Family Pictures

We got some family pictures taken over Thanksgiving Weekend while we were in Utah. Our friend, Emily, took them and I think they turned out great. She took the one on our Christmas card too. It's always hard to choose favorites, so here are way more than you wanted to see. :) Thanks, Emily!

Happy Holidays

Here's the Christmas card this year (and sorry if you're family and live in Orem you probably haven't received it yet since I'm planning on hand delivering them to you as I will be seeing you very soon - yay!).

I thought about writing up a little "year in review" and then sat down to write it and it looked something like this .... "Brandon graduated from law school, took the bar exam in Arizona and passed, and started working as an attorney in Phoenix this past September." That's a lot to compete with!! But I tried to continue ... "Whitney is still loving being a stay-at-home mom to Rachel who is now 18 months old! Rachel keeps her super busy with playing kitchen, blocks, puppets and going to the park." And then I stopped. It just didn't flow right. I really do love being a mom - it's exactly what I want to be doing right now, but it just didn't look very good on paper. :)

Besides being a mom this year, I feel like I have tried a little bit of everything to try to discover new talents and interests (mostly when Rachel is asleep). I have a hard time focusing on just one project at a time, so I am usually working on a handful of things at a time. I experimented a little bit with cooking this year, sewing, photo organizing, photo taking & editing, baby book-ing, running, house hunting, decorating, and blogging, of course. And my most recent fun has been "photoshop-ing" and designing (wait, that sounds way too professional)... more like throwing together cards for myself and family. Want to see some of them? CLICK HERE to view the gallery. I really tried to make them what they wanted, so you'll see there are a lot of different looks/styles.

Happy Holidays! I'm off to the land of cold and snow for a couple weeks, so no guarantee on any posts until the New Year.

Thanksgiving Recap

Here's a family picture in my mom's backyard on Thanksgiving. We had such a great time in Utah and can't wait to go back for Christmas too! Since our families live only five minutes apart, we split our time and went to both dinners - totally worth it. I know that some people prefer to choose one place/family to be with on holidays, but splitting the time works for us (at least for now and when there's more kids in the mix I might change my mind).

With all the grandkids together, we had to snap a picture with Grandma & Grandpy Hale. (Cannon, Val, Rach, Brynn, Nancy, Kennedy, Mason)

Oh, some good news to share ... my brother and his wife, Cindy, are expecting a baby in June, so Rachel will have her first cousin on the Parker side! Wahoo - we love cousins! Keep 'em coming!

Just a classic Rachel face.

We are loving our new place and really loving living in Arizona. We go to the park and play outside lots. Here's Brandon and Rachel playing in the backyard and pictured below checking out the neighbors dog. Check out B's new glasses - pretty styling, right!?

Rachel's has already got two presents for Christmas. One was a play kitchen from Grandma & Grandpy (she absolutely loves it!) and the other one is a little tricycle bike that I found at a garage sale. It's the kind that I can push/steer from behind. She's still learning and isn't sure she likes it yet, but she's still little.

p.s. I photoshopped her boogies out of the picture above. Is that cheating? Hope not - I'm completely obsessed with Photoshop elements and Brandon's pretty good too, so he helps me a lot. I've been really busy for the past couple weeks designing Christmas cards for family/friends and it's been so fun. Nothing fancy... I'm totally a beginner ... I caught the bug back here when I completed my first one. Soon, I'll put together a gallery or something and share my work.

And how could I resist not posting this last picture! :) I have to laugh everytime I see it. I'm part of a cooking blog with some friends from Chicago (anyone can join and there's no pressure to participate every week, it's just for fun) and I made these cookies and needed a quick picture. Well, Rachel climbed up onto the bar to get some and I told her "no" - that I needed to take a picture first. Here was the result. I just love this girl - tantrums and all.

SURPRISE!

