What a great weekend!!!

This weekend we went to visit April and her family in Clay Center. Too fun!! It was awesome! We sang karoke, played pool, darts, and cards. Not to mention just hangin out and relaxing. I am soooooo happy we went, and I can't wait to get to gether again!!

Jason and Danny singing, Jason is getting into it!!

Singing with no arm swinging
Jonathan taking a break from pool!

April's daughter Monica and Savannah are only a year apart and it off great! Jason decided he wanted to call Monica Harmonica, and Savannah already goes by Banana so here is Harmonica and Banana prepping for there 2021 world tour!!

April's son is only a year and a half older than J. They had a great time too. They spent most of the visit on the Wii, but here they are taking a Wii break to play a little DS while the old foogies watched the Food Network.

April and Danny chillin after breakfast. Life is nothing with out a little Sunday morning snuggling with your hunny!

Monica and Savannah right before we left.

Me and April. She is going to HATE that I put up this pic, but how could I not?? I'm so happy that we found each other again after such a long period apart. We still have so much in common and had an awesome time catching up. Not to mention we beat the boys in Spades one game. By beat I mean wiped the floor with them!!

Before we left Clay I had to drive by the house my Grammie and Grampy lived in when they lived there. It is one of my fave houses ever. This house is the back drop house for every book I read. Then I adjust the house as the author describes it. This house rocks. It has ahuge spiral staircase. A dual front fireplace that is in the formal living room and study. It has the best kitchen ever with an island to die for!! I mean it's HUGE. I would love to purchase and restore this house. It contains so many happy childhood memories for me!!

On the way home from Clay we stopped in Abilene for a little bit. Yesterday was my baby sister;s 22nd birthday. We hung out for awhile and had cake and family time.

Jonathan and Codey. Codey has gotten so long. He's not as chubby as he was at Thanksgiving. He's still cute and squishy though!! Auntie Angel loves her some Codey!

Savannah and Elizabeth playing outside at Mema and Pop-pop's

My baby sister looking so pretty. I love her new hair cut!

Tiff and her 20 week prego belly. At her appointment on Thursday the Dr. said he thinks it's a girl!! I said I like Angel Rose as a name :O)

Tiffany and Elizabeth

Savannah and Aunt Tiffany

Me, Tiff, and H

Savannah and Codey

Elizabeth playing outside

Jonathan and Aunt Tiffany

The kiddos were wiped out from their busy weekend. They slept almost all the way home!!

36 out of 99

Let me know if you do this, so I can see how exciting your life is compared to mine. Just bold face the items that you HAVE done, and leave the rest normal….

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29 Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33 Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41 Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45 Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China (I built the Great Wall of St. Robert in my yard)
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60 Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67 Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Harrison is still sicky :O( He has a croupy cough, and general blahs. He slept alot today and just wanted to be snugged while awake. I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow to see if there is anything else we can do for him, but I don't think so.

OK...

Who's in Mesa AZ and Royalton IL?

I just want you to say Hi and how you found me. I'm friendly really!! Esp Royalton, you've been here twice today!!

How come ya'll didn't leave comments??

I have had vistors from Mansfield, St. Robert, Springfield, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Frisco...but no one left a comment. Why?

Yelm?? Michelle? C'mon girl, let me know you've been here!!

I think I'm an adult

I have finally come to appreciate a good cup of coffee. I have been a Starbucks fan for quite awhile now. However 4.74 for a cup of coffee is just not conducive to my budget these days!! I have gotten into the habit of drinking 1-3 cups of coffee in the mornings. I don't know that it is healthier than Pepsi since it is loaded down with sugar(2 tsp) and flavored creamer. I don't crave soda as much during the day, so that is good.

