That Santa Boy Looks Like a Mean One

According to my mother, that was my catch phrase during the Christmas season when I was really little! :) And very sadly, I think it might turn out to be Hopey's too!!

Last week, we thought it would be a super idea to take Hopey to meet Santa again this year. Afterall, she did really well with him last year! So, I spent the morning prepping her for the big meeting and getting her all dressed in her fancy Christmas dress. She was so excited I wasn't sure we were going to be able to get her in her carseat! My mom, grandma, and Brian all came along to show their support. ;)

Finally the big moment arrived, but there were several children ahead of Hopey, so she had to try to wait patiently. She kept trying to sneak away from me so that she could go see Santa, and when that didn't work, she just kept yelling, "Hi Santa!!" from the back of the line.

By the time our turn rolled around, she had noticeably begun to change her mind about him. She started hanging onto my leg and whispering, "No, no, no." As I was about to put her in his lap, she must have decided that she absolutely hated him, and she started screaming and crying at the top of her lungs. Fortunately, Santa had a VERY big chair, so we ended up having a family picture with Santa instead!

Am I Slow or What?

My last post was about Halloween...I'm so disappointed in myself! Please forgive me for my lack of motivation to simply get on and say hello!! It's after midnight here, so technically, tomorrow is Thanksgiving!!!! Happy early Thanksgiving everyone!! Now please tell me, where did this year go??

Anyway, moving on, we actually had Hopey's 18 month pictures and family pictures done almost 2 months ago...and yes, I'm apparently that far behind. My friend Nicole Green, who is an AMAZING photographer, (and yes, I would say that even if she wasn't my friend) spent a glorious Sunday afternoon walking around Zionsville taking pictures of my family being "my family!" We had such a blast, and to anyone in the Indianapolis area or even the Midwest Region of the US, I can't tell you how highly I recommend Nicole!! I promise you'll love her and her pictures!!! Without further ado, here are a few of my favorite shots from the day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Little Garden Gnome

I hope everyone had a super Halloween this year!! This was Hopey's second Halloween, but the first one that she actually enjoyed! :) She loved the idea of going from house to house to get candy, and I've gotta tell you, I love that idea too! I kind of wish I could do that everyday...Anyway, Hopey went trick or treating with a few of her best friends, and I've never seen such a cute bunch of toddlers in my life! We had a garden gnome, a cat burglar, a duck, and a frog. As usual, my camera was glued to my face, so here a few pictures from the night!

The Catwalk

Last weekend at Nordstrom, Hopey got to walk down her very first runway! And believe it or not, she did REALLY well!! A few of you have been asking me how this came about, so I'll just give you a quick run down of what happened.

A few weeks ago, Hopey and I went to Nordstrom to buy her a new pair of shoes. The same sweet girl that always helps us was there again this time, and she picked out the perfect pair of shoes as always. Anyway, as we were going up to pay for the shoes, she and several of the other employees from Nordstrom approached me and asked if Hopey could be in their upcoming fashion show. I tried to explain that Hopey wasn't really that kind of girl, but they told me they thought she'd do well. I figured no matter what happened, it would probably be hilarious, and I could at least get some pictures out of it! :)

So, on Saturday, we took Hopey over to Nordstrom bright and early. We were rushed into a fitting room with several "fashion consultants" who made sure I had everything on her just right. I was then whisked away and told that Hopey would be taken down the runway by a fashion volunteer. I was extremely worried about how she might react to a stranger, so I gave her my box of Tic Tacs as a distraction.

Of course, all of my worrying was for nothing because Hopey seemed to LOVE being the center of attention! (Surprise, surprise!!) She got all of the Ooooo's and Ahhhh's she could have ever dreamed of, so she had to show off a little bit. She did this by showing everyone she passed her Tic Tac box. Anyway, we really did have a super fun time, and yes, I did break down and buy the dress that she modeled! What can I say, I'm a sucker for toddler's Christmas dresses! Okay, that was much longer than I had orginally planned, so without further ado, here are a few shots of the day!

And so it Begins...

Yes, I guess you could say that potty training has officially begun in our house. And I wasn't the one who decided it was time, SHE was!!!! Also, please don't think I always let her sit on the big potty like that. She has her own little potty at home, but we were visiting grandma and grandpa, and she decided she just HAD to go in the potty rather than her diaper!

