Christmas 2011

 Heidi woke up screaming bloody murder at 3:15 am on Christmas morning.  Although I would like to think she was just so excited for Christmas, we discovered she was getting some more teeth...ugh.  Can we please be done already??  Needless to say, she was not the happiest Christmas girl, but we had a lot of fun nonetheless!

Her Grandma and Grandpa Hunziker gave her a princess chair and she could not be more thrilled.  She now sits in the chair most of the day while pointing at what toy she wants me to bring her next.  It's hilarious!

 Heidi opened her chair first and then sat in her chair to open the rest.  It was so fun this year because she was more aware of what was happening.

She kept tearing a little piece, taking the paper to the trash, and then returning to her chair to open a little more.  It took quite awhile.  We opened two presents before we attempted the hour long church service.

 We thought she could make it an hour, but she really was not having a great day.  I had to take her out and then Jeff took her out again and then we finally just left before the closing hymn.

 We gave Heidi the Little People farm, a train, a leap frog discovery house and a couple of books.  She was thrilled to have a few new toys to play with and I thought it was just perfect...not too much, not too little.

We had a wonderful Christmas dinner with Jeff's cousin and his family.  After some Advil Heidi took a decent afternoon nap and by the time we got to his cousin's house Heidi was happy as a clam and had a blast with their kids.

We had a great Christmas and can't wait to celebrate again next year!

December Fun

 I decided I better post tonight because tomorrow should probably have a post all of its own!  We have been in heaven this last week.  I didn't have to work this week and Jeff only had to work two days.  If only we had this much time as a family all the time!  I don't work next week and Jeff only has to work two days again so we are just hoping next week passes slower than this week!

Anyway, we took Heidi back to see Santa.  Just as we suspected, she hated him.  We couldn't even get a picture of her alone with him because she was shaking so badly and grabbing onto me for dear life.

 We were lucky to finally get some snow a few days ago.  I was worried we weren't going to have a white Christmas.  Heidi loves being outside even in the cold.  She stands by the garage door and says, "brrr".  If she even hears the word 'outside' or 'cold' she says, "brrrr" repeatedly.  It is so cute.  We took her outside to play in the snow for a little bit and she enjoyed getting a little fresh air.  We need to get some more snow so we can get some sledding in.

Heidi's little snowman...or as she says, "man man".

We have also been enjoying the Christmas lights this year.  We have been taking Heidi out to look at them every night that Jeff is home.  If we try to give her a bath before we go she stands by the garage door and starts crying.  It is so funny.  The whole time we are out she says, "WOW!  Ligh!  Cool!  Man Man (snowman)!  Oh oh oh (ho ho ho)!"  I'm not sure what we are going to do when all the lights are gone.  We will have one sad little girl.  I cannot even believe how much more fun the holidays are with little ones.  We feel so blessed to have our little Heidi and can't wait to see her joy tomorrow morning!

Merry Christmas!

Fun Visitors

 This weekend my brother Mark and his wife Rachel came for a visit.  We had a great time!  They just moved back to Utah and haven't had time come up here yet so we were thrilled when they decided to come for a few days.  Heidi really started to warm up to them and she loves the tea set they brought her.  They certainly spoiled her with lots of extra love and attention while they were here.

Rachel also got some great pictures of Heidi.  We were so glad she brought her camera and snapped some pictures to help us remember our little one.

Thanks for coming to visit, Mark and Rachel!  Come again soon!

Recent Happenings

 Heidi learned to get on the kitchen chairs.  Luckily she really doesn't do it as long as I keep the chairs tucked in even though she knows how to pull them out.  I'm sure that won't last long.

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 Heidi loved learning how to make Christmas cookies...she especially loved the cookie cutters. 

 We tried to go see Santa, but he was at lunch.  We will try again soon when it's not lunchtime.  We can't wait to snap a picture of her screaming her head off.n

We babysat Jeff's cousin's cute kids and they loved to doting on Heidi--and of course she loved the attention.

 Heidi's hair must now be tamed at all times because it is wild and out of control.

We can't wait for Christmas to get here so we can finally have some time together as a family!

Little Things

For your enjoyment, and in the hopes of us remembering what this little girl is like as she grows, here are some more little things our little monkey has been up to lately.