No, I'm not pregnant everybody, but I know that's what the majority of you were thinking. :)

The SURPRISE is that we came home to Utah for Thanksgiving and nobody even knew about it! It was so fun to surprise both of our moms and family members. And it was hard for me to keep such a fun secret, but worth it. We drove all night and got in at 3am - Rachel surprisingly did great sleeping in her carseat and I actually drove half the way! (This is super impressive considering I am not a good long distance driver - must be the mom instinct kicking in or something.) We woke Brandon's parents up when we "snuck" in to their house at 3am :) and we had to track down my mom later this morning since she was running errands, but we found her at Costco. So fun to be part of such a fun surprise!

We are grateful to have such wonderful family to be sharing Thanksgiving with!

Happy Thanksgiving!

p.s. Thank you for all your lovely compliments and comments lately!

Home Sweet Home

I probably posted 10 more pictures than I needed to. :) Here's a front view of our home in Mesa, AZ! It's just a 30 minute commute for Brandon to work in Phoenix and we really like the area we chose. It is very close to all the shopping I'd need and we have a great ward and good neighbors. It's a four bedroom, two bathroom house and we love the layout. The picture aren't my best work, so you should probably come visit sometime to check it out for yourself :) ... we can offer you a very comfortable air mattress!

RACHEL'S BEDROOM

MASTER BEDROOM

-view of bathroom and walk-in closet

EXTRA BEDROOM

- faces the front of the house and I can't say I love the arch windows, but they're everywhere here

- for now it houses the oversized love sac and other storage items

TOY ROOM / OFFICE

- we spend a lot of time here and absolutely love it

- also has an arch window, except I got creative with some curtains

p.s. I sewed the curtains this week! This was my first sewing attempt since high school and I even made up the pattern since I was too cheap to buy one. My goal was to make it look like a rectangular window rather than arch and to block out the sun to help cool down the room. TA DA!!

HALLWAY BACK TO THE BEDROOMS

- hi Rachie!

- tile in the entry, kitchen, laundry, hallway and bathroom; the rest is carpet

FRONT DOOR into step-down FORMAL LIVING ROOM

- A piano will be going against this wall soon!

FAMILY ROOM

- Are we the only ones on the planet who haven't upgraded to a 50+" TV? I like my tiny dvd/vcr combo and besides, it's just the perfect size since the entertainment center was custom built by Brandon three years ago

- Family Room open to kitchen and dining - favorite part of the house!

- We're getting the cupboards extended to fill that wall there soon

LAUNDRY ROOM/PANTRY

BACKYARD

- it's really fun to have a backyard and patio!

Welcome to our Private Blog {Logistics}

Our blog is now private - if you received an invitation, but need to change your email address or if you received an invitation and do not intend to read this blog, no worries - just let me know and I'll fix that real quick by changing or removing your email address. Or if you know someone who wants an invite, have them send me an email at whitneyhale@gmail.com.

I wanted to give a silly private blog declaration (since I myself love google reader and am sad to be removed from your feeds so that you know when I update the blog!), so here goes: I, Whitney, will do my best to update this blog approximately once per week, but have all rights to not update if I'm in a bad mood or just don't feel like blogging or get a little busy. Know that I usually update the blog on the weekend, but make no guarantees or am contractually bound to do such. If I do not blog enough, you may voice your opinion by commenting - but please note that it may or may not make a difference. :) But you all know that I do love blogging and that I do it for the family and friends that don't live nearby (we miss you and love you all!).

Scene: Mommy made a yummy dinner, but Rachel is refusing to eat it and throwing a small tantrum. Daddy enters and tries to reason with her.

Daddy: "Rachel, you need to eat dinner."

Rachel: shakes her head no, moans and whines and doesn't want to eat anymore dinner

Dad decides to move straight to a bribe. Good call.

Daddy: "Rachel, if you take a bite, daddy will do the hot dog dance for you."

Rachel: Grins from ear to ear and opens her mouth very wide ready for her bite.

Mom hurries to place a large bite in Rachel's mouth and then laughs hysterically as Daddy sings and dances the hot dog dance full out. Point of reference: the "hot dog dance" is from Disney's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Rachel absolutely loves it.

