It's the most wonderful time of the year

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone so quickly. I felt like I had all the time in the world to decorate, bake, and shop. But soon it was a week till Christmas and I was still finding a long to-do list. I am so not looking forward to packing up all my Christmas things. Would it be completely white trash of me to keep it up for a little longer?
We ended up piercing Hallie's ears this month. She looks so stinking cute! She did really well. We luckily caught her on a good day. She fussed a little after the first one, mostly because Tyler had to hold her arms down, but then we gave her juice and she was fine. She started grabbing at everything a few days before Christmas. She went from not reaching for anything, to waking up one day and trying to get everything. I was so excited because Christmas just wouldn't be as much fun with her just sitting there! We also got to go to zoo lights and temple lights this month. Hallie loves all things lights so she was so good on our outings! It was fun taking her. Christmas eve we went to Tyler's aunt and uncles house on his mom's side. We ate dinner and had a gift exchange which was so fun. Then we came home and packed the truck (it looked like we were leaving home for a week. Traveling with a child and two dogs plus presents required us to borrow Grandpa's truck to be able to fit everything). We headed out to my moms and got our Christmas jammies. Hallie got cute reindeer ones, Ty got batman, my brothers got beevis an d butthead and transformers, and I got Harry potter! All 5 of us slept in my moms room like every year. Hallie was the most hyper out of everyone. I don't know why, she had no idea what was goin on, but she was up talking till 11 which is so not like her. We woke up early ( I woke Hallie up since she usually sleeps in till 9, I was just too excited) and opened stockings and presents. Then we got to talk to my brother Chad who is in Michigan on a mission. It as so good talking to him! We were even able to face chat with him for a few hours so we were able to see him and Chad got to meet hallie! She even threw up on the camera for him. After my mom's we dropped the dogs off back at home and headed to Tyler's aunts for his dads side. We spent some time with them, and then headed to my dads for dinner. It was a long long day. All said and done, Hallie got lots of toys, a play mat, a couple pianos, and a stroller. She had so much fun opening everything and being so excited. I loved playing Santa! Tyler got off road lights, money, p90x, clothes, new Oakley lenses, and a few other small things. I got a sewing machine, a cricut, a food processor ( wow I guess I really am a Mormon wife/mom) and a couple other things. We have the best family and are so thankful for everyone's generosity!
I am so sad to say goodbye to this season, it is my absolute favorite. I love all the things Christmas brings. Family, friends, faith, hope, love. And miracles! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

Chatter box

Have you ever wished you could get a small glimpse into your future? Well I think in the last few days I have. And it's full of phone calls and notes home from school. Hallie loves to talk. If you're paying any attention to her she'll babble your ear off. She thinks it's the funniest thing. Especially at four in the morning, where she'll cry and cry until Tyler or I go in her room and then she just talks. She loves babbling along with Christmas songs. She'll do it in the car when we're listening to Christmas music. She did it yesterday in Sacrament when the primary got up to sing Picture a Christmas. And she loves talking to the tv when she's watching backyardigans. We have quite the talker. And however cute I think it is right now ( it makes me so stinkin happy) I guarantee it'll get her into some trouble if she keeps it up. But boy is it funny. I love having a happy baby now. I deserve it after the four tough months we had. I absolutely adore the time I spend with her now while she smiles and talks to me. I just love this girl to pieces!

On a side note..Christmas is in 13 days and I have done zero shopping for anyone. That's what a happy baby does to you. Distraction! I feel so behind!

Pros and cons

Wow it's been awhile. Where the heck did November go? Not that I'm complaining, I love December! But that sure went fast. Time goes by so much faster when you have a baby. It's both a great and a bad thing. Here's a list of bad and good things that have been going on in the Peel house.
Pro: I got my new phone!! I've pretty much been waiting since the day I signed the contract for my old one. After getting lost in Phoenix and running out of gas one night, and my phone was choosing not to work, we decided it was time to push the upgrade. I jumped on the iPhone bandwagon, but I love it
Con: Tyler had drill Friday, Saturday, Sunday for November so it was me and Hallie flying solo. I gotta admit it was nice to just have her to focus on though
Pro: Thanksgiving! I love me some food!
Pro: Hallie turned 4 months old on the 26th. She's blooming into quite the funny little lady
Pro: We switched to a new pediatrician who I love! After 5 minutes explaining Hallie's problems he put her on a medicine that has already helped
Con: we had to go to one more appointment with our old pediatrician where she told me if Hallie wasn't so interactive she would think she was developmentally disabled (seriously?) that I was over stimulating her with toys cuz she can't see colors, and that I needed to join a support group because I am boring my curious baby and that's why she screams so much. Psycho much?
Pro: it's December! and my holiday decoration are up! Nothing better than having a house light up from Christmas lights!
Pro: the weather has been fantastic lately. Cold enough to have my favorite bedtime snack (besides cereal). Nothing warms you from head to toes before bed like toast and hot chocolate.
Pro: Picos made tamales allll day long today. And we definitely have a batch in the fridge, and one in the freezer
Con: I'm not looking forward to splitting my time and attention between families for Christmas. I wish I could just combine all my families because it stresses me out
Pro: we got switched to the formula plan from WIC. Which means I definitely got $75 of formula for free tonight and I still get $75 more this month
Con: Tyler had a cold for a week. And even more of a con, now Hallie and I have it
Con: Tyler leaves for drill tomorrow, again, he just had it two weeks ago. But this time, I get a sick baby all to my sick self. Fun?

