

Ron's immediate family, plus Uncle Oscar, before eating dinner.

I just had to include this picture of Addison and Lia on the stairs inside the clubhouse as it captures one of the many poses that Addison struck throughout the weekend when asked to have her picture taken.

Friday, December 30th, was the big, wedding day! Since Lola is the hairstylist extraordinaire, she offered to do all of the flower girls' hair before the ceremony. Here is Lia sitting very seriously in Lola's bathroom while getting all of her locks curled and styled.

More curling and primping.

We arrived at the church an hour and a half early to join in with plethora of pictures being taken! Both Renee and I were asked to be "honorary bridesmaids" with a few of Austin's friends and so we got to have our own bouquets and walk down the aisle. Here we all are striking a silly pose outside the church.

Austin with her two official bridesmaids and three darling flower girls. I just couldn't get over how adorable these three cousins looked all evening long in their matching dresses. They reminded me of little snowballs running all over the place!

The three girls running down the aisle before the ceremony started.

Addison, Regan, and Lia stopping for a few seconds for a quick pic.

The groom with his mother and brothers.

Our little family minus the bride.

The Hartland fam all cleaned up and in our wedding duds.

A few minutes before the ceremony began, all of the ladies in the wedding retreated to the bridal room in the church. At one point, this was the scene I spotted--the flower girls surrounding one of the bridesmaids on the floor. So cute!

After the ceremony, we all went outside the church to wait for the bride and groom to exit and walk through the arch of the sabers (since this was a military wedding). We were all given white candles to hold in their honor. Here is my little Lou looking at hers. Just precious.

Lia and Addison waiting for the wedding couple with candles in hand.

The newly married Austin and Robbie leaving the church!

One final family pose with the bride before heading off to the reception!

Papa and daughter on our way out of the church!

The reception was held at an art gallery in downtown Greenwood. Here are Austin and Robbie dancing their first dance after arriving!

After dinner, the rest of the evening was devoted to some dancing! Here are Lola and Uncle Oscar breaking it down on the dance floor!

Regan busting a move with her friend, Sierra.

Addison dancing with one of the many friends of the bride that she wooed over the weekend!

On December 31st, we kept ourselves busy with one activity or another. The girls started out the day coloring in our hotel room.

Since it was a gorgeous day in the 60s (a rare treat for us Washingtonians), we headed out to a park for a few hours to get some exercise and Vitamin D. On the way there, Addison unfortunately got sick and had to go back to the hotel room for the rest of the day. So we spent the rest of the day with Regan which Lia absolutely loved! Here is Lia coming down the slide!

Regan looking as cute as can be in the tunnel.

The two cousins coming down the slide tandem-style.

Battling it out in the woods adjacent to the park.

And onto the teeter totter!

In the afternoon, a group of us went to a local bowling alley to pass the time until dinner. This alley had some special area just for children, so Lia was able to attempt bowling for the first time in her life by using miniature balls on a minature lane! She and Regan enjoyed playing two games all by themselves.

The cousins doing a "double throw."

Look at that girl's form!

Cheering the girls on!

On Sunday, January 1st, we said goodbye to Ron's family in the morning at the hotel and then drove the hour to the town of Simpsonville to visit my good friend and former mission companion, Shannon, and her family. It was such a treat to see Shannon in her Southern life as I haven't seen her since our wedding 6.5 years earlier. She treated us to lunch and a few hours of catching up while Lia ran around with her cute daughter, Eliza. Here are the girls before we said goodbye and headed to the airport!

Shani and me and our girls in front of her home!

All I Want for Christmas is a Healthy Family!

2011-12-25T20:41:00.000-08:00

The Hartland fam got slammed with a bad case of the flu during this year's holiday season that knocked the other members of my family flat on their backs for days at a time. Lia got it first and got it the worst the Monday before Christmas. She was out for an entire week, but managed to perk up enough by the end of the week to enjoy Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas day with Ron and me. Unfortunately, Ron woke up with it Christmas Eve morning. Talk about bad timing. After driving Lia and me up to my parents' house to celebrate Christmas Eve (and Christmas morning as we had already planned on spending the night at their house), he turned around and drove back home and spent the evening and next morning alone. How depressing is that?! Luckily, he felt well enough to join in with our gift opening on Christmas night after Lia and I returned home from my parents. Now, I'm just wishing that I can escape this nasty virus as we are leaving for our big trip to South Carolina in just two days!

Lia and I spent Christmas Eve at my parents' house with them and two of my brothers and their families. For a second year in a row, my dad opted to eat at the "kids' table" in the kitchen so that the rest of us could enjoy a quiet and calm dinner in the dining room. We feasted on our traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings. As always, it was delicious!

During dinner, we were treated to a surprise visit by my friend, Sarah, and her family who came caroling--violins and all!

Sarah and I have been working on this match since these little ones were born. We basically betrothed Lia to Sarah's youngest child, Weston, after her birth. They are a little over a year apart and we think that they would just make the cutest couple; however, tonight was the first time that they met each other in person. We had to capture this moment on film. Weston even agreed to put his arm around Lia. :-)

After dinner, we dove into our Christmas Eve program which always includes playing a few Christmas carols with Natalee's bell set.

Lia and her two cousins, Callie and Vivi, with their bells.

Next item on the program was the reenacting of the nativity story. Once again, Lia was able to call dibs on the angel costume which just tickles her pink since she feels like a princess while wearing it.

Joseph, Mary, the baby Jesus, and my little angel.

The entire line-up after completing the story.

We always finish off the evening's program by paying tribute to my father's German heritage by lighting the candles on the Christmas tree and singing "Silent Night." It is one of my favorite parts of the evening because it is so peaceful and reverent.

The Hartland fam minus our sick papa who was home alone. So sad.

Lia and I enjoyed a quiet Christmas morning at my parents' house complete with breakfast and some gift opening and a trip to church since Christmas fell on Sunday this year. Here is Lia wearing her "Hello Kitty" pajamas and combing her Rapunzel doll's hair which were both gifts from Santa.

Here is a 3-part shot of Lia ripping into one of her gifts from grandma and grandpa. Part #1.

Part #2.

Part #3.

Lia and I were happy to return to our own home after lunch to spend the rest of the Christmas day with Ron who was starting to feel a bit better. We saved a lot of our gifts to open with him so that he felt like he was able to participate in some of the day's festivities. Here is our little Lou getting ready to dive into a gift just from her father.

Assisting Lia with another present.

Father and daughter at the end of the evening.

Here's wishing for a healthier Christmas in 2012!

Bump to Bump

2011-12-23T19:33:00.000-08:00

Meet my dear friend, Sarah. We met as elementary age kiddos at church and became best of friends our freshman year of high school. Although we were inseparable for the four years that followed, our lives took different turns after our first few years of college. She got married and started having babies and I went on to finish my degree and have a career. Since Sarah was completely "done" having her children (all four of them!) before Ron and I even started our family, I never in a million years thought that we would be pregnant at the same time. However, a month after I became pregnant, Sarah found out that she was expecting a "surprise" baby! So it was such a treat to see my good friend last night in all of her pregnant glory while she and her family are back up in the northwest for the holidays. I just couldn't resist having Ron take this picture to document our baby bumps in the making! Oh, if only we could have seen this picture twenty years ago, we would have laughed ourselves silly.

The Nutcracker and My Invalid

2011-12-22T18:21:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, the flu managed to find our little one this past Monday night causing Lia to lay around as lifeless as can be these past three days. Not too much fun for the days leading up to Christmas! Luckily our calendar is pretty empty this week, so we only had to cancel a few fun things while she fights this bug. In order to fill the time, Lia has spent a lot of her hours either sleeping or watching movies or listening to stories read by Ron or me. I have taken advantage of this opportunity to introduce her to some classic Christmas stories that my mother passed onto us including The Nutcracker. Today, after placing the book by her side, I had to quickly run downstairs to get something before reading this story again to her. As I was returning a minute or two later, I could hear Lia's little voice coming down the stairs. I quickly realized that she was telling herself the story instead of waiting for my return and this is the scene that greeted me when I rounded the corner into her room where she was resting. The Nutcracker and my invalid. What a precious sight...

Christmas Bling!

2011-12-12T22:36:00.000-08:00

As Lia gets older and is enjoying the festivities that come with the holiday season more and more, I am trying to find a few new, fun things to add to our December calendar. As a result, I suggested that we try out the Fantasy Lights at Spanaway Park tonight for Family Home Evening. So we hopped in our big, black truck and headed out to Spanaway to take at gander at the Northwest's largest holiday drive-through display. For two miles, we meandered around the park gazing at all of the lit-up creatures and creations from snowboarding Santas to bike riding snowmen to kite flying bears. We all got a kick out of this lighted bonanza and might even make it an annual tradition! Until 2012...

Driving through the glorious, poinsettia arch at the entrance of the park.

Lia gazing out the window at one of the many lighted displays.
Here are a few of our favorites below:

Santa going pirate.

The happy gingerbread family.

The overstuffed stocking.

The classy, old car.

A snowman going for a ride.

A friendly gingerbread house.

Away in a Langer

2011-12-05T23:27:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks, we have been teaching Lia the story of Jesus Christ's birth during Family Home Evening. From reading the scriptures, to watching a video, to coloring pictures, to playing with our nativity puppets, Lia has soaked it all up like a sponge and has learned quite a bit. As a result, I jumped at the opportunity to take Lia up to my parent's church last night to see the 500 nativity sets that were on display. After walking around the gym for quite some time, we ended up in the children's room where there was several sets that she could touch. Lia thoroughly enjoyed playing with many of these, moving around the various pieces to her liking. Afterwards, we took her through another room that showed the entire life of Christ through a beautiful display of pictures and objects. Thanks to a life-size manger in this room, I was able to teach Lia about its purpose for animals and its significance in the nativity story. This little lesson obviously stuck with her as she came up to me today with one of her dolls laying in an Easter basket and proudly announced, "This is baby Jesus laying in a langer." So cute. I just love sharing Christmas with this three-year old.

Lia hard at play with one of the children's nativity sets.

A happy girl enjoying the true reason for this season.

30 weeks down, 10 more to go!

2011-12-04T14:17:00.000-08:00

Well, we are now into the third trimester and the 30th week! I can't believe it as every day of my first trimester draaaaged as I literally checked each day off of the calendar until I started to feel like we might actually keep this baby. However, since then, time has really flown. Besides struggling to pick things off of the floor, I still feel relatively great. I am just so happy and feel so blessed to be pregnant this holiday season. Our little family is so excited to meet this baby boy come February!

We-Finally-Saw-Santa-Parade

2011-12-03T19:05:00.001-08:00

Two years ago, the Hartland fam braved the cold to attend our town's annual Santa Parade; however, the low temperatures chased us out before we could actually see Santa and his Missus on their float. So when we set out today for a repeat performance, we were committed to seeing Santa Claus--especially since Lia is now very intrigued by this illusive holiday hero. We were able to slip into town a little bit early to hit our local Greek restaurant for dinner before heading out to observe the parade and its participants for the next hour or so. The good news? We made it to the end and actually got to see Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Lia was absolutely awestruck...

Lia and Ron mesmerized by the Sumner High School marching band.

No Puyallup parade is complete without our local Daffodil royalty. Here are our girls in all their yellow glory.

A happy parade observer.

Moving to the top of papa's shoulders for a better view.

One of the many lit up tractors.

My little Lou and me.

Ron and I couldn't get over this deck-out hot rod. Can you find the car under there?

Finally! The final float with Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

We wandered over to our library park after the parade to take a gander at the tree-lighting ceremony. While there, we were able to see Santa and the Missus up close and the set of Disney princesses from the parade. Talk about holiday luck. Lia thought she had died and gone to heaven.

Let the holiday season begin!

The Magic of Christmas...

2011-11-27T23:20:00.001-08:00

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we started the process of putting up Christmas in the Hartland. Lia has now grown to the age where she really has begun to anticipate and appreciate the holidays and all of the festivities that come with them. I love this as it makes them that much more special for me. She was so excited to buy our Christmas tree and put it up in the living room and was a great assistant in helping to hang the ornaments. We also dug up her mini Christmas tree with its little string of lights and ornaments and put it in her bedroom before bedtime the first night. After reading stories and saying her prayer, I told Lia that she could play with her tree for a few minutes before climbing into bed. After a few minutes of complete silence, I tiptoed upstairs to peak in on her and this is the precious scene I found: Lia laying on the floor gently touching every little light bulb and ornament. I just thought it was the sweetest thing as my three-year old was truly mesmerized by the magic of Christmas.