Harrison is sick :O( Nothing major, just his first cold. I had to take the booger sucker to him this morning...he didn't like that!! I was able to wrangle out some nasty green boogys, so now he can breathe better. I'm not sure if it's b/c he doesn't feel well, or b/c he's getting older, but he has slept really well the last few nights. He has went down between 10-11 and woken up until 5:30!! The downside? The first night he did this he woke up starving(of course) and my poor nipple paid for it!! It's still tender! Amazingly, he is sleeping in his crib right now. For those if you who don't know, Hallock babies always sleep in their carseats. Usually until about the time they roll over and can sleep on their bellies. I thought it was isolated with Jonathan, but Savannah, and now Harrison do it too. We tried to put H in his crib when we brought him home and he would wake up within 5 minutes of us putting him down. The carseat....he'd sleep for hours. The ped said it's OK, so I'm not going to fight it. I want to start trying to get him in his crib though, so when he fell asleep this morning, I laid him in his crib on his side. He slept for 20 minutes, then woke up fussing. I gave him his binkie and he went back to sleep...but I hear him again...LOL...30 minutes is a good start right?

Boring

That's what life has been. Not to much is going on at all. So instead of blogging about one subject extensively, I thought I'd give ya'll some " this-n-thats". You know the little stuff that goes on in life that doesn't normally get mentioned.

**I'm still nursing H. He is gaining weight so I suppose he is doing well, but I don't feel like he is. He's very gassy(toots) and often seems to have trouble latching on. He only eats 10-15 minutes per side. He's gaining weight though, so I guess it's okay

**The big kids brought home their report cards. They did great. The Derby elementary schools doesn't use the A,B,C grading method. They use Exemplary, Proficient, Basic. It sucks and I hate it. In 6th grade they go back to A,B,C. Thank Goodness, anyway, the kids did great and had all Exemplary and Proficient.

**Jason's boss came to him this week and said that during the managers meeting everyone agreed that he is well respected and has a bright future within the company/school. Which is great, it just better reflect in his 6 month review as an awesome pay raise.

**I interviewed for a job this week. It was way to many hours though, 3 late nights and Saturdays. I said thanks but no thanks. I'm really torn about going back to work. If I do I don't want it to be forever, but I also hate being so strapped. Honestly, even though H would go to Grammie's, I well up at the though of leaving him 8-10 hours a day. I don't know how daddys do it.

**I'm SO excited for next weekend!! We are going to my good friend April's for a visit!! April and I have been friends since she was in 5th grade and I was in 4th grade. We became friends after I wrote her a note and called her a "horror". Yea, that's how I thought you spelled "whore". I don't remember why I thought she was a "horror". Anyway, after we had it out we became BFF's. Her mom always called us Arabs b/c we looked similar and dressed alike to our best ability. I haven't seen her since I was pregnant with Jonathan...yea...long time!! It's going to be so fun!!

**This week the kiddos go to the dentist. It will be the first of many visits for J. I imagine we are about to jump on the braces train....oh joy. Jason and I need to go to. I know I need 2 root canals and crowns. I have 2 huge cavities. Jason has a massive case of periodontal disease too. Most dental insurances don't cover the antibiotic used to treat it though. Go figure, that is our luck.

**My Orange RR cookware is awesome!! It cooks so well! My other pans were beyond shot. These cook so evenly, nothing sticks, and they distribute heat better. I cook everything thing on a lower temp now. They are even oven safe to 400 degrees so they are semi dual purpose. Since Jason won't let me do the bedroom in orange I'm doing the kitchen in orange. I will be using yellow and red as accent colors and I have already found lots of great stuff like This and
These


**I really need to make friends here. I spend to much time on the computer socializing with my friends that live far away. I keep telling myself I'm going to get out and go scrapping or join a moms club, but I haven't. Honestly, I enjoy sitting at home on the puter with my far away friends or hanging out with my grammie.

**I walked three times last week! I even went out one day when it was 17 degrees. I didn't want to but I did it. The days I didn't walk I was out of the house doing errands and such. This week I'm going to try and double my trek from 1 mile to 2 miles. I haven't lost anymore weight, but as I add exercise to my regimen I think(hope) it will start coming off little by little.