It's been an eventful month, and I'm sure we're in store for much more coming up. All I know is that through all the pros and cons, I love my little family. They are my whole world and I am so lucky to have them!

November!

I love new months! Out with the old, in with the new! I especially love it when it means taking down one holiday's decorations and preparing for the next! My Halloween stuff went back to the garage the first day of November and is now replaced with fall and thanksgiving. It makes me giddy knowing what's next :)
The first week of November we had two birthdays. On the 4th, it was my mother-in-law's and on the 6th it was Tyler's! My sweet husband is now 24! Gettin up there! We celebrated Friday night by dropping Hallie off at Pico's and going out. We had dinner at Red Robin and went to see Tower Heist (it has Alan Alda in it..of course that's what Tyler's pick was). Saturday it was dark and chilly outside so we went to Brew's game and then spent the afternoon together watching movies and playing with our cute girl. Sunday, Tyler's birthday, we slept thru church (whoops) and then went to the mall. We had gotten a thing in the mail from Helzberg saying we got a free bracelet for our birthday. Maybe they thought Tyler's birthday was mine, but I ended up with a pretty bracelet on my husbands birthday! I like it! I also found out that I am FINALLY up for a phone upgrade in 2 weeks. It can not come soon enough!!! After the mall we had lunch at Chili's. Yum. Then we went home, put Hallie down for a nap, then headed over to Tyler's mom's for their birthday bbq. We had hamburgers and watched Rio. We all had a good time.
Hallie is showing her little personality more and more. I love that little girl. She's smiling a lot now and I even got laughs today! She's starting to play with us now and is getting to be so fun! Tyler and I are loving the happy moments we have with her!

Day 13

<p>The end is here! Halloween is finally over. It was kind of a bad turn out at my moms. Not a lot of trick or treaters. But I LOVE Halloween at my moms. She goes all out. People took turns hiding behind corn stalks scaring the teenage trick or treaters. They deserve it. I really hate when they show up expecting candy either wearing no costume or no clothes. And then they make up lame excuses. I'm dressed as myself or I'm a gangster or I'm a cowgirl in my shorts that show off half my butt. That's the part of Halloween I hate. So needless to say it made my night when they all got the skank scared out of them. Tyler and I went as Batman and Robin. We made our costumes, I'll have to post pictures soon. The rest of Halloween was just tradition. Ibc rootbeer and cream soda, mummy dogs, caramel apples..the usual. Hallie was in a baaaad mood yesterday so she finally took a nap and slept the whole time. I woke her up at the end to put her grouchy ladybug costume on and at least take one or two pictures. I can't wait to take her out next year, hopefully she'll be a happy child by then.
Now its November. My house is a mess from all the festivities we've had lately. I can't wait to get it cleaned, put away Halloween stuff and get out my fall decorations. Sunday is Tyler's birthday and I still have no idea what to get him. Hm...

Day 12

Sunday I had a killer headache all day. We stayed home from church and watched Halloween 3, 4, & 5. Then we went to my moms and frosted more cookies, ate pizza, finished decorating her house, and carved pumpkins. I really wanted to have Hallie carve a pumpkin with me and put her in it..but I think she's going thru a growth spurt so she slept thru it all. I love Halloween, but I'm about ready for it to be over!
Pictures: my apple pie, Amy's ET, my lame pumpkin, and Tyler's joker

Day 11

Its almost over! This went fast. But I'm tired so I'll sum this up fast. Today we:
-went to Brew's football game where they got spanked
-tyler worked on his aunts car all afternoon
-didn't get the house cleaned up as much as it needed
-made an apple pie!
-good.night

For some reason I took no pictures today. What's wrong with me? Hallie looked super cute too! I hate when I do that! I'll make up for it tomorrow :) (warning)