I'm thankful for...

2011-11-23T10:08:00.000-08:00

At preschool yesterday, Lia was able to complete a few different Thanksgiving activities. One of these projects required the children to assemble a paper turkey and have the mom-in-charge write down what every child was thankful for on the feathers. You can imagine my chuckle when I saw what Lia was grateful for at this time in her life:
1. Beautiful gowns
2. Princesses
3. Ball (not the toy, but the event)
4. Turkey
I fear that Walt Disney has created a monster. Oh dear. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Three and Three Quarters Report...

2011-11-22T15:47:00.000-08:00

Well, it's hard to believe, but our little girl is three-fourths of the way through her third year today. Good grief, Charlie Brown! We're staring at her fourth birthday in the face. It's amazing to me how the baby phase just seems to take forever, but once it fades into toddlerdom, life really starts to pick up and just fly by. I mean, in one and a half years, I'll be putting my baby on a school bus! I'm just grateful that I have another baby on the way, or else things would really be getting tough on me. And I digress...
So without further adieu, here is a complete list of all of the funny changes and cravings and crazes that my daughter has been about the past three months:
1. Let's start with the biggest highlight: Lia is fully potty trained! Hooray! It only took six months to get her to buy into the second and more difficult part of potty training, but it finally happened the end of September and I couldn't be happier!
2. After she was introduced to it during her first week of preschool this fall, Lia has fallen in love with water coloring. A palate and brushes were quickly purchased at our grocery store and we can be found on a regular basis gathered around the kitchen table painting away.
3. Lia has taken to telling her own made-up stories that always start with the infamous line, "Once upon a time." Her stories usually follow a fairytale/princess theme, but they are priceless and I love hearing them.
4. Lia loves, loves, loves preschool and asks me all the time when she gets to go next. I'm so grateful fro the co-op of mothers in my ward that have made this possible for free! She also is very excited about the elementary school that she will attend in the Fall of 2013 and talks about it regularly. This is one little girl that will eat school up when she is given the chance!
5. Lia is very excited about the pending arrival of her baby brother. You can tell that she was ready a long time ago to acquire a sibling. Sorry it took so long, Lia! She has already made up a nickname for him ("Logie") and talks about how cute he is and loves to kiss and pat my belly all the time. We'll see how long this sibling love lasts. ;-)
6. After Ron got the flu in September forcing me into our guest bedroom for a few nights, Lia realized that there was a use to this bedroom for the first time in her life. As as result, she now "bed hops" all the time from her bedroom to the guest bedroom. We will put her down for the night in one bed and find her asleep in the other one by the time we come up a few hours later. It's quite funny. She has also added the small couch in the office to her sleeping repertoire during nap time. It's just your basic game of musical beds.
7. Much to my chagrin, Lia has become your regular, cold cereal junkie. She wants to eat it all the time--for every meal and every snack. Obviously she doesn't get her way all the time, but at least one or two or three bowls of cereal are consumed by this little one daily. Oh well, at least she is getting her daily intake of calcium!
8. I am ashamed to admit that I finally incorporated scripture reading into our nightly, bedtime routine. I know, I know, better late than never, right? Anyways, Lia took to it like a fish to water and now reminds me to do it every night (which is a good thing because I still forget sometimes). She loves sitting on our coffee table across from me and follows along with fascination.
9. Lia has become very clingy to her momma this fall for some odd reason. Although she has never been a fan of strangers, she was always fine with being left at home with papa or the grandparents, but that has all changed. Whenever I now have to leave her with Ron, a big tantrum is thrown with tears and sobs. You can tell I'm not working anymore...
10. Unfortunately thanks to some of her little friends, Lia has picked up on the art of "potty talk" in the past few months. Grrrr. Although she now recites the rule that she is not allowed to say the words "poo poo" or "pee pee" more than she says them, it's just down right annoying. We'll see how long it takes her to grow out of that one.
11. Lia now loves to rock out with me to Katie Perry's "Firework" song whenever it comes on the radio while we are driving around in the car. It's so cute as she now even knows some of the words and can be found singing them around the house.
12. I don't know where this phase came from, but a few weeks ago Lia decided that she wanted to wear her pajamas in the house whenever we are home (which can be most of the day sometimes). So, the days of getting ready in the morning and staying in the same clothes til bedtime are long gone. I don't know if it coincided with the arrival of the cold weather this fall or what, but it is definitely her favorite thing to wear (well, along with her princess dresses, that is).
13. Lia's sleeping schedule has evolved for the first time in years. She either skips her nap now for "quiet time" in her room or will take a much later afternoon nap resulting in a much later bedtime. I'm sure that most moms would yank the nap altogether to guarantee an 8 pm bedtime, but I still just love that break in the middle of the day so much that I can't do it. As as result, she goes down most days for a nap around 2 or 3 pm and then doesn't actually fall asleep at night til around 10 pm or so. It's a bit ridiculous and much later than I would like, but it's what I choose to do in order to get a break half way through the day.
14. Lia is fascinated with ages and wants to know how old everyone is all the time. She has Ron's and my ages memorized and likes to remind us on a regular basis how old we are. Funny girl.
15. Lastly, Lia is still very into her make-believe friends and talks about them all the time. She still makes up the funniest names and frequently reports on their comings and goings. Lia especially loves to blame her bad behavior and choices on them by saying things like, "Jonesa told me to do it!" Ron and I are now in the habit of kicking her fake friends out our house. Oh, what fun!

And there you go! Until her fourth birthday, that's the latest on our little Lou!

Save the Lips!

2011-11-20T21:11:00.000-08:00

Since the cold season has settled into the great Northwest, Lia has been plagued with constant chapped lips. No sooner do we get one bad case cleared up then another one sets in. Today was no exception as Lia woke up with multiple pieces of dried flesh hanging off her lips. After attempting to lightly pull a few pieces of skin off tonight, I told Lia that I couldn't because I didn't want to rip her lips. After asking some questions, Lia agreed with my decision to hold back by stating, "I want my lips to stay on." I don't blame her. :-)

The 26 Week Bump!

2011-11-06T16:13:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been four weeks, so I guess it's time for an updated version of my baby bump. I am now 26 weeks preggers and have started to finally "feel" pregnant for the first time with this baby. It now takes some effort to get off of the couch or out of bed and Lia has become my designated picker-upper of all things on the floor since bending over is becoming a bit of a bother. However, I am still loving it. Loving that I am finally pregnant. Loving that this baby is growing. Loving the fact that in just three months, we will finally have another baby in our house. I can't wait...

A Pint-Sized Snow White

2011-10-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

Lia and I duked it out for weeks as to which princess she was going to be for "Falloween." She wanted Cinderella and I wanted Snow White. My argument? Well, for starters, she looks like Snow White! With her fair complexion and dark hair, people have been commenting on the resemblance for years. Secondly, her Snow White costume is much nicer than all of her used and loved Cinderella hand-me-down dresses. So, after weeks of debate, I finally convinced Lia to come to my side by offering to buy a matching red bow to go with costume. Who knew it would be that easy?
After getting my girl all dressed up this afternoon, we headed outside for our traditional photo shoot in the front yard before heading out with papa to our church's trunk-or-treat and a quick trip around our neighborhood. Lia made off like a bandit for the amount of time that she was actually trick-or-treating tonight. Ron and I can't wait to get into it when her back is turned!

Quite possibly the cutest princess I have ever seen.
Cheese!

I just love this pic. Can't you see Disney's actual Snow White posing like this while warbling by her wishing well?
One more coy pose before heading off for the evening.

Working hard at the trunk-or-treat in our church's parking lot.

Trick-or-treat!

A girl on a mission.

Heading out for more candy back in our neighborhood.

Lia organizing her inventory with papa's assistance after a busy evening.

Happy Falloween everyone!

Pumkins and Such...

2011-10-25T16:27:00.001-07:00

The Hartland fam got into the Halloween spirit this year by heading off to our local farm, Spooners, on Saturday to pick out our Halloween pumpkins and then carving them for Family Home Evening last night. A good time was had by all. I think we are now ready for some candy and the big day!

Lia and I posing in the pumpkin patch.
After taking a spill out of the wheelbarrow, Lia wanted nothing to do with it or pictures for the next few minutes. Hence the grumpy face.

Lia standing a safe distance from papa and his evil wheelbarrow.

A few minutes later, Lia brightened up when it was finally her turn to pick out a pumpkin. She had been asking for weeks to have a "medium, white pumpkin." We had to wander over to the area with the big bins of gourdes to find a white pumpkin to choose. Here Lia is hard at work with papa searching for the perfect one.

The two of them carefully weighing their options.

The chosen one.

No autumn trip to Spooners is complete without the classic pumpkin house picture.

After finding our pumpkins, we walked over to the barn to check out the animals.

And then to participate in some duck racing. Lia loved this!

Ron and Lia gearing up for another round of racing!

Lia pumping hard to send her little duck down the chute to the bucket of water below.

Lastly, we wandered off to the back area of the farm where they had the goats and llamas and a mock set-up of Alice and Wonderland. Random, yes, but fun nevertheless. Here are my two favorite people on top of the Queen of Hearts' castle.

We're on top of the world!

Lia and I back at home at on monday night. We started first with Lia's pumpkin. I was instructed to carve a happy face on Lia's pumpkin and a sad face on mine.

Lia supervising my carving.

Papa hard at work across the table.

The Hartland fam of pumpkins. From happy to scary to sad, we covered a wide range of emotions that night.

Backwards Talking

2011-10-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

Allow me to set the scene.

We were at church this morning.

It was during the first hour when we are all together.

Lia was sitting on Ron's lap keeping herself busy with one thing or another.

Suddenly she producess a pretend chapstick and runs it over Ron's mouth.

She then follows up with the following directions:

"Okay, now lip your rubs together."

Aren't three-year olds the cutest thing???

The Patient, Impatient Toddler...

2011-10-15T19:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Lia and I headed up to my parents' house so that I could recruit my mother's help in making and canning 49 pints of homemade applesauce. Since my dad was out on various errands and my mom and I were busily at work in the kitchen for many hours, Lia was in dire need of a playmate. Although she continually asked where her grandpa was and when he was coming home, Lia managed to remain pretty patient the first two hours by keeping herself busy in the adjacent family room. However, Lia finally hit her wall during the final hour before my dad's return. Out of nowhere, she turned to to my mom and me and shouted, "WHERE IS MY DARN GRANDPA?!" We turned to each other and just burst out laughing! Needless to say, when that darn grandpa did eventually stroll through the door, he was greeted by one happy and impatient granddaughter that didn't let him out of her sight the rest of the day!

The Week 22 Belly

2011-10-09T16:28:00.000-07:00

I promise that I am not going to be one of those over-zealous, pregnant women who posts weekly, belly pictures and plasters my blog with countdown widgets; however, I did want to post a photo of my baby bump now that it is finally starting to make an appearance at 22 weeks. The maternity jeans are feeling mighty comfy these days and I'm sure the maternity shirts will follow shortly. I know it sounds crazy, but considering what it took emotionally, physically, and financially to get this baby on the way, I am happy to be growing bigger and bigger every day!

The Manner's Police

2011-10-07T16:54:00.000-07:00

Ever since Lia and I started reading a book about Mr. Penguin and manners, she has become fascinated with the subject of manners. Every day, we discuss whether or not something she does or something someone else does is good or bad manners. With that in mind, fast foward to last night when we were sitting side-by-side reading her bedtime stories. During one of her books, Lia's little brother-to-be delivered a swift and powerful kick to the right side of my belly. It was so strong that I jumped and yelped at the same time, suprising both Lia and me. Of course, she immediately wanted to know what had happened. After discussing in great detail that her baby brother had just kicked me from inside my stomach, Lia got a very serious look on her face and said, "That's bad manners." After I finished laughing, Lia then informed me that I needed to tell her brother to stop doing that. Oh dear. The big, bossy sister has already arrived on the scene and her brother hasn't even been born yet! What are we in for?!

Lia's First Homecoming Dance!