She is obsessed with her belly button, or as she says, "button".  We have been wondering whether teaching her this was a great idea because she is actually more interested in finding our "buttons"...which means she is often caught trying to lift our shirts in public.

 She is absolutely, completely, head over heels in love with the game of hide and seek.  She prefers to be the one hiding and he favorite spot is behind mom and dad's "nigh nigh".  Although it is her go-to hiding place 98% of the time, she finds it wildly hilarious when we find her--especially when we pretend we're trying to be quiet.  She has also discovered the joy of hiding behind the curtains and I can't help but laugh my pants off every time I walk into our room and see the curtains moving like crazy.

 We have almost successfully mastered jumping.  When she actually gets air though, she usually lands on her bum only to get up and jump again.

 She has finally decided that going downstairs is just as fun, if not more fun, than going up.  She could do it for the longest time, but just refused to because she's a tad bit lazy and preferred to be carried.  Now that she figured out how to make it more of a sliding game, she's all in.  Please excuse her immodesty.

 What a helpful little girl she has become lately.  She loves to help put clothes in and out of the dryer and she loves to help cook.  Her favorite thing is the spice cabinet.  I have a child proof lock on it, but since she has so much fun taking out the spices, stacking them on the floor, and then re-organizing them, I have a hard time keeping it closed.

 

Heidi enjoys weighing herself every morning as I get ready.  It looks like at 15.5 months she weighs close to 18 pounds.

She loves to lay on her belly and kick her legs while reading a book or eating snacks.  Definitely one of my very, very favorite things to see.

Heidi loves to have her toenails painted multiple times a day.  She then likes to take her socks and shoes off and say, "pretty" over and over.  My toenails must also remain painted so she can point to mine and say "pretty".  We are still working on convincing Jeff that he also needs his toenails painted.

Most people are either convinced she looks exactly like Jeff or exactly like me so I have decided she must be a pretty good mix although Jeff seems to think she looks like my dad.  Hmmm.   

Heidi is still about as clingy as them come but for some reason she has decided that when we're at the store or at church she needs to get down and wander.  Thankfully she never really wanders too far and once she sees what's happening at the other side of the room, she makes her way quickly back to mom or dad for a story or a treat.  Nursery is probably not going to go over so well.  Let's hope she proves me wrong.

Have I ever mentioned how much we are having watching this little girl turn from a baby into a little kid?

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

 Last Sunday we put up the tree and decorations.  Last year I was excited to have Heidi with us for Christmas, but this year I am over the top excited about having her around to celebrate.

I seriously cannot get a picture of her without her cheesy grin unless I catch her off guard...and then she usually has a weird look on her face.  I couldn't believe she didn't pull the hat off as soon as it went on. 

Thankfully, while Heidi absolutely adores the tree and is amazed by it every morning (as soon as we turn on the lights she points excitedly and whispers, "wow" repeatedly), she has no interest in playing with the ornaments or presents, or really being near the tree alone in general.  She's actually a little scared of it I think.

Now if only I could get a picture of her in the hat and by the tree--or even just by the tree by herself. 

A rare picture without a cheeser, but looking far more serious than she is.  She was amazed by the light up snowman and entertained herself for quite sometime.  I am shocked that she hasn't pulling at all the Christmas decorations, but she just points and looks at them.  She likes to point at the Santa and say, "ho, ho, ho".  She picked up on that one fast.  I have a feeling he won't seem quite so jolly when we take a trip to the mall to meet Santa in person.  If you know Heidi, you know that's going to go over really well!

I feel so blessed to be able to celebrate our Savior's birth this time of year and of course, all the fun traditions that go along with the season!

Turkey Time

Boy oh boy do we love Thanksgiving!  We didn't think we were going to be able to make it this year because of Jeff's work schedule, but lucky for us his schedule changed last minute and we were able to travel to Utah and spend the holiday with his family. 

 We just love Thanksgiving because usually both of his sisters and their kids come to Jeff's parents house so we get to see everyone.  We were extra excited this year since Heidi was just that much older and could get to know her cousins.

 They were so patient and sweet to Heidi.  She is a little attached to her parents, so we were so grateful that they kept trying to play with her!  This is her with her darling cousin Kourtney.