The Apple Orchard

Last weekend, Brian and I got together with a few of our favorite people, and we all took our kids to the apple orchard! Needless to say, it was a SUPER eventful day!! ;) Meghan's husband, Eric, had to work, so she was there with a 17 month old and a 3 week old by herself. I had fractured my foot that day running on the treadmill, so unleashing Hopey in the orchard made for some very painful chases. It had recently rained, so there were mud puddles everywhere, and what toddler could resist a good mud puddle? Carson and Cooper ate anything that even remotely resembled an apple, so poor Kara had several mild heart attacks. And we even finished the day with a wonderful little picnic outside of the orchard! Anyway, enough talk, let's see some pictures!!

Experimenting

Over the past week, I've really been trying to get to know my camera on a more personal level. I've been experimenting with different lenses and different settings, and out of 386 pictures, I have maybe six "keepers." What can I say, I'm a work in progress. Anyway, I just wanted to post a couple of the decent pictures I took of Hopey. And PLEASE, if you're a true photographer, pretend that I never mentioned these were some of the best ones that I took!

Build-A-Bear

On Wednesday of three weeks ago, (And yes, I'm so embarrassed to be this far behind!) Hopey got to experience every child's dream. We went to Build-A-Bear for the first time! Hopey's Aunt Sha Sha had the day off from work, so she took my mom, Hopey, and me over to make Hopey's newest friend. I had no idea a one and a half year old could get so into the whole bear building process! And yes, of course I was that parent who was documenting the first visit photojournalistic style! Somehow, I managed to take over 50 pictures in the half hour we were in the store, but don't worry, only seven made the cut! :)

The very beginning of our big adventure!

Hopey fell in love with the pink bear skin right away.

But picking which heart to give her bear was a very tough decision!

My mom and this sweet lady were best friends by the time we left! They shared that wonderful grandma bond! Hopey knew exactly which outfit would look best.

She even got to make her new friend's birth certificate! She named her bear Sha Sha after her aunt. And this is Sha Sha all dressed up and ready to go! :)

We had such a wonderful time that day!! Thanks so much for taking us Lachelle!!

The Birthday Blessing

Three years ago this coming September, my brother married the most amazing woman who has ever existed. Lachelle is single-handedly one of the best things that's ever happened to our family, and I cannot even begin to express how much we all love her. When Nate and Lachelle got married, Lachelle made it perfectly clear to everyone that she was beyond ready for a baby, and they wanted to start their family immediately. As the months went by, we all waited anxiously for the exciting news, but it never came. After almost a year, Lachelle decided to seek fertility treatment. Sadly, two years and countless treatments later, that glimmer of hope for a new addition to their family was slowly fading. This is when they decided to take a break from the fertility treatments.

Now, let's fast forward two months to Lachelle's 32nd birthday party at my parent's house. Every year, when Lachelle would blow out her candles, she made the exact same wish. And every year, we told her THIS was the year!!! However, this year was different. Because of everything that had been going on and the break from fertility, no one mentioned Lachelle's birthday wish. To tell you the truth, it really bothered me. Three days after Lachelle's party, I got a late night phone call from my brother. His only words to me were, "Hi Aunt Faith." To those of you who live in Indiana, if you felt a small earthquake that night, it was probably my family jumping up and down!! God gave Lachelle her birthday wish in His own perfect timing and in His own perfect way!! He also showed us that Hopey's not going to be the only miracle baby in this family! And I can't wait for the day that my new niece or nephew realizes that God picked out the world's greatest mommy for them too.

The Indiana State Fair

Hi blogging friends!! I can't believe I haven't posted anything on here since July!!!! You can just take that to mean that it's been a SUPER crazy end of the summer, and now I must have lots of fun pictures to share with you!! :) In my defense, I've been distracted for the past week and a half with the Indiana State Fair, and it's been just as magical as always! I took hundreds of pictures, but I'll only make you look at a few of them. ;) Those of you in Indiana, you've only got one week left to go enjoy the sights and sounds of our glorious State Fair!! :)

(And for those of you who were wondering, yes, she is mooing!) :)