Prince Harri

Yesterday was Harrison's 2 month check up. Our big boy weighed in at 12 lbs 1 1/2 ounces!! Wow! To think I was worried he wasn't eating enough! He is now 22 1/2 inches long too. He's in the 23rd percentile for height and 53rd percentile for weight. I can't remember his head measurements, but I do know it was in the 84th percentile! Hallock's and their big heads!!

Time for a change :O)

I decided last week that I hated my hair. Long hair is overrated, esp. if you only pull it back, which I did. So I decided to revisit a cut that I have had several times in the past. Supa Short! It's quick, it's easy, it's supa sexy! Jason pouted for awhile after I cut it, but now he's digging it. Like I told him, it's my hair. It's not like he was the one breaking out the Chi to straighten it. Along with the cut I did a little bottle auburn to take away from the stark black hair. I totally love it. I don't miss the longer hair at all!!

Me before-Looking rough I might add!

the back-supa short!

Savannah took this one, can you tell?

Jason and I at the hockey game last night.

In other news: I'm so stinking excited that the big kids go back to school tomorrow!!! Yipee! I'm going to start walking in the mornings with H too. I have to start slow training for my 5 k :O) I won't be walking tomorrow though...my mini bubba has his 2 month appt, which means shots...sob...sob...sob... I don't like it when they poke my baby!!

So Excited!

This is the first year in my whole adult life that I am not making a new years resolution regarding my weight. In fact, I'm not making any new years resolutions! How cool is that? I'm pretty content with my life, and the direction it's going. I'm thrilled with my 63 lb weight loss, and while I would love to lose 20 more, it doesn't dictate my life or food consumption. I don't drink or smoke, so I don't have to give those up. I'm happy. I have 3 beautiful, healthy children. I have a husband who adores me and loves me like crazy. I'm blessed with friends who realize how wonderful I am!! LOL!

L.G. baby, L.G.

Hello, Hello, Hello!

I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas! We had a wonderful holiday here at the Hallock house. Christmas Eve I woke up full of the Spirit! We baked and wrapped, and hung out. Then went to the Christmas Eve service and drove around looking at Christmas lights.

Christmas morning the kids woke us up announcing that Santa had left them new bikes!! We opened gifts, had breakfast and baked a Pumpkin Cheesecake(so good!) to take to Grammies. We had a great time at Grammies. The kids and Jason played Ryan's new Wii, while Harrison and I hung out with Grammie and helped with dinner. Jonathan and Savannah ended up staying the night, so Jason and I came home with only 1 kiddo!

Saturday night we went to a Wichita Thunder hockey game. Talk about a good time!! It was crazy fun. Ryan and Jonathan were up doing the YMCA, and begging for the players to fight. It was more fun than I thought it would be. I had never been to a hockey game before and it was neat to watch.

We haven't been doing much since then. Hanging out, enjoying each others company and being lazy!! Today, we slept in, went for a walk and now we are waiting for Jen and her kiddos to come and hang out.

The table before dinner-I love grammies orange square plates!!

My orange Rachael Ray cookware from Grammie-My favorite gift this year fo' shizzle!!

Harrison in his new froggie high chair from grammie!

My mini bubba's first Christmas!

The kiddos before Church on C-mas Eve!

Merry Christmas!!

More tomorrow!

The Official Christmas Party Photo

I wish we would have gotten this sooner I would have put it on a Christmas card!

This-N-That

SAD-Almost all of Harrison's newborn clothes don't fit. Sleepers, onsies, anything with "NB" on it is too small. He also comfortably fits into size 1 diapers! Do you hear me sobbing? I'm constantly looking at Jason saying..."I thought we agreed we weren't going to let this one grow up?" I have decided to continue updating his blog with his milestones and memories. The Good Lord knows that if I don't blog it I'll never remember it when it comes time to do his scrapbook!

