fun trip

 One of the few advantages of Jeff's crazy work schedule is that every rare now and then he gets a week when he has a few days off in a row.  This week was one of those glorious weeks so we decided to go on what Heidi called a 'fun trip'.  Really we just went to Utah because we had a whole bunch of things we had to pick out for the house.  Jeff's mom just had surgery so we didn't want to add more to her plate so we stayed in a hotel.  It was so much easier than driving to Utah a million different times and it worked out perfectly since we could go to a few places, head back to the hotel to put Heidi down for a nap, and then go out again.

 We really had such a fun time.  It was nice to have a change of pace and scenery and of course it was fun to start picking things for our new house.  The first time we took Heidi to the pool she just wanted to lounge on the chair and talk about the pool.  She wanted absolutely nothing to do with actually getting in.  That definitely did not surprise us.

We finally convinced her to sit on the step and kick her legs.  She enjoyed that for a long time.

 Finally I convinced her to stand on the step and then I got her to come with me into the pool.  Don't worry, my swimming suit is packed somewhere in the storage shed.  She really liked it, but she had a death grip on me the whole time.

I'm not really sure if she enjoyed being in the pool or getting to walk around in the towel afterwards more.  Either way, she really had a great trip and loved everything about the hotel--the pool, the elevator, the exit signs with the green letters, the ice machine, the elevator buttons that turned red, and the tv--even though we weren't even in the room long enough to watch it (we gave our tv away when we moved and have not replaced it.  We were able to get a lot done and she was so good and patient every place we went.  Of course every place we went everybody was doting on her so that helped.

Heidi is already excited to head back down next week to see grandma and find out if she is having a brother or a sister.  This girl suddenly likes to vacation!

dinner in the uintas

 Jeff had a day off before working another long weekend so we decided to head for the mountains for dinner.  Heidi definitely takes after her dad...she loves to be doing anything that resembles camping.

 Jeff did a great job roasting hot dogs.  Heidi wasn't a fan of the hot dog, but I knew she wouldn't be and packed her a jam sandwich.  She gobbled that right up happily.  I think I need to take her up to the river everyday to eat because apparently it helps her appetite.

 Heidi absolutely loved the roasting sticks.  She wanted to carry both around and dig in the dirt with them.

 She ate some of dad's chips and a whole lot of watermelon on the little rock.  Well, at least until she saw a GIANT sized ant crawling up the rock.

Jeff even roasted marshmallows for s'mores.  It turns out Heidi doesn't like them...just like daddy.  I never would have guessed she would turn down something sweet.

Have I mentioned how much we love being so close to the Uinta mountains??

big hole

 After weeks of anticipation, it finally happened.  Due to our city permit delay, our land was staked for a long time with nothing happening.

 Then we had the permits and the cement/foundation was delayed because by the time we had our permits, he had another job.

Then the backhoe showed up, but no one was there to run it.  Yesterday, there were tractors and people and we were so, so, so, so, so happy.

Time to Vote

Okay, I put the poll up so you can vote whether you think this new little one will be a boy or a girl.  I definitely have an opinion this time, but I will not be voting or sharing because I don't want to sway you in anyway.  We debated even finding out the gender this time, but with all the other chaos we have going on, we decided we better find out so we can be as prepared as possible.  I go in for a 17- week appointment tomorrow so we will have the ultrasound at the next one...I would rather have it as late as possible.  Will J-Diddy continue to be outnumbered, or are we going to even things up?

Anyway, everything else is going just fine.  All the permits are in and we should start construction this week.  We can't wait to see the cement trucks pull up.  We ran into a little snag when getting the permits, but to make a long story short, by combining the two lots we bought we somehow had to create a "mini-subdivision" before obtaining a permit.  So we will forever be known as "The Hunziker addition to the Connor Estates."  You know us, we just like to make a big scene and make sure everyone knows we're here.  We'll work on changing the town name next.  One step at a time. :)

oh yes, now I remember...

 Change has never been very easy for me.  I had a really hard time when we moved from Utah and then making the decision to move again after finally feeling settled after 4 years was another hard decision.  As I have said before, we knew moving was the right decision for our family.  Jeff has been working non-stop since we moved (summer is not going to be a pleasant schedule for our family), but he had a few days off this week.  We woke up in the morning and decided to go four wheeling in the Uintas.  We loaded the four wheeler, grabbed a cooler, stopped at Subway and 15 minutes later we there.