2011-10-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

It's not every day that your first homecoming dance happens at the age of three, but this is what happened to our little one due to a funny chain of events last night. Since Ron had to chaperone his high school's homecoming dance yesterday after work (meaning he would be gone from 6 am til midnight), Lia and I decided to drive up to his school and go out to dinner with him beforehand. Right as we were heading out the door, Ron called and asked if we wanted to go to the dance for the first hour or so. I immediately jumped on this opportunity as I knew that Lia would think of it as a real, live ball with an endless amount of princesses wearing "gown balls." So, I quickly threw some clothes in a bag and off we went. A few hours later, Lia and I found ourselves parked on a bench next to the entrance of the dance watching girl after girl after girl arrive in her finest duds. Although Lia loved them all, her favorites had to be the gowns that "went all the way to the floor" (a particular feature of all Disney princess dresses that Lia has loved from day #1). Lia was absolutely adorable that night! She was so well behaved and faithfully followed me everywhere. She loved wearing her own party dress and kept on asking to go into the room where the actual dance was taking place to see the princesses dancing at the ball. Since we were there the first hour, only a few people were dancing out on the floor each time we went in. However, every time we left the gym, Lia would swirl and twirl around the hordes of teenagers as we weaved our way back to our observation spot on the bench. It truly was a magical evening for Lia and one that I will always remember!

BOO!

2011-09-22T20:08:00.001-07:00

I'M A BOY!

The Puyallup Fair!

2011-09-18T20:54:00.001-07:00

Well, it's that time of year again when most of our downtown area is shut down for three weeks to host the nation's sixth largest fair. Thanks to our Educators' Passes, we were able to get in for free for a fifth year in a row in order to gorge ourselves on fatty, fair food, throw Lia on a few fun rides, and wander the endless row of barns stocked full of every farm animal under the sun. Even with a little morning rain, good times were had by all. Here is a quick peak at our day at the fair...

Lia and I venturing into the petting zoo.

Lia opting to pet the bunny hair instead of the bunny. Oh dear.
Getting a little braver and petting the goat.

Ron chowing down on one of the many fine, fair foods we consumed that day.

A corn dog and Ron humoring me.

Visiting Lia's favorite fair animal: the massive mama pig and her litter of piglets.

Some quality llama gazing.

Establishing some healthy eating habits: ice cream before lunch.
All aboard for the first ride of the day!

For a second year in a row, Lia's favorite fair moment just had to be riding the 4-wheelers! Look at that face!

Lia got brave enough to declare that she wanted to ride the giant slide with papa. Being the cautious toddler that she is, I couldn't believe my ears! Here they are getting ready at the top.

And down they go.

Getting up from a successful ride.

First Day of Preschool...

2011-09-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

Well, Miss big-girl Lia headed off to her first day of preschool this week. We are participating in a preschool co-op with five other moms in my ward this school year which makes for some great savings for me and some great times for Lia! Lia was so excited to wear her Dora "pack pack" complete with crayons, scissors, glue, and pencils to preschool on Tuesday that she has worn it at various times around the house every day since. She is such a "big, little" girl now and can't wait to go to her real elementary school down the hill that we drive by all the time. Personally, I can wait the two years til I send my first born off to school--I think it's gong to be a pretty traumatic day for me!

Drum roll, please...

2011-08-31T08:45:00.000-07:00

16 weeks down, 20 something to go.

:-)

A Glorious End to the Summer...

2011-08-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

There are a couple of known facts about Lia and me and one of them is that we LOVE summer. We love being outdoors playing in the sun, the sand, the water, and on the beach and we also love camping! We wrapped up another busy and glorious summer this past weekend by camping on Blake Island in the Puget Sound with two of my brothers and their families, my parents, and Natalee's mom and sister's family. We were blessed with weather in the mid 80s both days and had a fabulous time. I tell ya, there are few things as beautiful as the Puget Sound on a sunny day! I absolutely love it out on this island and can't wait to do it again for the third summer in a row next year!

One of the perks of having Natalee's sister and her family join our group this year was the addition of Megan, another three-year old girl for Lia to play with the entire time. These two became fast friends and spend many hours playing in one tent or another. Here they are striking up a silly pose in Megan's tent.
The kids spent many fun filled hours playing along the shore. Here are several of them crawling along some driftwood.

Lia gearing up to make one of her world renown sand cakes.

Megan assisting Lia with her masterpiece in the red bucket.

The two cuties posing for a pic.

Lia trying out the island's playground for the first time.

Lia and Megan enjoying one of many rounds on the tire swing.

Our three campsites all in a row with the sound in the background. Talk about a view from your tent!

My cute parents enjoying their foil dinners in our campsite Friday night.

The original fam dam minus Brent. Sniff. Wish you were there!

We took a stroll Friday night after dinner up to the Tillacum Indian lodge to take a peak around. Here are some of the kiddos taking a ride on one of the wooden carvings on the grounds.

Three generations of campers...

Saturday morning brought another beautiful day and a very low tide which provided some excellent beach combing!

Uncle Eric helped the kids find many treasures this morning from starfish to clams (yes, even an elusive gooey duck) to a giant snail to even a large jelly fish! The kids had the time of their lives playing in this outdoor aquarium.

Lia holding up one of the many clams the cousins dug up that morning.

Bryce inspecting the giant snail that Eric found.

The little ones "petting" the slimy underside of the snail.

The beginnings of the giant starfish collection the kids created.

My crazy brother, Chris, decided to go water skiing in the freezing sound Saturday morning. Here he is cruising by the group at the end of his ski!

Why the Pacific Northwest is a glorious place to live in the summer. This pictures speaks volumes.

Lia and all of her playmates lined up for a final picture before taking down our tents and packing up.

"Toyota!"

Please note the three very confused toddlers on the end of the log.

Thanks again, Blake Island and Chris and Nat, for a glorious last hoorah this summer!

And It's Back to Priest Lake...

2011-08-26T09:27:00.001-07:00

We returned this past Sunday from our second round at Priest Lake for the 2011 summer. We were there for a little over a week and were blessed with stunning weather and good times with some of our family. Lia and I went up with my parents this time and joined Brent and Susie and their kiddos and Rebecca and hers for the first four days. After they left, the four of us were alone for a few days until Ron joined us for the second weekend. We sure do love it up there.

The girls discovered a use for the clay found at the water's edge on our beach and spent hours and hours creating various shapes, animals, and food items. Here is Kelsey working hard 0n her latest sculpture.

Lia patting some clay down on the dock. I think she was making some "patty cakes" (aka: pancakes) with Vivi watching over her shoulder.

The little artist up close.

Kelsey swimming in her tube sandwich.

Lia and her cousins playing at the neighborhood tennis court one evening.

I just had to include this picture I tried to take of Lia throwing the basketball. Doesn't she look like the headless horseman or something?

Vivi and Lia playing around.

Lia and some of her older cousins watching television.

Lia going for a kayak ride with her grandparents one morning. How precious.

And they're off!

After Ron joined us, he and my dad completed their annual swim across the lake. My mom, Lia, and I motored along their side in the boat as their chaperones. They completed the 1.25 mile swim in 45 minutes!

Ron and Lia working hard on the dock.

Lia took Ron into her little "pool" for some water play. This is the shallow and usually more calm area next to the beach that Lia enjoyed playing in this summer.

After absolutely refusing to jump into Ron's arms last month, Lia finally got up the nerve this month and fell in love with it. She requested to do this over and over again off the deep end of the dock!

Ahhhh! What a happy pair.

The only family picture snapped this time. Oops.

We found a plastic, toy fish floating in the water one day by our beach complete with fishing line and all. We rigged it to a stick allowing Lia to spend many fun filled hours fishing for Dorothy (the name she gave to the fish in honor of Elma's goldfish).

The grandparents that float together, stick together.

I am proud to say that this is my 69-year of mother water skiing! Her goal was to make it to age 60, but we have continued to encourage her to do it at least once a summer every year since then. Here she is on her second ski the week while we were up there. My new goal for her is to make it to age 75!

Ron completing another glorious morning ski, too.

My little boating partner with her wild and crazy windswept hair! So cute!

3 1/2 Years...

2011-08-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

Well, it happened. My little girl is officially half way to her fourth birthday. Oh my. How ever did that happen? As always, she has been up to some funny and new things the past three months that I wanted to record before they slip my mind forever.

1. She made the big move (finally) from the crib to the big girl bed the last weekend in May. She never was one of those kids that climbed out of her crib and she absolutely loved sleeping in it, so I just didn't see the need to make the change early on; however, the time finally arrived this spring when she grew to the same length as her crib!
2. Lia has started to draw real pictures. She can draw pictures of stick people, trees, balloons, and even spiders. I think they are the cutest things and I love watching how carefully she works when she draws them.
3. She has started to say the most elaborate prayers that just crack Ron and me up. They are quite lengthy and she will thoroughly review the events of the day in addition to stating things she is grateful for. The funniest is when she says she is "thankful before" said item instead of "thankful for" said item.
4. Lia has discovered the concept of the imaginary friend and/or cousin. It is so funny because she always makes up these unique and creative names to go along with these imaginary buddies. Our absolute favorite name has just got to be "Choppy Long." Runner up has to be a tie between "Froccoli Bench" and "Vada Vida." In addition to stating their names and what they are doing together at the current moment, Lia typically will also included the imaginary friend's age. So thorough.
5. Lia has discovered that she can hug me while she is lying down in bed if she quickly wraps her arms around my neck and pull me down while I am bending down to kiss her. I just love it and will normally let her hug me in that awkward position for as long as she wants or until my back begins to break.
6. Lia has become fascinated with a few things lately--some good and some not so good. The list includes the time of the day, the age of a person, and private parts. Yep, that's right. I'm not too thrilled about the last one, but it comes up on a daily basis.
7. Our little one has really and truly fallen in love with cereal. Since I refuse to raise a child who only eats cold cereal for breakfast, it has mainly become a daily snack in between one, two, or all three of our meals. Oh well. At least, I know that she is getting her fair share of calcium from milk every day.
8. In the last few weeks, Lia has gone question-asking-happy! Wowzer. It's becoming a full-time job answering all of her questions. I try to be patient all day long and answer the barrage of questions, but I will admit that by night, I am ready for a break.
9. Lia has really become quite a little helper lately. She is usually eager to help out with anything she is asked to do from carrying an item from one place to another or helping stir something in the kitchen. She is really become a big girl.
10. She just discovered how to click her tongue last week and began doing it over and over again. In fact, it was such a distraction for her one day that she was unable to fall asleep during nap time.
11. Although Lia loved the water Summer 2009 when she was 1 1/2 years old, she wanted nothing to do with it last summer. However, I am happy to report that she rediscovered this love this summer at Priest Lake and enjoyed jumping off the deep end of the dock to Ron and "swimming" in the shallow area by the beach.
12. Lia has successfully been potty trained for the past five months...with #1, but the little stinker still wants nothing to do with #2! Ugh. It just kills me as she totally knows what she is doing, but refuses to take care of her business in the potty. Lucky me. Hopefully, we'll have this taken care of by the time she heads off to college in 15 years.
13. After watching Simba's mother licking him in the Lion King movie, Lia has taken to licking Ron and me instead of kissing us. We constantly remind her that she is not a lion, a dog, a cat, or a wolf, but this doesn't seem to bother her one bit. Good times.
14. Lia has definitely hit the peak of her "clinginess." Unless Ron is home, where I am, Lia can be found. Even if I quietly sneak upstairs while she is watching a movie on TV, she can be found looking for me in a matter of minutes. Although I would love some extra space from time to time, she truly is my closest and most loyal fan at the current moment.
15. Lia has developed a habit of setting up "picnics" throughout the main floor of our house. She will pick up random pots, pans, plates, and cups from her toy kitchen, fill them with various plastic food items AND water, and place them on a towel on our floor. It is a very cute, girly habit of hers; however, tripping over a potful of water while trying to navigate your way to the front door isn't always the cutest. :-)

Lia is the absolute joy of my life. She is still such a pleasant, happy, obedient, intelligent, and well-behaved little girl who really skipped over the terrible toddler years. I truly enjoy having her be my sidekick wherever I go and can't imagine my life without her. I'm so grateful that she is my daughter!

Idaho's Crown Jewel...

2011-08-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

Well, another July has come and gone and with that brings our first summer trip up to the cabin at Priest Lake--also known as the crown jewel of Idaho. Our little family was gone for almost two weeks and had a ton of fun doing what we do best up there: swimming, skiing, eating, laughing, game playing, and playing on the beach. All 20 members of my family were up there for the first few days and Lia had the time of her life juggling all of her cousins. After the bulk of the group left, we witnessed our first "micro burst" storm that wreaked some serious havoc on the cabin and brought some serious excitement into our lives. Luckily no one was hurt and the cabin survived. Regardless, one never knows what they will find when they venture up to the North of the Narrows! Here's a peak at our two weeks up there!

Lia, pink Iggy, and cousin Vivi hanging out on the porch swing.

Grandma reading bedtime stories to Lia and Mae Mae.