EXCITED-Christmas is only 3 days away!! Can you believe it? The kids have been really good about not attacking the tree. They have only fondled their gifts a few times :O) I have had to tell them several times that I am done shopping b/c they are still adding to their lists!!

TIRED- I know that J and S didn't sleep near as much as H does, yet I don't remember being this tired with them. Perhaps it's my old age!! H only wakes once per night( most of the time). Which should be a dream come true, but I still wake feeling exhausted. I need to get us on a schedule. I'm a schedule person, so it would help me a lot if I woke at the same time everyday, and had certain tasks to accomplish each day as well.

HAPPY-Although I haven't done any sort of "real" scrappin in ages(by ages, I mean years!) I am making it a priority in 2009. I want to start attending crops at the LSS here in Derby. Scrappin is always how I made new friends when I moved to a new area, so I need to get out there and get some friends!! Not to mention finish some scrapbooks! I'm excited to start cropping again. I have no idea about new trends products or styles so it will be like I've never scrapped before. I also plan on doing more digi stuff too. I enjoy making stuff and often use photoshop to make my myspace backgrounds and tags. Fun stuff!

Humbled

Sometimes the good Lord smacks you with a dose of reality when you need it the most. In case you guys don't go back and read comments, this is a comment my good friend April posted to my last blog entry:

It's all about prospective. You can choose what mood to be in. Like me... normally I am rushing Christmas past, but this year someone close is not expected to live into January - so why wish away time that you can never get back? ewww... that was pretty hairy for me...LOL! Just hang in there AJ. luv ya and hope you do have a Merry Christmas. and hope to see u soon.

What a wake up call. I know and love the person she is speaking about. I'm devastated at her impending loss. I no longer want January to come. I want April to be able to savor every minute she has left with her dad. I want her to enjoy every single day God is blessing them with this Christmas season. And with that, I want to enjoy my own family. I want to not rush Harrison to grow up. I want to enjoy the days that Jonathan and Savannah are on vacation and home with me. I want to savor the family time that is coming to us over the next few weeks. There are some things I just can't change, and I have to stop letting it effect my Christmas and accept it. I am determined to make the remaining days of 2008 fabulous!!!

P.S. A- let me know if you are not comfortable with your info out there, I'll take it down. Love you too! Thanks for the wake up call.

The Sour Mood is Baaaackk....

I can't wait for the holidays to be over.

I'm not feeling it this year.

January please hurry and get here!!

Wow, What a change!

Now granted that is not the most flattering picture ever, it is still what I looked like last Christmas. I like what I look like this Christmas better :O) I'm still losing weight, just not as quickly as I was the first few weeks after Harrison was born. I haven't been able to work out like I want to b/c it's SO cold outside! Today it was 21 degrees, 2 with the wind chill. Somehow I still managed to lose almost 3 pounds this week though. My goal is to lose 3.8 more before the end of the year. THANK YOU for all the comments on our Christmas party pictures. I love that dress and would wear it every day if I could. I felt so good in it. Several times I walked by the mirror at the hotel and stopped in shock b/c I couldn't believe it was me!! My stomach was *almost* flat! What's up with that?? I love it!!



Dec 24 2007


Dec 12 2008

P.S. Ya'll need to update more! I know you have 5 minutes a day to do it. If I can post 6 blogs in 7 days, you guys can too! Don't tell me you have nothing to blog about, everyday life is fine with me. I hate checking the blog list everyday and finding that NO ONE on my whole list has updated!! It's so depressing!!! You don't want me to be depressed do you?? Remember you like it when other people have new posts to read, and we like it when you have new posts too!!

Christmas Party

Tonight was Jason's company Christmas party. My mom bought me a new bra, dress, and shoes for Christmas. I had been looking forward to it. Then yesterday a sour mood like no other swept over me, and it continued into this afternoon. By the time Jason got home from work(1:30) I had zero desire to go to the party.