Rachel ate her entire dinner, with lots of hot dog dances in between bites. :)

Video below includes shout outs to gma, gpa, nana, papa, and her Christmas request from Santa and a brief version of her doing the hot dog dance. Mostly for family...you know the drill.

Better late than never

We had a great time celebrating our first-ever HOT Halloween. Rachel was a monkey and had her monkey sound down pat, "ah-ah" and we've been working on saying trick-or-treat, but all she could say was "trick-er"- still so precious. Trick-or-treating was a great excuse to meet our new neighbors and everyone is very friendly! Then we met up with some friends to do some more trick-or-treating and Rachel had a ton of candy and loved it! Such a fun age - I am really looking forward to the holiday season, since she gets so excited and understands a lot more (she already recognizes "SANTA!" wherever we go).

Private blog invites and house pictures coming soon ... we have kept busy unpacking, organizing, decorating, and doing little projects. Last weekend we planted/overseeded a "winter grass" (I had no clue that they did this down here) and I am crossing my fingers it will work. So far, not a lot of new grass action! But I need to be patient and keep the birds off the lawn since they are eating my seeds! Up until yesterday, I had been yelling at them to go away, but this weeks attempt was to put a few balloons in the yard (hoping the wind will keep them moving slightly), which might keep the birds away. :)

Another Deal

Here's a link to get 50% off of your purchase at Payless Shoes through tomorrow night (10/30). A big thanks to the Queen of Chicago! Happy shopping!

p.s. Southwest sale ends tonight, so hurry fast! And did you look to see how much a flight is to Phoenix? We'd love to have visitors anytime!

Back to this ...

Funny story about our empty boxes - I had no idea how to recycle them all or throw them away, so I posted them on craigslist for free and by the end of the night, they were disassembled and out of our backyard and now will help someone else move! Craigslist is the only descent "classifieds" down here (oh how I wish they had something like ksl classifieds in UT!) so it's always hit or miss, but this was a success story for sure.

Southwest Sale

Happy Fall! Check out Southwest Airline's 72 hour sale if you're looking for some good deals on flights!

More updates later - I'm up to my head in boxes after moving in our house this weekend. Pictures will come just as soon as I can get this place cleaned up! :)

Things I said I'd never do ...

You know the things you said you'd "never" do and then you eat your words later? I do this all the time! Here's 5 things I said I'd never do, but ate my words!

1. I always swore I'd never use a "leash" on a child - I thought that it made children look like they were being treated like a puppy. This was before we were blessed with a fast runner and now I am a huge fan and bought one this morning at a garage sale for $4. My only regret is that I didn't have it when we went to Disneyland this summer.

2. I thought I'd never leave church so that my kid could take a nap ... well, it's easy to say that when they sleep in your arms as babies. Then it gets gradually harder to stay in class and not make a scene and distract the entire class, so then you move to the hallway. Let's just say it's been a long wait for nursery (only 2 more months!). Disclaimer: I've never left sacrament meeting to give her a nap yet, but I can't say the same for Sunday School / Relief Society. :)

3. Short & simple - I thought I'd never be the mom who would let the boogies stay on a child's nose. Earth to Whitney: they have a cold 10 times a year and this is absolutely impossible to stay on top of all the time! I will say that I am ok at keeping it clean most of the time.

4. I always thought I'd never be able to wear a t-shirt without a Shade-type shirt underneath. I was/am completely obsessed with layering and it just made me feel more comfortable I guess. The quick fix was moving to Arizona - one layer is even sometimes too much in the heat! I'm a one t-shirt girl now (for the most part). AZ Weather Report: 100 degrees today - we went swimming, crazy huh?! Here's the proof:

5. I also swore I wouldn't watch Bachelorette last season with Jillian, but somehow got trapped and watched it anyway. I can honestly say I "think" I have graduated from this show and completely aware of how lame and shallow it is. Right now, my favorite shows are So You Think You Can Dance, Survivor (go Jaison!), and I will occasionally watch Project Runway and HGTV (fyi - I feel like buying a home has been a lot different than what is shown on HGTV).