The triplets building their blanket fort on the catwalk.

Papa and Lia reading.

Some cousin play down on the beach.

Papa and Lia basking in that crystal clear water.

Lia refusing to jump into papa's arms.

Riley showing off to Lia.

Garrett and Bryce lounging on the new floaties.

Lia working hard to keep the sand watered.

Ron being smothered in triplet love. Lucky him.

The triplets jumping off the dock in unison.

Celebrating Eric's 37th birthday!

Riley and Lia completing the scavenger hunt that grandma set up.

No summer is complete without a trip to Upper Priest Lake. Oh, how I love the scenic and relaxing trip up the channel to this lake.

The Hartland fam cruising along in the boat.

Nat and her kiddos kickin' it in the front.

Mama and daughter.

Riley and Lia throwing sticks into the water at the beach where we stopped at Upper Priest Lake.

The very tall tree that came down on our cabin after the storm came through! Nuts!

The other tree that toppled over just a few feet over from our cabin.

Ron's first ski of the season.

What a guy, what a guy.

Two days after the storm, my dad hired some men to come and cut down the two trees. It was quite the fascinating event and we spent most of our day just watching them do their thing. You can tell that our agendas are pretty wide open when we are up there...even Lia's.

Watching this man cut down the tree on top of our cabin was pretty darn impressive.

The Hartland fam trying out the new kayak.

Cheese!

Spending a glorious evening out on our deck.

Lia running up and down the shore at Ferry House beach.

Practicing our ABCs in the sand.

Lia and grandma playing in the sand at Ferry House beach.

Her First Movie...

2011-07-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

One of Ron's requests during his month off was to take Lia to see her first movie in an actual movie theatre. I had remembered seeing previews for a new Winnie the Pooh movie coming out July 15th and so we made it a family date! The day arrived yesterday and we had a grand time. We even splurged and bought a small popcorn for a small fortune! Lia did a great job following the entire movie and didn't get bored (my one concern). She actually ended up on my lap halfway through the show and peppered me with questions every other minute for the remainder of the film. That girl...her mental wheels are always turning. However, I didn't mind as this was her day and her movie. It was a very sweet and simple film with some lines that actually made Ron and I laugh out loud. Oh, that Pooh. He still is cute after all these years. Until the next movie!

Camping on the Oregon Coast

2011-07-13T09:13:00.001-07:00

Northwest Trek

2011-07-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

One of Ron's requests during his month off was to take Lia to Northwest Trek: a wildlife park that is located about 30 minutes south of where we live on the way to Mount Rainier. Although I have known about this nature preserve since I was a child, I had never been--so it was a first for all three of us! We picked a day and packed a lunch and set out this past Wednesday to spend the morning there. We had a great time both on the walking tour and the tram tour ogling at all of the animals found in the park. Although it wasn't quite the Singapore Night Safari, it was a close second and I'm glad that we were able to share this place with Lia!

The Hartland fam after first arriving in the park.

Lia and Ron starting the walking tour where we observed many different types of animals in their designated areas.

Spotting a coyote.

Lia and I on the one-hour tram ride throughout the park.

A sheep that we saw on the tram tour.

A big horned ship grazing away.

A bison taking a snooze in the sun.

A close-up of another animal we spotted on our tram tour.

A mother and father trumpeter swan watching their nest.

We were lucky enough to actually see one of only four moose that live in the preserve. This one was walking right down the road as we drove by.

A caribou relaxing by a pond at the end of our tour.

We finished off our day there with a picnic lunch in the park!

What a fun way to spend a beautiful day!

The 4th of July at Lk Samm

2011-07-05T22:19:00.001-07:00

Although it has been a tradition to celebrate the 4th of July at my family's property on Lake Sammamish since my grandpa purchased it in the 1960s, we have been out of town the past three years and have missed it. So, it was fun to be able to join in on the festivities the year on what turned out to be a glorious day! We drove up after Lia's nap and spent the afternoon playing in the water and on the beach, ate a delicious BBQ potluck dinner, went for a boat ride, and then finished off the evening by watching the fireworks bonanza on our beach and around the lake after the sun set. We didn't get home til almost midnight!

Lia going for a ride on the paddle boat with my cousin, Alyson, and her daughter, Lydia.

The girls cruising around the dock.

No 4th of July picnic is complete without some watermelon!

Lia and Vivi being silly during dinner.

Watching some of the kiddos getting tossed around on the tube!

Roasting smores while waiting for dusk to come.

Vivi and Lia settling in on the blanket before the fireworks begin.

And the fireworks begin!

This is what Lia thought of having to put her jacket it on after dark!

One of Phil's glorious illegal fireworks exploding in the night sky!

Every year, about 10:30 pm, a family right across the lake from our property puts on their own professional show for all to enjoy! Here it is starting up!

Some of the fireworks from across the lake. I felt like I was watching the Disney fireworks show!

More of the same.

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Daddy Daughter Day!

2011-07-02T10:01:00.001-07:00

July brought the good weather and Ron's month off! Since July 1st turned out to be such a gorgeous day, he decided that it would be the perfect day for a daddy-daughter outing. He packed up Lia and a lunch and off they set for a day at the Pt. Defiance Zoo! Like any three-year old, Lia had the time of her life animal-gazing with her papa and I enjoyed a few hours to get some things done toddler-free. Thanks, papa, for a perfect start to our summer break!

No trip to the Pt. Defiance Zoo would be complete without a trip to feed the Budgies!

Since Lia has discovered Disney's Jungle Book recently, the tigers had a whole new meaning. Which one is Shere-Kan???

Enjoying the show.

The animal trainers doing their thing.

Walrus watching.

Reindeer gazing.

Playing on the giant spider web at the zoo's park.

Nesting.

And finishing off the perfect summer day with a massive ice cream cone!

Round 3 at Ocean Shores...

2011-06-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

We just returned from our annual camping trip to Ocean Shores. This is the third year in a row that we have gone and we had a fabulous time yet again! This year, we were joined by three families from our ward and it was so much fun to share this favorite place of ours with some of our friends. Plus, Lia loved having a multitude of children to play with and I loved having three of the meals prepared for me! We were also blessed with fabulous sunny weather the entire time (and those of you who are familiar with the WA coast know what a rarity this is). Between campfire time, tent time, beach time, and bike riding time, a good time was had by the Hartland fam. Can't wait for next year!

The Hartland fam hanging around the campfire the first night.

The gang around the campfire after dinner.

Another shot of the troop Friday night.

The children enjoyed exploring "the woods" that separated each of our adjoining campsites. Here is Lia with three of her friends: Lauren, big Rachel, and little Rachel.

Lia became interested in bike riding for the first time ever this weekend after seeing a bunch of her buddies cruising around on theirs. A little peer pressure comes in handy from time to time. Here she is trying out little Rachel's fabulous princess 3-wheeler.

The kids discovered a primitive form of sword fighting near the back of Scott and Wendy's campsite on Saturday morning. Here is Andrew defending his turf with Lia "reffing" in the background.

Lia and Rachel having a go at it!

And it's off to the beach! Ron and Lia riding through the sand dunes on the way to the beach Saturday.

Aren't they so cute?

Escorting Lia to the "lazy river" that runs from the dunes down to the ocean.

Frolicking.

More frolicking.

A happy family.

The older kids trying out some kites.

Once Andrew and Brian showed up at the beach a little later, Lia went wild with them! She played in the water hole and the river for quite sometime before getting thoroughly chilled to the bone!

Lia and Brian getting filthy!

More filthiness. But look how happy these two are?

Trying to warm up Lia after an entire rub-down and wardrobe change.

No trip to Ocean Shores is complete without taking the cruiser down for a cruise along the shoreline.

Ron, Lia, and the Pacific.

After lunch and nap, we headed into town with the rest of the families to wander amongst the sandcastles that had just been built that day as part of the "Sand and Sawdust Festival" going on that weekend.

One of my favorites: a dragon sleeping inside a castle.

"The Sand Bar."

Lia loves sleeping in a tent as much as I do. I thought that she looked so cute all bundled up in her corner on Saturday night that we had to take some photos.

Cheese!

We enjoyed Sunday morning to ourselves since all of the other families had to get back for church (yes, we're the slackers in the bunch). Here is Lia taking a spin on her tough-girl trike.

Back down to the beach for some more river time!

Walking down to the coast!

Ron supervising Lia's sand activities.

The Hartland fam and the Pacific.

What a glorious weekend!

U2: A Decade Later...

2011-06-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

It was during my sophomore year of high school that I was first introduced to the boys of U2. It was love at first sound. They quickly earned the the title of "my favorite band" and, twenty years later, they still own it. I was able to see them in April 2001 while they were on their "Elevation" tour. It turned out to be a fabulous evening in the Tacoma Dome. However, I had to wait a total of ten years before I would have the chance of seeing them again back in the motherland.
I had been anticipating the announcement of their upcoming concert ever since their 2010 Seattle date was cancelled due to Bono injuring his back. One day, in December, I was flipping through the channels on the radio while driving to Costco to have our Christmas card pictures developed when, all of a sudden, I heard a DJ nonchalantly mention something about winning tickets to the U2 concert. Whaaaaaaaaaaat?! I couldn't believe my ears! I immediately called my friend Mindy and then dashed home to find the details online. Within a matter of hours, two tickets were bought! And, so, after six months of waiting, the day finally arrived yesterday. And wouldn't you know, after weeks and weeks of rain, we were blessed with a stunning day in the 70s! U2 could not have gotten a more perfect spring day in the Pacific Northwest. The Quest Field was able to open her roof and let the evening sun pour in. Mindy and I had the time of our lives listening to U2 perform their music for a solid 2 hours and 15 minutes. Once again, this band did not disappoint. It has been a long time since I have had an evening like this. I felt young again. I simply just danced and sang to my favorite songs and forgot about all of my worries. It truly was a beautiful day. Thank you, U2, for a glorious evening. May it not be another ten years before I see you again...

Mindy and I gearing up for the big show.

The view of the stunning Seattle skyline from inside the Quest Field.

My beloved band after first appearing on stage!

An up close of Bono and the boys.

Bono and Adam on the big screen.

Is he not the coolest thing on the planet?

The Edge: the second coolest thing on the planet.

A shot of their impressive stage as the digital screen stretched into hundreds of tiny screens and lowered to the bottom of the stage. You can still see Bono's image on it!

Until we meet again, U2.

The Big Girl Bed!

2011-05-30T13:43:00.001-07:00

Well, the day has finally arrived! Lia turned in her crib this morning for her first ever, big girl bed! It's hard to believe. I know that I pushed this event off waaaay longer than lots of other mothers, but I just didn't see the need. Lia loved her crib and never even tried to climb out of it til after her third birthday. However, when that day did arrive, I realized it was time to make the transition, but it wasn't as easy as one might think as I made the goal of making her bedspread/quilt by hand with the help of my mother. So after heading up to Issy once a week for about eight weeks, I finally finished it last week. We then had to buy the linens and things, purchase a mattress and bunkie board, take down the crib, and paint the 40-year old headboard and footboard that came from my grandparents' Lake Samm cabin. But we finished it all up today! It feels good to have a project checked off the list and to be pleased with the end product.

We let Lia help us with the first of four coats of paint on Saturday in the garage. As one can imagine, she was thrilled that she was allowed to assist with this! The sentimental part of me loves that this old bed is getting a "second life" with Lia. I'd like to think that her great-grandparents (especially her frugal, great-grandpa) are smiling down on our us today.

Working hard.

Our focused painter.

I had to document Lia's last night in her crib. When we first put her in her crib, she looked so tiny. By the time we took the crib apart, her body stretched from top to bottom!

Cheese!

And, ta-dah! Here is the finished product! I think it looks pretty cute in Lia's pink and green room. Thank you, mom, for all of the hours you devoted to helping me with this project.

The big girl posing for a pic on the big girl bed!

Lia settling in for the inaugural nap today after lunch. She was pleased as punch to be in her new bed and didn't even get out of bed once before falling asleep!

The Latest Installment of Liaisms...

2011-05-27T14:01:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since I have taken the time to sit down and record some of the funny comments that have come out of Lia's mouth; however, in the past week or two, she has been on a roll! Here is the latest installment of Liaisms for your reading enjoyment:

1. One night, Ron was in Lia's room talking to her after she had been put to bed. For some reason, they were discussing our summer plans. After thoroughly dissecting our upcoming camping trip to the ocean and the name of every single person who will be joining us this year, Ron moved on to our vacations planned in July. Lia immediately interrupted him by demanding to know "Who's Injuly?!" This went back and forth for quite sometime as Ron tried to explain that "Injuly" was not a person, but a month when we are going on a few trips. Lia was not satisfied in the slightest and kept on asking very forcefully, "Who's Injuly?" Oh dear. I don't think Ron ever straightened that one out before wishing her goodnight.