It's amazing what a long, hot bath can do for the spirit. After my bath I felt SO much better!!! As I started getting ready for the party I actually started getting excited. By the time it was time to leave I was super excited b/c...well..I looked HOT!!

We ended up having a really great time. Jason got out and did a little YMCA, while I did a little line dancing. Then of course we had the obligatory slow dances :O)

Grammie kept the kiddos while we went to the party. Harrison ate TWO 4 ounce bottles while we were gone. Crazy! Once was breast milk, one was formula. Glad I got that second one ready just in case! Grampy brought McDonald's for dinner, and Jonathan got to hang out with uncle Ryan for the night. I think everyone had a great evening :O)

Being the mother of a newborn isn't all sunshine and roses.

Sometimes it really sucks

Last night was one of those nights that if offered at the right moment I would have traded my sweet baby Harrison for a handful of magic jumping beans. Yes, we have all had those moments. He slept peacefully for an hour, but as soon as I laid down and rolled over he was fussing. Ok, I wasn't asleep yet so it wasn't that big of a deal. After about 20 minutes of head rubbing and constantly putting the paci back in his mouth he back out. Yay! Only to wake up 30 minutes after I fell asleep. I can handle no sleep, but 30 minutes?? That's just mean and makes for an instantly crabby momma.

I get up to nurse him and about 5 minutes into it, he has unlatched and is snoring. What!! AGH. It just gets worse from there. It was a night of little sleep. After Jason got out of bed for work I brought Harrison into bed with me. We stayed in bed snoozing, nursing, and snuggling until about 1 this afternoon. In Harrison's defense this was only his 2nd "bad" night in his 6 weeks of life. I'm pretty blessed that he is normally a good baby, but when he's bad, he's real bad!

And to make matters worse, I think I'm starting my period!! How come every other breastfeeding mother gets a few months off and mine starts damn near 6 weeks to the day after birth????

Two Ounces Baby!

That's how much I pumped tonight! An easy ounce from each side. It was quick too. Maybe I'll get a hang of this pumping thing yet!

I know a few children who could have drawn this....

Feelin' Great!

So much I want to say, but I will have to break it up into a couple of posts! I must share that last night Harrison slept in two increments of 5 hours!! I know right!! I feel awesome today! He ate at 10, went down about 11 and didn't wake up until 5! Then he ate, went back down and didn't wake up until about 9:45 this morning. I can handle this. You think it will happen again?? Me either...lol.

My sister finally sent me her breast pump last week.... It's not working well for me, the pumping that is. I'm not sure if it's the pump or me, or both, but it took 5 pumps to get 4 ounces! AGH! I was only able to get 1/2-1 ounce per breast per session. Is this normal? I have a call into Staci(got your message this morning, going to call you back soon). I can't figure out when to pump since he's exclusively breast fed. If I pump after he eats, I get nothing. if I pump before he eats he'll get nothing. Advice will be happily accepted and appreciated! Jason's company Christmas party is Friday. I need to have at least 1 bottle for Grammie to give him.

Harrison had his 1 month check up last week. He was 9lb 4oz! Woowzeers! He wasn't even back up to his birth weight at 2 weeks(7lb 10.5 oz). Apparently he's eating well. The pictures I had done last week he wore his coming home outfit and it was almost to small...I don't think I'm ready for him to be outgrowing clothes yet!!

Speaking of clothes..check him out in his Staci Sleeper!!

It has orange, yellow, green, and blue polka dots. Too cute!

I need to get better pics, but he was sleepy after his bath!

Even though Harrison looks terrified this is the best pic of all 3 kiddos so far

He's still not hot on the bouncy seat...

But at least he's awake!

Yesterday we made peanut butter balls

Messy Hands!

The dipping part sucked!
But they taste SO yummy!

I have been a baking fool lately. Making all sorts of snacks for the kiddos. Today is puppy chow, yum, yum!!

Harrison's Newborn Pics