 We played games, ate the most delicious food, and apparently some of us are trying to sleep...or maybe that football play was disappointing?  We'll never know for sure.

 This is Heidi with all of her adorable cousins...notice who is throwing a fit.  She woke up way too early from a nap and like I said...she's a little attached to her parents.

We were able to be there for the blessing of the newest little bundle of joy.  What a gem this little guy is.

Of course Heidi spent lots of time with grandma's old cell phones.  Her cousin Kyler kept playing the ringtones for her and she would dance away. 

We had such a wonderful time and we are already counting down the days until we can get together again next year.

Thank you grandpa and grandma for letting us come, stuff ourselves silly, and make special memories! 

Just like Mommy

 Already playing dress up with mommy's shoes.  It appears she is going to be a shoe girl by the way she carries my shoes and hers all around the house all day long.  Plus, she wants her shoes on anytime she notices she doesn't have any on.

Are you loving her cheeser face as much as we do?



Song Bird

 The other day I came home to Heidi having a dance party with her dad...so cute.  Heidi LOVES music, and she especially loves to "sing".  At church for example she perks right up when she hears the music and starts her own little song.  At home she likes to push the button to turn the radio on and then she immediately starts singing...even if it's a commercial.  If she gets crabby all we have to do is say, "Heidi, do you want to push the button and dance?"  Then she takes off into the kitchen.  She mostly likes to play this game with her dad, but she will settle for mom if she has to.  She is nothing but laughs and giggles as we dance around the kitchen.  Every time I told her to look at me she gave me a giant cheeser--definitely her new favorite face.

I really can't believe how much fun Heidi has become.  Her personality is hilarious.  She runs around the house trying to find us saying "tickle, tickle" while wiggling her little fingers.  Lately she has also been putting her hands on her head anytime she says, "uh oh".  She loves to play with pillows and she especially likes it when her dad turns her into a "pillow sandwich".  She also loves to lift up your shirt to find your belly button and then of course tickle it.  We are so lucky we get to laugh with this little ham every day!

Time for a Post

In spite of molars, daylight savings time, and very little sleep, we are still managing to get a few cheesers out of this little munchkin.  For some reason everything hit at the same time in our house...Heidi decided she wanted to start taking only one nap, the clocks changed, and her top molars decided to give her grief.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of all those lucky moms and dads out there who have kids that just pop teeth without any symptoms.  Some of Heidi's teeth weren't too bad, but her top two and her molars have been almost unbearable. 

Heidi has recently re-discovered her bumbo seat, but now it is much more of a play toy.  She loves to climb in and out, but this picture is by far my favorite.  She wanted to give "Dare Dare" loves, but she just couldn't bring herself to get out of her new favorite seat.

No matter how tired we are around here, I keep reminding myself that this won't last forever and that one day I will be wishing I still had her tiny little body toddling around needing me to comfort her.  Of course we are hoping these blasted molars will make their big debut soon, but in the meantime I guess we'll just take the extra cuddles and consider ourselves blessed to have a healthy little girl who never seems to run out of cheesers for her mom and dad!

Trick-or-Treat

Jeff is working graves for Halloween (lame, lame, triple lame), so we took Heidi early to all the businesses that were giving out candy.  Heidi has a major, major sweet tooth and while we were chatting with someone we knew, she somehow managed to take this candy from her bag and bite into it...foil and all.

Thank goodness I was able to get the foil out.  So funny.

• I definitely did not go all out for a costume.  When I bought Heidi's birthday outfit, I bought it with the intention of using the tutu for Halloween.  I was going to get a tiara but since Heidi doesn't keep things like hats on her head, I figured it was a waste.  I'm glad I didn't because she wasn't even having the tutu, but once she started getting the sweets, her mood improved.

In other, not Halloween news, Heidi is a total complete girly girl.  From the way she holds her hands to how picky she is about wearing the shoes or boots she wants, she is all girl.  She is more than willing to let me put the bow in and is almost to the point where she will keep it in for more than two hours.  Now to get her to sit still so I can work on trying some new things with all those luscious locks!



We love this girl!

Just because it's so funny...this is how Heidi's hair looked after a nap.

"Hmmm...what can I get into?"