 So yes, now I remember why we moved here.  We will be spending most of our time in the mountains with the convenience of having them so close.  Heidi had an absolute blast.  She was obsessed with the river and was so excited to eat her lunch by the river.  She is still talking about eating her lunch by the river while sitting on a little rock.

 She loved sharing her grapes with her daddy.

 I guess food just tastes better when you eat by the river, because I had no trouble getting this little picky eater to eat up there.

Of course she was in heaven riding the four wheeler.  "Four wheeler bumpy ride!  Cool!"  She loved the trail that followed the river.  I don't think Heidi will have any trouble adjusting to all her new mountain adventures.

snuggle

 Heidi does not, and has not ever liked the feeling of being by herself.  This can make life difficult at times...like in the car.  Heidi will be manageable if I can sit in the back with her or even if I can just put my hand on her lap for her to hold.  As long as she is in physical contact with one of us, she is a happy camper.  Even when we change her diaper or get her dressed she says, "hold mama's arm?" or "hold dada's elbow?"  She does not ever like me or Jeff to leave her sight, which makes nursery and leaving her with someone else for necessary things a little stressful.  However, the redeeming quality of it all is that she is the snuggliest almost 2 year old I have met in my life.  She would sit in your lap and snuggle all day long if you let her.  If I get busy making dinner and leave her for too long she will come find me and say, "snuggle mommy?"  Then she will insist you sit with her and read to her or sing to her or tickle her back.  After bath time she doesn't like to get in her pajamas right away.  As soon as she gets in her towel she says, "Rock mommy sing songs?"  So we rock in the chair and sing every song we can thing of...primary songs and On Top of Spaghetti being her current favorites.

Although I am lucky enough to be the recipient of most of the snuggles, Heidi definitely does not leave her dad out. He was home tonight for the first time in awhile and all she wanted to do was "snuggle dada" and read her new library books.  When she isn't the one holding the book, she has to put her hand on your face while you read.  I know that having her constantly need to be in contact with us makes a lot of day to day things more difficult, but the truth is, I wouldn't trade her and all of her snuggles, hugs, and kisses for a quiet car ride or an easy night out.  One day too soon she won't want to snuggle all day so we will take all the loves we can get.  We love you Heidi bug!

the little commentator

 If you have been around Heidi for more than 20 seconds, you will know that she never, ever, ever stops yapping.  But more than that, you would also know that she is either commentating on what you are doing, or she is parroting every thing you just said.  On the rare occasion that she is not around, I find myself commentating on what I am doing because she isn't there to do it for me.  The above picture shows that she doesn't just parrot words, she also parrots actions.

 Here is an example of some of things we hear.
*"Mama pee now"
*"Mama wash hands now"
*"Dada sleep now.  Good night dada."
*"Heila go upstairs now.  Almost there!"
*"Mama sick.  Mama throw up"
*"Dada throw Heila's poo poo way now."
*"Wo!  Heila almost fall!"
*"Heila wear mom shoes now."
*"Heila scare dad now"
*"Awful wind!  Go way wind!"

...you get the point...and most everything ends in "now".

Oh and if something "traumatic" happens, you will hear about it for at least 2 days.  Like the bag that blew out of Jeff's hands and flew away past the blue boat.  "Black bag blow way blue boat."  She will continue to repeat it until you repeat what she says and then she will say, "Yeah."  Then about 3 minutes later you will hear the same story.

Then of course there is the parrot.  My favorite is when I am talking to Jeff and say something like, "Jeff, can you come here for a second?"  Then I hear, "Jeff!  Come here second!"  When we stopped to get something to eat she heard the person say, "Jeff!  Your food is ready."  In comes Heidi, "Jeff, food ready!"  We really have to watch what we say because she literally copies everything.  I said, "crap" the other day and when I heard Heidi say it after me I realized it doesn't sound great coming from the lips of a 21 month old!

The pictures are of Heidi's new favorite "hiding" spot.  She thinks she is hidden if she hides on this stair.  "Where did Heila go?"  She also likes taking her toys to this stair and playing there and she likes to pretend to sleep there.  That stair is definitely making the transition to "Heila's new house" a little easier!