2. Those of you who know Lia well, know that she inherited many of my type-A personality traits. My mother describes Lia as having an adult brain in a little body. She loves to recite rules, tell me when something is dirty or out of place, reminds me to wipe her mouth and hands after a meal if I forget, and never touches any of my pretty and breakable decor items throughout the house. It's a bit ridiculous. The other morning, I served her a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. While eating said oatmeal, Lia started freaking out. When asked what the matter was, she explained to me through tears that "It's making my bowl dirty!" When I examined her cereal, I saw one little speck of oatmeal that had managed to stick itself to the clean, upper part of the inside of the bowl. Although this comment totally cracked me up, what cracked me up even more is the fact that it had never dawned on Lia that the oatmeal already inside the bowl had made it dirty the second I put it in there!

3. Although Lia's pronunciation and vocabulary is quite stellar for someone her age (yes, I'm a little biased), she still pronounces a few words incorrectly. I love this as I just think it is the cutest thing and the following story is no exception. While we were in sacrament meeting the other Sunday, Lia leaned over to Ron and whispered that she needed some water. Ron then asked her if she wanted some water from the sippy cup or from the drinking fountain. She replied very seriously that "I want it from the mountain." Wow. That is some fresh water she wants!

4. We recently were at the third birthday party of Kaylee, one of Lia's friends, who had the whole Rapunzel/Tangled theme going on. One of the party's activities involved braiding all of the girls' hair with flowers like Rapunzel in the movie. Lia took this very seriously and sat perfectly still the entire time her hair was being done by the birthday girl's grandma. You could tell that she thoroughly enjoyed having her hair styled like Rapunzel for the rest of the evening. As we were leaving the party at the end of the night, Lia turned to me and asked, "Can I take the braid home with me?" Ugh. She just kills me.

5. And I saved the best one for last! When Ron told me this story the other night I found myself on the floor because I was laughing so hard. Lia came down with her first 24-hour flu this week! I know, I know...you don't need to feel sorry for me. I managed to make it three years and three months without my child throwing up. Anyways, the poor little bug got it hard and threw up five times in one day, but recovered very quickly and was basically back to normal the next day. However, during this two-day period, I had to take her temperature a few times--rectal style. Since it has been quite sometime since Lia has had a fever, she had no memory of the rectal thermometer and was quite fascinated with it. As you can imagine, the questions began flying the second I had to insert this bad boy into her bottom. I found myself struggling to explain to her what I was doing each time because she had no idea what a fever was and how a temperature of 98.6 meant that she was healthy. Nevertheless, I tried and Lia immediately began talking about having a "beaver." On the evening of the second night, Ron had just walked Lia into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Upon seeing the thermometer sitting on her counter top, Lia announced very proudly, "That's for taking your temperature to keep the beavers out of your bottom." Let the laughing commence.

3 years and 3 months...

2011-05-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

Today Lia checked off the first quarter of her third year. Good grief. This is just going by entirely waaay too fast. In trying to keep with tradition, I thought that I would continue with a quarterly update of her life for our family records. I have truly begun to see the transition from toddler to little girl these past three months. She really is beginning to "grow up" in so many ways. Here are a few of the highlights:

1. Lia finally figured out how to crawl out of her crib and onto the stool that is next to it (I know, I know...how lucky am I that I have a child that never even attempted this until after her third birthday?). As a result, we now just keep the gate down all of the time so that she doesn't hurt herself when climbing in and out. We are also planning on transitioning her into her first, big-girl-bed this coming weekend. That's a big deal in the Hartland.
2. In addition to climbing out of her crib alone, Lia has also begun climbing out of the tub by herself which both my back and I LOVE!
3. The biggest milestone of them all is that Lia has been potty trained for an official nine weeks as of today! Hooray! I really thought sometimes that I would never see the day. Although we are working on #2 and are still wearing pull-ups to bed, I am just thrilled that I no longer have to mess with cloth diapers!
4. Since I am big lake and ocean girl, Lia had never been in a pool before going to Hawaii last month. But it was most definitely love at first sight. She LOVES pools and became very confident jumping in and swimming around in it alone with her life jacket on. It will be interesting to see how she behaves back in a lake this coming summer.
5. Lia's imagination has simply taken off. I can find her several times a day pretending that she is a certain character from a movie or book while in the bath or her crib or around the house or yard. She sings their songs, quotes their lines, reenacts their scenes, and fights their villains. It's quite adorable. Case in point, Ron and I were out working in the yard the other day while Lia was playing in her little house. I looked up at one point to see her "sweeping" off the trees with her toy broom while singing "Whistle While you Work" from the Snow White movie.
6. Ever since she spent quite a bit of time coloring with the "triplets" in Hawaii, Lia has really become interested in drawing and coloring on her own. She repeatedly will ask me what I want her to draw and then will set out "drawing" a picture of that item in a very serious manner (even though it looks nothing like it). She also has fallen in love with scissors and thoroughly enjoys cutting up a piece of paper into millions of tiny pieces.
7. Lia has fallen in love with a few new movies since she turned three. The top two contenders would have to be Peter Pan and Monsters Inc.
8. In keeping up with her fascination with the "princi," Lia has become absolutely fascinated with any piece of clothing that "goes down to the floor." She loves dresses and skirts that are that long and even requests that her towel is wrapped around her in such a way that it touches the floor as she walks from the bathroom to her bedroom each night after her bath.
9. This is one is my least favorite: Lia is not obeying us as well as she used to. Quite often, she will simply state, "NO," in a rude tone of voice in response to a request and refuse to do it without some prodding. We now threaten her with a time-out on a daily basis to get her to do something she doesn't want to do. Me no likey this one.
10. Lia's individual prayers have become quite entertaining as of late. When she agrees to give a blessing on the food or say her prayer before bedtime (which isn't every day), she insists on doing it all alone...and this is how it usually goes: "Dear Heavenly Father. In the name of Jesus Christ. We thank thee for the food. Amen." She covers most of the bases, right?

Overall, Lia is still one of the most pleasant, happy, bright, and well-behaved little people I have encountered in my life. She is such a joy to be around and truly my sidekick in almost everything I do. I am so grateful that she is my daughter and that she is in my life. With all of our fertility struggles these past two years, I honestly don't know where I would be without her (probably in a room with padded walls). I love you, Lia!

Brother's Day

2011-05-09T19:45:00.001-07:00

Well, every few years my birthday falls on Mother's Day. As a child, I wasn't the hugest fan as it meant that I had to "share" my special day with my mother. However, it's now double the fun when the two holidays coincide with each other as I get double the gifts and double the treats. Well, not really, but's it's fun to say that. However, Ron did pull through with flying colors and started calling the day "Brother's Day" (Birthday + Mother's Day = Brother's Day. Get it?) We were able to sneak out for a few hours the night before for dinner at the "Harbor Lights" restaurant right on the Puget Sound and then saw a movie afterwards. I was also treated to a pancake breakfast on the actual day before heading off to church. After our traditional, Sunday "fap" (our official term for a family nap), we hosted my parents for dinner, gift opening, and dessert. It was so nice to have them here to celebrate both holidays with us.

Ron and I about to dive into our seafood spread at "Harbor Lights."

Reading a card with my faithful assistant at my side.

Receiving more assistant from Lia with the gift opening.

My adorable mother pausing for a picture while reading one of her cards.

Lia and I gearing up for the big blow out of candles on the beloved strawberry shortcake that my mother made par my request.

And now it's on to the thirty-fifth year...oh dear.

An Outing to Oregon

2011-05-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

Lia and I just returned from a little road trip to Salem, Oregon to visit my good friend, Marianne, and her family who recently moved there. Marianne and I date back to the freshman days in the dorms. We shared many a fun times together in college and have kept in touch during the years since. Lia and I had such a great two days down there enjoying Marianne and her family, the beautiful weather, their gorgeous home and countryside where they live, and some delicious food. Man, can Mar and her hubby cook!! Lia became best buds with Hannah who is only a year and a half older and enjoyed big brother, Josh, in the evening when he was home from school. Thanks, Marianne, for a fabulous visit!

Mar and I and the next generation.

Lia on the tire swing.

Making "soup" in the front yard.

Searching for bugs to put in the soup (a crucial ingredient).

Bathing together.

Hannah doing Lia's nails. What a pal.

Throwing rocks in the Willamette River.

Riding the carousel together.

Good times were had by all in Oregon...especially the young ones.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-25T08:17:00.001-07:00

Well, we really celebrated Easter on the Saturday before at my parents' house with the brothers and their families. It was a good thing that we chose to hold the hunt on Saturday instead of Sunday as it ended up being a glorious day in the 70 degrees, but horrible rain the next day! We had so much fun being outside, soaking up some of that vitamin D that we haven't had in weeks! My mom put on a stellar Easter egg hunt complete with an equal amount of goodies distributed in designated areas for all of the grandkiddos. After the hunt, we went inside for an Easter feast of champions! After dinner and dessert, it was back outside for some more outdoor play til the sun went down. On the actual holiday, the Hartland fam just went to church and then had a mellow day around the house with the three of us. Lia got her basket full of goodies and then went on a hunt around the house (since it was too wet outside) for some more candy. Needless to say, Ron and I have already begun "helping" her consume all of her Easter sweets. We're really just looking out for the well being of her teeth. I know, I know, such good parents we are...

Here is a pic of the Easter-themed cake I made for our Saturday festivities. Although it didn't quite turn out like I had "envisioned," it tasted divine. I tried out an orange cake recipe with a strawberry mousse filling and my all-time favorite butter creme frosting! I'm still enjoying the leftovers!

Lia beginning her hunt with some Tinkerbell stickers.

Reaching up high for some candy in the sky!

Papa assisting Lia in her hunting endeavors.

Still working hard...
The grand matriarch helping Brynn out in her area.

Riley getting down low to retrieve a candy.

Bryce supervising Garrett with his last piece of candy that gave him a bit of trouble.

The entire gang lined up with their loot!!

Hope you all had a fabulous Easter!

Cake Batter Monster

2011-04-20T15:08:00.001-07:00

Ever since I was a child, an internal battle has been raging over which tastes better: the raw version or the baked version. Cookie dough or the cookie? Cake batter or the cake? The list could go on and on. And to this day, a twisted part of me thinks I prefer the raw version. It's a miracle that I haven't died from salmonella poisoning...

Anyways, it now seems that my daughter is struggling with the same inner dilemma. This was the cake batter monster that appeared in a matter of seconds on my counter the other day while we were mixing up the ingredients for my all-time favorite cake--the silky, sexy red velvet. As you can see, Lia couldn't be happier.

Red velvet vs. Lia.

I think the red velvet won.

The scary, joker face.

Nuts for Numbers

2011-04-19T16:11:00.001-07:00

Ever since Lia turned three, she has been very aware of her age and the fact that everyone around her has an age, too. She constantly talks about how she is going to turn four and then five...tomorrow. So, although she hasn't quite mastered the concept of the traditional calendar year yet, she seems to understand that everyone has an age that involves a number. As a result, her latest, favorite activity is asking someone how old they are. The first time she did this was to my mom the other week. However, it is the way in which she words this question that I find to be the cutest thing. Lia will ask, "How many old are you?" Although it's not correct English, it makes perfect sense, right?

Along the same lines, Lia was playing with her little, Barbie laptop computer while we were in the car a few days ago. While playing a game that requires her to identify certain numbers, she was asked to push the button that had the number three on it. Since this is her current age, Lia declared, "I live right there," as she pushed the three. She then went on to ask me, "Where does Papa live?" (In other words, how old is Ron?) I responded that he lives at fourty-two. Needless to say, she got a little stumped as her keyboard only goes up to the number ten. Oh well, she'll figure it out eventually.

Family Reunion--Hawaiian Style

2011-04-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

Well, we've all just returned from a fun filled week on the island of Maui where we spent our Spring Break with all twenty members of my immediate family. It was the trip of a lifetime as I don't think that my family will do something of this magnitude for years to come. We thoroughly enjoyed the balmy, warm weather, the beautiful beaches, incredible snorkeling, adventures on the Hana Road, a private hula lesson, some excellent Hawaiian food, and sleeping to the sound of the surf crashing each night. Lia had the time of her life with her "friends" (a.k.a. her cousins) and fell in love with the pool for the first time in her life. Here is a quick peak of our week in paradise...