I'd love to hear about something that you always said you'd "never do". Or if you know me well, you can disclose one of my moments when I totally ate my words!

Bad news & good news ...

The bad news is that this blog is GOING PRIVATE. I know - I'm sorry, don't be mad!! I can't even say I have a great reason other than I just think that it's time for us to do it.

Do you still want to be my blog friend? If so, just leave me a comment and I'll send you an invitation in a bit (if you feel uncomfortable leaving your email address, send me a text or email). Thanks for being understanding.

The good news is that we found a house and we are closing / moving in at the end of the month. We can hardly wait - home sweet home!

Two is always better than one...

Random facts about Rachel:

- sleeps with 3 binkies - 2 is sufficient (like if I momentarily lost one), but 3 is preferred

- prefers her eggs hard boiled - she eats it like it's a piece of fruit - and she hates them scrambled

- hardest part of the day is getting dressed - she fights me everytime

- she always is so happy to see me when she wakes up, but without fail, the first thing she asks me is "dada?" and then I remind her that he is at work but will be home later to play ... so then we usually call him on the phone to say hi

- loves to have me brush her teeth - I lay her down on the bed and pin her down - she thinks it tickles

Another week

We went to the zoo twice this month since it was free on Wednesdays. It's hard for Rachel to understand why she can't pet them and why the tiger has to be so far away! How lame! They have a fun splash pad, hence the swimsuit yet again (loving that lush background):

Brandon and I went on a date last weekend - that's right, we got a sitter and went to the Diamondbacks game (got the tix from one of Brandon's colleagues who wasn't going to use them). We had a blast, but it wasn't quite as fun as seeing the Cubs.

Rachel was in good hands with Kasey & Danny and she loves her friends, Cole & Cooper (their two boys). When I texted her to see how things were going, here is the text I got from Kasey: "We are just getting home from the park - it was SO fun! Rach is so cute, a great dancer, and VERY fast!" I was so glad someone else could experience Rachel's sprinting - she just runs so fast anytime she gets to go outside! Here's a pic they sent me of Cole & Rachel:

p.s. Thanks for the great discipline suggestions. I checked out a few books at the library and will do another post when I have figured out my game plan. Wish me luck!

Disciplining your toddler

I have some questions about your techniques and opinions about disciplining your toddlers ...

- Have you read any amazing books on the subject?

- At what age should you begin doing "timeout"?

- How do you be consistent about what behaviors merit a "timeout"?

- Where do you have timeout? A chair, their room, the stairs, etc.

- How do you be consistent with timeout at a friends house, church, grocery store, etc?

Of course I tell her "no" now - about 25+ times per day - but I haven't been comfortable with timeout yet. Her behavior is not malicious - everything is just a game at this stage. I think as we move into a house (hopefully!), it will be a great time to really be consistent about disciplining. She is exactly 15 months old now and my new pediatrician told me that I should have started timeout 6 months ago. Not sure I agree with full-blown timeouts that young, but I got his point that disciplining consistently and at an early age is very beneficial. So what are your thoughts?

Fun Times in August (catching up)

"Camping" Trip with Grandma & Grandpa T. - we may not have actually slept the night, but who would have known from this picture?

Rachel loved the freedom of running around outside and getting dirty - no surprise!

The Boys - my brothers, Cade & Chad, my dad, and Brandon

The Girls - Us with Nana, Grandma T. & my sister-in-law, Cindy

Different "camping" trip to Burrville, UT with the Hale Clan. So fun!

Beautiful scenery, right?

Here we are at Thanksgiving Point petting zoo on a $2 Tuesday. Sure glad we showed up right when it opened - it was so crowded.

Just love this face!

I'm not sure where all this blogging-desire is coming from (am I clogging your google reader?). Maybe a few reasons: 1. just moved to a new state 2. currently ward hopping/shopping 3. Only have a few friends in this state (my old college roomies, Kasey, Natalie, and Sarah - they're the best) 4. No longer have DVR and don't have a clue what tv shows are on when 5. Hubby just started working