This is the view of the beach outside our window the first morning we were there. *sigh*

The Hartland fam enjoying the pool...a place where we spent many hours during our time in Maui.

Lia leaping off of the edge of the pool into the arms of one of her favorite people: her grandpa.

Grandpa and granddaughter as happy as can be.

Brynn and Kelsey working on their latest sand creation on the beach outside our condo.

Chris and Callie hard at work.

The sunset outside our condo one night.

Since four members of my family all have birthdays around the time that we were in Hawaii, we decided to celebrate one night while we were there. Here are three of our birthday people, my parents and Bryce, blowing out their candles.

We enjoyed a few walks along the beach in the early mornings. Here is Lia with her darling, older cousin, Kelsey.

Three generations of beach-lovers.

We spent a day exploring some of the sites of the infamous Hana Road. Here we are going around one of the many turns on this road!

This is what children think of the Hana Road.

This is what happens when bored children get a hold of a camera while on the Hana Road.

More camera fun.

Ron and Lia posing in front of a spectacular waterfall we stopped to look at along the Hana Road.

Another waterfall that we hiked to from the Hana Road.

The three of us cooling down in the waterfall's pool.

We arranged for a private hula lesson one evening with some members of our church from the Kihei area. All of the "little girls" participated and had a great time. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen.

Lia taking the "Pearly Shells" hula lesson very seriously!

My little wahine doing the hula.

Near the end of the hour-lesson, all of the mothers decided to join in on the hula fun! Here we are learning the "Going to the Hukilau" dance. Please notice Lia getting down in the front.

Some of the girls exploring the glorious plumeria tree outside our condo.

Ron and Lia on a sunset walk.

Lia and her girl cousins!

A family pic at the "Dumps" before some morning snorkeling. Ron and I both saw several turtles and an eel and I even saw an octopus!

Brent and his fam heading out for some snorkeling.

Spencer entertaining Lia back on the shore while we were out in the water.

Ron and Lia at La Perouse Bay.

The Hartland Fam broke away from the group one night to attend a luau up in Lahaina. Here we are before diving into our feast!

A Tahitian dance performed during our luau.

A beautiful solo hula that was performed as the sun was setting.

Lia posing with two of the dancers after the show.

The three of us at a beautiful beach one afternoon in Makena.

Ron at sea.

Lia doing what she does best on the beach.

One day, we went to a beach in Kihei and rented some surfboards for the morning. Here is Kelsey getting the ride of her life. It was so much fun!

Mae Mae entertaining Lia while the surfing was going on.

No trip to Hawaii is complete without some 'shave ice' with vanilla ice cream. Here I am introducing this local delicacy to Lia out on our lanai.

The girls giving us a final pose on our last evening there.

All of the cousins lined up in a row (except Riley who was too busy throwing a tantrum). Oh dear.

We stopped at the infameous Ho'okipa Beach on our way to the airport on our last day there to watch the maniac windsurfers defy nature!

Thank you, Hawaii, for a glorious week!

A Momentous Day for Me...

2011-03-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

Before I became a mother, I had a couple of preconceived notions about how things were done (or weren't done) in the world of mommydom. One of these notions was that it was the mother's fault if her child was still wearing diapers past the age of three. This is where reality came into my life and taught me a humbling lesson...

No matter how hard I tried to get Lia to buy into potty training, I couldn't get her to do it. We dove in head first when she was almost two years old and again when she was just two and half years old. Both 10-day stints resulted in lots of messes on the floor that I had the good fortune of cleaning up and a constipated child. So, I hung it up this past fall.

However, with the new year came new year's resolutions. After the pacifier was miraculously pulled from her life in January, Ron was ready to try round #3 of potty training. For apparent reasons, I dragged my feet for many weeks, but a miracle happened on the afternoon of Sunday, March 20th. I walked into our house after being gone for a few hours at a church meeting to find Ron and Lia sitting face to face on our two potties in the downstairs bathroom. Within a matter of seconds, Lia successfully did her thing in her little toilet. As one can imagine, there was much clapping and screaming and hugging and doling out of rewards. The princess panties immediately went on and Lia has not looked back since. We are now on day #12 with NO ACCIDENTS (well, pee pee that is)! I couldn't be more thrilled.

So, today was a big day for me. After a final, thorough washing and bleaching, I happily packed up two boxes of cloth diapers that I have used faithfully since Lia turned six months old. That's right, with the exception of bed time, our weekly trip to church, and most vacations, we have been cloth diapering in the Hartland. As my saying goes, I've been "saving the earth one diaper at a time" and also saving a few dollars along the way. Regardless of the perks, I was one happy camper today when I carried the boxes up into our attic to store for the next baby who I hope and pray joins our family one of these days.

Until then, I will enjoy my diaper free world...

Our 21st Century Toddler...

2011-03-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

Ever since Lia discovered how to climb out of her crib two weeks ago, her nocturnal activities have increased ten fold. While Ron and I were in bed tonight, we could hear her get out of bed, run downstairs, come back upstairs, and shut her door. Obviously there were all sorts of shenanigans going on, but it wasn't enough to get either one of us out of bed to check on her. However, a few minutes later, Lia came walking into our room and this is the conversation that ensued:
"Hi Lia. Did you go downstairs?"
"Yes."
"What were you doing down there?"
"I was trying to check my email!"

Is that so? I wasn't even aware that she had an email account. Guess I will have to keep better tabs on her online activity from here on out...especially at night!

A Moment of Discontempt...

2011-03-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

Today a miracle happened. The sun came out. Yes, after many weeks, our favorite friend decided to poke her head out of the clouds for a few hours. With the sun shining, Ron decided to take Lia outside to mow the lawn and throw around the balls with her while I painted our master bathroom. When I was finished with my project an hour or so later, I wandered out back to check in on everyone. After Lia proudly demonstrated her new skill of climbing the chain ladder on our play set, I informed her that it was time to come inside for lunch. She immediately declared that she wanted to stay outside and play. With a little more coaxing from both Ron and me, Lia suddenly changed her mind and dashed past me, obediently running towards the house, yelling, "I'm not happy with all of this!"
Lia's little moment of discontempt just had Ron and me in stitches. This girl just cracks me up.

A Small Dose of Liaisms...

2011-03-15T15:35:00.001-07:00

I have been meaning to find the time to sit down and record some of the funny comments that have come out of Lia's mouth lately. I am loving this stage of life when she is able to express so many of her thoughts, but doesn't always use the correct words while doing so. In no particular order, here are some of my favorite Liaisms as of late...

1. While reading a Winnie the Pooh book together the other night, I foolishly chose to skip over the title page (in order to get through the book quicker which would result in Lia getting to bed quicker). However, Lia was not to be fooled! As she saw me turning this page without saying any words, she immediately commanded me to "Talk to the page!" Well, I never thought of it that way, but I guess when we read the words from a page, we're kind of talking to it...right?

2. Lia loves drinking water morning, noon, and night. She loves to make trips to the various faucets in our house, fill a cup up with water, take a few, very serious sips, then carelessly toss the remainder back in the sink. It's a regular routine around here. The other day she made me laugh out loud as she announced "I need some piece of water" before we could move on with whatever we were doing. A piece of water? That's an interesting way of putting it.

3. Lia and I were talking recently about growing our garden again this spring/summer when the sun comes back. Lia declared,"You can grow the tomatoes and I can grow the groceries." As funny as it sounded, it made total sense to me. I mean, we grow the same vegetables in our garden each summer that we buy in the grocery store the other three seasons of the year. I guess we just need to start calling our vegetable garden a grocery garden!

4. Lia is the queen of adjectives. Since Ron and I are both former English teachers, we just love this attribute of hers. She will sometimes string three adjectives in a row when describing a queen from a princess movie or a dog on the street. I especially loved how she used a particular adjective the other morning when I walked into her bedroom after she had woken up from the night. Her hair was as bed-heady as you can get and all over the place. Since Lia is not a fan of her hair being messed up, she immediately said with some disgust, "My hair is cranky today." Cranky hair? Love the personification and the message it got across.

I'm sure with this little talker there will be more Liaisms to come...so stay tuned!

3-Year Photos...

2011-02-28T14:59:00.000-08:00

Lia and I survived another photo shoot today. It's always a gamble as you never know what is going to happen. Except for the fact that Lia doesn't know how to produce a natural smile on demand, things went pretty well and we were able to get some half-decent photos...or at least enough to order a 4-picture collage. I have learned that low expectations are the absolute key to a successful toddler photo shoot. So, without further ado, here are the nine "blog worthy" pictures I was able to come up with (complete with the Sears logo and all)...

Lia and the big three.

Another shot of Lia and the big 3.

Hands attempting to be on the hips.

My absolute favorite one of the bunch.

CHEESE!

Just the sweetest thing.

Lia and the daisies.

A reverent Lia.

A relaxing Lia.

And there you go...

I looked out the window

2011-02-24T19:56:00.000-08:00

...and what did I see?

This cute, snowy scene.

Getting their attention.

Ron sending a snowball my way.

Lia and Ron dividing and conquering.

Atop the slide.

Down the slide.

Onto the ground and straight into a snow angel.

Now that's talent.

"I have three fingers now!"

2011-02-22T21:37:00.000-08:00

"I have three fingers now!" Those were the words Lia proudly announced to us on her big day today. Although I can confidently say that she has seven more fingers, I thought it was a very poignant way of describing one's age. Too bad I won't have 35 actual fingers come this May.
But I digress.
So, as you can see, our little baby turned the big three today. I have no idea how it happened. Time has just flown by, but we have truly loved every minute of it. I can honestly say that Lia completely skipped over the entire "terrible twos" stage. She was the easiest two-year old a girl could ask for. She is an absolute joy from morning til night every day. Since Lia is the only child I've got, I'm sure grateful that she is so wonderful.
Alright, I'll quit bragging.
We celebrated Lia's birthday in three stages...not because I believe in over the top, multi-day celebrations, but because of the convenience of a Sunday gathering and because her father had Monday and Tuesday off from work. So, here is a quick blow-by-blow of the celebrations...

We started off on Sunday, February 20th, at my parents' home for the third annual Lia/twins joint birthday party. As always, Lia had a grand time racing around with her cousins. We had a delicious dinner, followed by presents in the living room, and then back to the dining room for cake and ice cream. Here is Lia examining her new Noah's Ark magnet gift with the help of the "giver," her Aunt Rebecca.

Lia flipping through the pages of a new book under Riley's careful supervision.

Lia showing off her prized possession of the evening: a baby Iggy to go along with her newly named "Mama Iggy," compliments of Grandma and Grandpa.

A few of you know that I am currently taking the basic Wilton cake decorating class at Michaels this month and am learning all sorts of skills to apply to future birthday cakes. I was able to try them out for the first official time on this Dora cake for Lia's big bash. I didn't think it turned out too bad, but Ron thought her skin looked more orange then brown and began singing, "Dora, Dora, Dora, the orange explorer!" Oh dear.

Lia attempting to blow out the last of her three candles on her cake with Vivi looking on!

A bunch of the gang gathering around the cake for round two of the candles and singing in order to honor the twins' tenth birthday!

Brynn huffing and puffing!

Lia enjoying her cake with Vivi and Callie at her side! It sure was good!

We decided to go on a family adventure to honor Lia's birthday and the fact that Ron had the day off, and so we set out on Monday, February 21st, to find a new beach on the Puget Sound. Being true Washingtonians, we bundled up and headed out in 42 degree weather and rain! However, the rain stopped for most of the hour we were at Sunnyside Beach in Steilacoom. We hope to return again this summer when the weather really does have a sunnyside to it. Here are Ron and Lia filling up that trusty green bucket with sand.

Lia and her tongue on her last day ever of being two. Sniff.

Ron throwing rocks with Lia looking on!

On Tuesday, February 22nd, we celebrated Lia's actual birthday with a simple evening at home--complete with dinner in the dining room with the china and crystal, strawberry shortcake, and a little more gift opening. Here is our darling girl moments before blowing out her candles.

Lia opening her Tinkerbell tea set in her current favorite "gown ball" (although it's really a 50's poodle skirt of sorts...but who's noticing?).

Look at that happy birthday girl with all of her Tink loot!

We love you Lia Elizabeth!! Happy Birthday baby girl!

And no birthday post would be complete without my quarterly update on the comings and goings of Lia these past three months. So, here we go!

1. It's official and it's for real. Lia gave up her sucker at the beginning of January. Miracles do happen from time to time and the entire thing was made possible due to the presence of one small monkey named Iggy.

2. Lia has become obsessed with opening and closing doors. I am constantly opening doors whenever I have to enter a room upstairs.

3. One Sunday, Lia discovered her church voice. Although she has been singing for months and months in our house, she has never joined in with us at church until recently. It was really quite funny as one day she just started belting out nonsensical words with a very serious face in sacrament meeting. She now sings like this every Sunday. So funny!

4. She is just like her father and has now become anti-fetter. She is very aware of diapers and waste bands that are too tight, requiring immediate adjustments.

5. Her imagination has really taken off these past three months as she now will play with pretend people or animals or objects and will narrate about them as she goes. She also has become a bit better about independent play, but still LOVES to have someone to play with all the time. Oh, how this poor girl needs a sibling...I just don't know when it will ever happen.

6. Lia is still absolutely fascinated with playing with older girls. She much prefers them over girls her age.

7. Lia now loves to watch me cook and help me bake. The counter next to the stove top has become her new viewing platform in the kitchen where she can readily help me with the adding of ingredients and the mixing of them with a large spoon.

8. She really escaped the terrible twos without ever being remotely terrible. I am proud to say that this girl is now three years old and has never had a timeout in her life. Simply amazing.

9. It's all about princess mania over here. We are practically living in a fairytale on a daily basis. She loves their stories, songs, dresses, stickers, movies, etc. It really is quite adorable to observe. She has specifically become fascinated with dresses that go all the way to the floor and loves to wear them and watch the hemline touch the ground as she walks down the stairs.

10. Although her vocabulary and conversation skills are superb for a child her age, she still says a few words incorrectly....but I just love this! She still says "lellow" for yellow, "gown ball" for ball gown, "maked" for naked, "maggots" for magnets, and "secrets" for sequins. She also constantly asks Ron or me if we are happy and also always wants to know who gave her a specific item that she is playing with. So cute.

And there you go....

Valentine's Day in the Hartland

2011-02-14T20:07:00.001-08:00

Well, we've just wrapped up V-day in the Hartland with a trip to Applebees for dinner and then back to the casa for cards and gifts. Lia thoroughly enjoyed the day...even though it started out at the dentist office for her first check-up ever. Luckily she passed with flying colors and received an Ariel toothbrush which proved to be just as exciting as any of the candies and other Valentine goodies she got today.

My own little valentine and me at Applebees.

Lia eying her spoils before being allowed to touch them. Please notice the Ariel toothbrush front and center on the table.

Lia trying out one of her v-day gifts: her first official pair of flip flops! She fell in love with this type of shoe last summer after wearing Callie's and Sarah Mae's flip flops for hours on end! (thank heavens for cousins who are willing to share and humor a two-year old). So with Hawaii on the horizon, I thought that this gift was more than appropriate! Needless to say, she was pleased as punch to put 'em on!

Flip flops or not, I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Our Geography Buff...

2011-02-09T20:22:00.000-08:00

Ever since our trip to North Carolina this past Thanksgiving, Lia has associated Ron's family with this state. In fact, she sometimes calls Lola (which means grandma in Tagalog), "North Carolina Lola." Anyways, last night, Lia and Ron were sitting on the couch playing games on the computer together. Out of the blue, she mentions that Ron's brother, Robbie, is getting married which is a reoccurring topic these days due to the fact that she is very excited about being a flower girl in his wedding. Ron then began asking her who would be present at the wedding. Since Lia is a big fan of making verbal lists, she began reciting all of the people that she thinks will be there...
Lola.
Uncle Robbie.
Uncle Derek.
Aunt Renee.
Austin.
Regan.
Addison.
Grandma and Grandpa (who actually won't be there, but who wants to burst her bubble?).
And, then she saved the best one for last...
"North Carolina will be there."

What?
Oh, really.
Wow, Robbie and Austin are going to need a reaaaaally big church to fit that special guest.
Can't wait to see North Carolina at their wedding next December!

Practicing Personification...

2011-02-08T21:25:00.001-08:00

Part of Lia's current Cinderella fetish involves wearing one of her Cinderella hand-me-down "gown balls" all day long.

The dress of choice today was a particular one covered with little, blue sequins and oodles of tulle on the lower half.

As fun as it is to run around the house in said dress, nap time proves to be a bit complicated as it just plain gets in the way!

As Lia was attempting to find a somewhat comfortable position in her crib while wearing this over-stuffed, blue mass, I walked in to offer my assistance and was greeted by the funniest complaint:

"The sequins are stepping on me!!"

Really?

Darn sequins. I hate when they do that.

But, really, when all is said and done, isn't that the best way to describe scratchy sequins? I just love it. My daughter is already employing the use of personification in her daily conversation. It's just makes the former English teacher in me beam with pride.

Liarella

2011-02-07T13:46:00.001-08:00

From head to toe,

the title says it all.

Two Going on Twenty...

2011-02-04T13:47:00.000-08:00

Every once in a blue moon (emphasis on the blue moon part), I get a wild hair and try to be an over-achiever mother. Recently, I learned that our local public library holds a story time for toddlers each Friday morning and I decided to give it a try today. After explaining to Lia that we were going to the library to meet our friends Megan, Kaylee, and baby Emma to hear some stories, she got very upset with me and said, "But, HONEY, I don't want to go!" Honey?? Wherever did that come from? Apparently, Lia is two going on twenty. Heaven help us.

A Toddler's Reasurring Words...

2011-02-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Lia and I drove up to my parents' house to spend the day with them as we often do when Ron has evening supervision and doesn't get home til late at night. Lia and I returned home at 9 pm and I promptly put her to bed since it was past her bedtime. However, Lia was still awake when Ron rolled in about half an hour later. As he walked upstairs and into her room, he was immediately greeted by the cutest words out of her mouth.

She said, "It's okay, papa. I'm home now."

Ugh. She just kills me.

Is there a cuter toddler in the world?

Living a Double Life...

2011-01-27T14:04:00.000-08:00

So although Lia has been in love with the Disney "princi" (plural for princess) for many months, it wasn't until this past week that she really and truly fell in love with the story of Cinderella. For some reason something just clicked one night when I put her in one of her Cinderella hand-me-down dresses and played the ball/dance scene of the movie for her on the television. Lia just stood there--awe struck--in her own gown, mesmerized for minutes. It was as though she had become Cinderella herself. Ever since that magical moment, Lia has talked incessantly about this fairy tale in the first person. She constantly worries that someone will come and "rip her dress," she runs around the house intentionally dropping one of her glass slippers, and she even called my two friends, Megan and Wendy, (who were over the other day) her stepsisters. We have verbally diagrammed the plot of this story over and over and carefully dissected many of the characters...all at her request. However, the most poetic moment of all occurred the other night when she was running around the family room in her Cinderella gown and heels and one of them broke!! Yes, you read right, one of Lia's "glass slippers" shattered into pieces...as though Walt had waltzed into our world and animated the incident himself. Needless to say, we really and truly have our own Cinderella living and breathing under our own roof. Now I'm just waiting for the fairy godmother to appear any moment...(and, boy, do I have a list for her)!

At 10:35 tonight...

2011-01-24T22:41:00.000-08:00

...this is how I found my daughter sleeping.

Clutching Iggy to her bosom.

Does this girl love her stuffed monkey or what?!?

They are a match made in heaven.

Dear Mr. Sucker...and a few others

2011-01-16T23:19:00.001-08:00

Well The Hartland has been in detox this past week...and I'm happy to say that we have survived. Lia has finally given up her beloved "sucker." It truly has been her "baby crack" since the first few days of infancy. I must admit that I had grand plans of implementing detox week soon after her second birthday, but I was scared to death. I tried it last April (right after our trip to Tennessee for Easter as I refused to fly half way across the country without that darn pacifier), but it didn't work. Well, I didn't let it work. After only two days of trying, I threw in the towel after watching the quick destruction of Lia's fine-tuned sleeping schedule. You see, the sucker was Lia's sleep-aid. Whenever we put that thing in her mouth, we could immediately begin to see her entire body start to relax. I just wasn't willing to throw our perfected nap and bed time schedules to the wind when I was still having to wake her up at 6:45 a.m. a few mornings each week so that I could go to work.
So, fast forward nine months. It's now January and a new year...which of course coincides with new year's resolutions. I only made like...two...and one of them was to separate Lia from her beloved friend before her teeth pointed straight out of her face. The whole transition went unbelievably well due to the timely introduction of Iggy into Lia's life the week before the new year. My entire family went up to the cabin in Priest Lake...and with the arrival of my dear niece, Kelsey, came the arrival of Iggy, the stuffed monkey she had chosen during her 5th grade class' white elephant gift exchange in December. When Lia saw this stuffed animal, it was love at first sight. She didn't let go of that animal the entire time we were up there (thanks to Kelsey's willingness to share it 24/7). And when Lia woke up one night while we were there asking for Iggy (and not her sucker), an idea was born.
We immediately found an identical twin online and ordered it. While waiting for it to arrive, we were able to convince Lia that Kelsey had mailed her Iggy...and in exchange, she had to mail off her sucker to another baby that needed it. After several days of discussing this, Iggy came and the sucker was "mailed" off. For the most part, Lia hasn't looked back. A massive sigh of relief was felt in The Hartland and due to that reason it just wouldn't be right if I didn't close this post without a thank you letter addressed to each of the three key players. So without further ado....

Dear Mr. Sucker,
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a member of our family these past three years. Your calming and soothing presence has brought hours of peaceful sleep to our home for many, many nights. Words cannot sufficiently express our indebted gratitude to you. Thank you for your loyal service and the faithful friendship you provided to my daughter. You will be missed.
R.I.P.
Sincerely,
The Hartland mom

Dear Iggy,
This past week of detox would have been a bloody, painful mess without you. Your timely arrival into our lives was heaven sent. Thank you for your willingness to become Lia's new constant companion as I know being toted around the house (by your neck, no less) by a toddler isn't the easiest way to spend your days. We are grateful for your cute, little face and petite size that caused Lia to fall in love with you upon first sight. We hope that this new found relationship will last for years to come. We already consider you one of our own.
Sincerely,
The Hartland mom

And last, but definitely, not least...
Dear Kelsey,
Where to even begin? Miss Kelsey Elisabeth, you made this whole transition possible. Thank you for your insight in selecting Iggy out of a pile of twenty-some gifts in your classroom last month. I believe that you were guided by a higher source. Thank you for bringing Iggy up to the cabin and, most importantly, for loaning him out to Lia with such selflessness for several days. You helped to create a friendship that made the removal of Mr. Sucker a reality. What would I have done without you?!
I love you!
Aunt Beese

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

2011-01-01T21:34:00.000-08:00

The Hartland fam just spent a few days with my family at the Priest Lake cabin in the winter wonderland we found up there. Although it didn't snow while we were there, we had about a foot or so to play in. As always, Lia had the time of her life spending time with her "friends" (aka: her cousins) and toting Kelsey's tiny monkey named Iggy all over the place. We enjoyed great food, fun games, and plenty of sledding during our time up North and were said to leave it behind. I am so grateful for this special place that my parents built for all of us to enjoy. I heart Priest Lake in the sun and in the snow!

The first night there, I found this precious scene by the Christmas tree. Oh, how these girls love their grandmother! I don't blame them...

The Hartland fam in the snow on our first full day there!

Lia trying to figure out this deep, white stuff while her father fusses over one of the mittens.

Best buds: Kelsey and Brynn making professional snowballs with their snowball makers. Innocent bystanders...beware!

A photo of the great system my brothers devised years ago...using the ol' motorcycle to pull lazy sledders up the hill! Here is my brother Eric giving Vivi and Callie a ride.

After much coaxing, we convinced Lia to ride in the sled with me a total of two times. You can see by the look on her face that she was NOT a fan!

I just love this pic...my three handsome bros walking up the hill after another round of "ram" (the game they have been playing for over twenty years on the sledding slopes...the name of the game tells it all). Doesn't this pic look like it came straight out of an L.L. Bean catalogue?

We celebrated Callie's seventh birthday while we were there. Is she really that old? Please notice Vivi in midair in the background.

Lia clinging to Papa during another morning outside She grew less and less fond of the snow the more time she spent in it. Oh well, there's always next year....

Big, bad Spence cruising down the hill.

I slipped away with my mom for a walk in the woods so that she could try out her new snowshoes that she received for Christmas. She navigated like a pro on these contraptions and only fell once!!

One of the many mushrooms we passed on our walk covered in snow. Nature sure has a way of reinventing herself from season to season, doesn't she? Amazing.

Lia playing with the "triplets" on the day we headed for home. Oh, how she misses the fun and how I miss the constant entertainment for her.

A last photo of Priest Lake in all of her four degree glory! Boy was it chilly our last morning there! Can't wait to see her again all thawed out this summer.

Christmas Recap

2010-12-27T15:11:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that Christmas 2010 has already come and gone. We had a simple, yet very enjoyable, holiday with my family this year. We went up to Issy to celebrate Christmas Eve with my parents and my local brothers and their families. We dined on my mother's traditional turkey dinner with all of the fixings before moving into the living room for the program portion of the evening. I convinced my wonderful hubby to spend the night at my parents' house (yet again) so that we could spend Christmas morning with them to open gifts and eat breakfast. I'm always a little bit sad to see Christmas go, but am looking forward to 2011 and what she brings! Here's a quick recap of the time spent at my parents' house.

My father graciously agreed to man seven grandkiddies in the kitchen so that the rest of the adults could enjoy a peaceful dinner in the dining room. WHAT A GUY!

One of the items on the program's agenda was reenacting the nativity story while Eric read Luke 2. Natalee produced some of the cutest nativity costumes for the kids and Lia was lucky enough to be the angel. She dawned the princess-like angel dress and wings and immediately began requesting to wear her "glass slippers." So dang cute!

The gang all lined up before "show time."

Here are Lia and her cousins admiring baby Jesus after their performance was over. Please notice Riley's hair spilling out through the crown's prongs--just like what every wiseman's hair looked like 2000 years ago.

The final portion of the evening was the lighting of the candles on the Christmas tree and the singing of "Silent Night"--this is a German tradition that my father did with his family growing up that he passed on to us. I always loved doing this as it brings such a special Christmas spirit to the evening.

Lia's older cousin, Brynn, helping her snuff out one of the candles at the end of the evening.

Lia opening up one of her gifts on Christmas morning with the help of Grandma (while wearing her new Ariel dress...compliments of her wonderful North Carolina cousins).

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas out there!

Man vs. Nature

2010-12-22T16:30:00.000-08:00

Man Won.

Oh, those poor fruit trees had no idea what they had comin'.

This is how Ron has been spending his Christmas break.

My Annual Friend

2010-12-08T14:05:00.002-08:00

The night before our wedding, we hosted an informal dinner at our Lake Samm cabin for family and friends who had come from out of town to attend our nuptials. Joy, one of Ron's cousins, brought us a beautiful, burgundy colored orchid plant as a pre-wedding gift. Since we were living in California at the time, I left the plant behind with my mother who took care of it until I moved back to my homeland two years later. Since the summer of 2007, this orchid plant has been my constant companion in the kitchen. And about every 13 months, a shoot springs forth bearing a cluster of tender, green buds. Within a matter of weeks, the most stunning orchids burst open and grace my kitchen with their presence for the next few months. Although this process had begun this year before I left for North Carolina, you will see what I found patiently awaiting my return last week. Welcome back, my annual friend. It's good to have you around again.

Santa's Helper...

2010-12-08T14:05:00.001-08:00

This past weekend, Christmas finally arrived in the Hartland. We set out on Saturday to select our tree and then spent most of Sunday evening decorating it with all of the trimmings. This was the second year in a row that Lia was truly able to soak it all up and get in on the fun. Watching her enjoy the magic of Christmas makes it that much more magical for me. Here is my girl rolling around in some spare strings of musical Christmas lights that have never made it off our living room floor. It's just too much fun to turn them on and dance around!

A Southern Thanksgiving

2010-12-02T16:34:00.000-08:00

We just returned late last night after a glorious run in North Carolina where we celebrated Thanksgiving with all of Ron's immediate family. Considering the fact that it was snowing the morning we flew out, it felt fabulous to arrive in Jacksonville on Thanksgiving evening to 70 degree plus weather! We had a fun few days spending time with family, eating great food, shopping around town, taking a trip to the beach, and even driving down "memory lane" with Ron. It was great to stay at Lola's new second home and watch Lia bond yet again with her two adorable cousins, Regan and Addison. We're fortunate to be able to get together with Ron's family for the occasional holiday considering how far we live from the rest of them! Here's some random pics of our week there...

Ron and his bros in front of Lola's new home.

Lia, Addison, and Regan getting crazy in their play tent.

Regan in the tent tunnel.

The three girls just hangin' out on the floor.

The three girls climbing on their favorite jungle gym.

The gang sliding down a slide at the local park one evening.

Papa and Uncle Robbie with the girls.

Our group Christmas gift to Lola this year was a BBQ for her new house. The three boys picked it out and purchased it together and then spend an evening putting it together. Here they are hard at work in the garage!

Just the three of us were able to slip away one day to spend a glorious afternoon out on the Atlantic coast. We went to a quaint, beach town named Emerald Ilse and camped out on the shore for a few hours so that Lia could do what she does best: play in the sand and the surf. Here she is skipping for joy!

Mama and baby and the Atlantic.

Playing in one of the many holes papa dug.

The Hartland fam.

Digging another hole with papa.

Dancing in the sand with mama!

More frolicking.

Watering Lola's shell cake with her new Dora watering can.

Some PJ time with the cousins.

The girls modeling their new Christmas dresses from Lola after church.

The girls coloring at their little table at Lola's.

Lia and Addison cruisin' for a bruisin'.

Thanks for the Southern Thanksgiving everyone! Can't wait to see you all again!

It's a Beautiful Thing...

2010-11-23T15:27:00.000-08:00

When this is the scene outside

and we are warm and cozy on the inside.

Welcome winter!

2nd Year Quarterly Report, Part III

2010-11-22T17:46:00.000-08:00

Today our little Lia is 3/4 through her second year. My, how time has flown. I can't believe that she will be turning the big three in three months! She just seems to be cruising through these toddler years. I might sound like a bragging mom, but I must confess that I refer to Lia on a regular basis as "perfection in a toddler." She is just one of the most pleasant, obedient, patient, happy, intelligent, and easy-to-reason-with toddlers I have ever encountered. I truly feel that it is such a privilege to raise this little girl. She is such a blessing in my life and I am so fortunate to have her as my daughter.
For starters, I have included a few photos that papa took yesterday of Lia exploring the first snow of the season that fell overnight. He threw her snow gear on over her jammies and they headed out into the yard for a few minutes to see what this "white stuff" was all about.

Lou on the deck.

Lou in the back of the "sister wife"

And without further ado, here is a quick list of what Lia has been up to these past three months...

1. Lia has discovered the Disney princesses and Tinkerbell. As you can imagine, it was love at first sight. Although I love the fact that she is becoming familiar with this classic tales, I do not love the underlying message she is being taught that as long as you are skinny, pretty, and willing to dance with strange men in the forest, your life will be perfect. What a bunch of bologna.

2. This is one of my favorites from this past quarter...Lia has started patting our backs when she hugs us. She sometimes evens asks to hug us just so that she can do this.

3. Lia has begun washing my hands and arms while I am washing her in the bathtub. Such a thoughtful girl.

4. Lia has learned our names in the past three months and has no reservation using them when her requests are not being granted quick enough. This one still brings a smile to my face every time I hear it.

5. This one is definitely my least favorite of the past three months. Lia has discovered a high-pitched scream that she will use over and over again if she is not happy with us or something else in her life.

6. Lia continues to be very careful with most things she handles. She has many little toys that are for children older than her that she carefully plays with. I also will let her play with my glass pumpkins (from my Halloween decorations) without reservation if I am in the mood. How many two year olds can be trusted with stuff like that?!

7. Sometimes Lia will confuse 'mama' with 'papa' or vice versa. This happens all the time. However, the funniest one occurred one night when she accidentally combined the two and called me "mapa" while we were eating dinner.

8. Lia has started to grasp the concept of time and frequently uses words like "yesterday" or "tomorrow" in her sentences. She still doesn't understand the timeline behind these words and can be found saying something like "We bought the toy yesterday at the store" when we actually just bought it ten minutes earlier.

9. Unfortunately in the past few months, Lia has grown a bit of a shy bone. She can be the total life of the party if she feels comfortable, but will completely clam up and hide behind us if a stranger pays any attention to her. Hopefully this is a just a passing phase.

10. It's official--the high chair is gone! While wearing panties during our unsuccessful second round of potty training this fall, Lia accidentally peed in her high chair while eating lunch one day. Since I didn't have time to scrub it down right away, the high chair sat outside for two days. It was during this time that Lia moved right into one of our "big chairs" at the table with us and we have never looked back. She's actually doing a really good job and I am loving the extra space in my kitchen.

11. She now understands the difference between boys and girls and loves pointing out peoples' and animals' genders all the time. I'm just waiting for an embarrassing mix-up to occur one day.

12. Lia is all about manners these days and readily uses words like please, sorry, bless you, and thank you all the time. I absolutely love it! The other day, we were in a store and Lia accidentally bumped into another women and said "sorry" right away. The lady looked so shocked! Around that same time, we were in another store and I sneezed. Lia immediately said, "Bless you," and a woman in another aisle (who could only hear us) started laughing right away. That's right, my girl's polite!

13. Lia continues to love to dance to any music around; however, her new favorite is the song played at the beginning of the television show, "The Office." She will totally rock out whenever she hears that song (and maybe her mom can be found from time to time joining her). :-)

14. She is starting to become more and more independent. Lia has now started walking upstairs unannounced, shutting her door, and playing in her bedroom alone. The only problem to this perfect plan is that she is yet to figure out how to turn a doorknob and open a door. So after much banging and knocking, Ron and I always have to rescue her.

15. Lia continues to be a talking machine. Although she speaks in lengthy sentences all of the time, there are some words that she says incorrectly that I think are the cutest thing! Examples? Lia likes to say that we "pinked her toes" after we paint them pink. She also likes to play the "gingerman bread" game on the computer or enjoys "pedaling" other peoples' cats. Lia also likes to say that she "binked" us after poking us with her index finger while saying "bink." She has also discovered the phrase, "Um, I don't know," and freely uses that whenever appropriate. What a fun girl.

Well, that's it for another three months! Until my baby girl turns three....(wah!)

Disney on Ice

2010-11-14T21:39:00.000-08:00

Every once in awhile I get a wild hair and do something spontaneous. This was the case this past week when I hopped online and bought tickets to see "Disney on Ice" for a show two days later after weeks and weeks of seeing the advertisements on T.V. In the past few months, Lia has discovered the Disney princesses and fallen in love. In addition, she has been fascinated with figure skating since first seeing it on our television during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. So, how could we go wrong by combining the two??? We had a grand time yesterday watching Lia watch the show. It was just one of those precious moments...especially during the princess performances when she was absolutely mesmerized by those famous characters flitting around on the ice. She kept on asking me "What else?" (a.k.a. "Who else?") after each princess/prince couple would first skate out onto the rink. What a grand way to spend the afternoon.

The Hartland fam before heading into the arena...

Lia ogling at one of the many over-stuffed kiosks full of over-priced Disney paraphernalia. This was the closest she got to any of this stuff as NONE of it went home with us!

Some of Lia's friends on ice....Snow White sliding along.

Belle and her beau.

Ariel in the air.

And finally Lia's current fav: Tink waving goodbye in the finale!!

A Falloween Fairy

2010-10-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

When I was first pulled out our Halloween decorations over a month ago, Lia became quite fascinated with the entire holiday and has been talking about "Falloween" ever since. She has been excited for weeks to dawn her fairy costume and go trick-or-treating to cash in on that free candy. Now that all of her loot is safely home, we are regulating it with a one-candy-a-day rule while Ron and I help ourselves to it whenever her back is turned. We'll see how long it lasts....

Lia and I set out Friday afternoon before our church Halloween party to snap a few pics. I must say that she looked quite adorable in her costume. Here she is with our family of pumpkins on the front porch.

Lia admiring her personal pumpkin.

A happy fairy on our driveway.

The fairy fleeing from the camera.

We hit our ward party Friday night for some chili dinner and then an abundance of Halloween carnival games. Lia was a little freaked out at first, but eventually warmed up to the orange and black stimulation overload. First stop was the cupcake walk.

Next stop: The fishing wall.

Then onto the ring toss.

And finally the costume parade!

We finished up the evening with some trick-or-treating throughout the church.

On Halloween evening, we left our post for a few minutes to take Lia on a quick tour around our cul-de-sac.

Papa and Lia on their way from one house to another.

The cutest backsides I've ever seen...

Happy Falloween everyone!