We started our Saturday with the Ward Swap Meet.  We got rid of some extra stuff and didn't bring any new stuff home.  Win!

On the way to the church, I'd called Petco to see if they could get Mocha in for a grooming session.  So after we left the church, we hung out for a few minutes and then took the puppy to Orem.  She was in desperate need of a haircut.  We then got some lunch across the parking lot at Wallaby's.  Good food, but so much of it!  We all enjoyed the pomegranate lemonade, though :)

After lunch, we headed to Salt Lake City to the City Creek Center because Matt had a hair appointment with Darron at Lunatic Fringe.  We had some extra time, so we wandered around a little.  Matt wouldn't let me go to Tiffany & Co. :)  We did walk around H&M, though.  The prices were good, but nothing my style.

After Matt's appointment, we walked over to temple square for a little bit.





We made it back to Orem to pick up Mocha from Petco and made it home.  They gave her a fun hair accessory.  

It was a fun Saturday spending time together as a family :)

Matt had his graduation ceremonies for his MBA May 1st and 2nd.  Thursday, May 1st, was commencement.  Friday, May 2nd, was convocation.  In reality, he still has one class left this summer before he is finished, but the end is in sight!  Then we just have to get through a CPA review course and the CPA tests.  By next year, he will really have some alphabet soup after his name!  We are so proud of him and are very excited for the next phase of life to start - one where we actually get to have some family time :)

Henlie needs an updated post all about her.  Don't you agree?

She is so FUN! She walks and runs great.  I was a little nervous about her not really using many words, but she has since caught up and surpassed expectations.

Her words:
Daddy
Mommy
Mama (Grandma)
ball
no
'side (outside)
hat
head
nose
mouth
eye
ear
cheek
toes
shoes
socks
happy
hi
bye
hello
Henee (Henlie - She uses this when she wants something, or to mean more, like more food...)
toys (although it sounds an awful lot like "toes," so context is important :))
up
sit (She tries to tell the dog to sit.  The dog isn't aware of this :))
appo (apple)
amen (yes, at the end of prayers :))
thank you (usually when she wants you to do something, like fix the app on the phone or open a banana for her) 
shirt 
jacket
door
yay 
peek-a-boo 
more (with some coaxing)
hop
bus
tada
baby
cow
moo
horse
sheep
baa
bock (chickens)
puppy
kitty
hippo
mouse (which she says perfectly)  
tiger
roar 
ee ee ee (It's what the monkey says...)
owl
duck 
peep 

She understands lots more than that, too.  It's fun to ask her were something is in one of her books and have her point to it.  She likes to point to things and hear me say what they are.  Also, this last week or so, she has started picking up on LOTS more words and sounds.  Before you know it, she'll be using sentences and stuff!  Also, she has started really trying to imitate what you say - talk about lots of new words in a short amount of time!

She likes to sing.  Sometimes she'll sing along with me if it's a song she's familiar with, like I Am a Child of God, which we sing at bedtime.  Usually her words consist of Daddy.... but she stops at the breaks and tries to match pitch somewhat.  It's cute.  She's also learning Popcorn Popping.  She usually remembers where to sing "eyes," and can do some of the actions, even without prompting.  From Grandma's house, she is learning The Wheels on the Bus, mostly the verse where "mommy" says "shh." It's so funny!  She'll make the popcorn gesture and then say "shh."  Also, she knows Once there was a Snowman.  If you say snowman or she sees a picture of a snowman, her arms go up!  We're also learning the song and actions to I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home, but that's a surprise for Father's Day, so shhh! :)

She's a freaking pro at using our phones.  I finally set up one of my home pages with all of my baby apps, and she'll get in and out of them and play around.  A lot of it is accidental, but she stays entertained.

She likes to play with the puppy and the kitty.  She prefers the kitty, but that's probably because he *isn't* willing to play.  She doesn't seem terribly bothered when she pisses him off and gets hurt by him.  She'll steal Mocha's gecko and scream at her when she tries to get it back.  She thinks it is funny when Mocha tries to get the gecko back.

She loves to swing and go down slides.  She also loves to see the horse, cows, and ducks at Grandpa Biggs' house.  She'll walk over to Grandpa and tell him to take her outside to see the horse by pointing and making the horse noise.  If that doesn't work, she'll switch to mooing.  haha


She gives hugs and takes kisses.  She doesn't usually kiss back, but she'll stick her face out for you to give her a kiss.  She will give her dolls a kiss, and recently, even though she's still sticking her cheek out to us, she'll make a kiss noise :)  I'm trying to get her to actually give me a kiss.  I'll turn her head so she's actually touching my cheek, and then I can get a wet kiss. haha

Girl loves shoes.  She loves to say shoe and play with shoes.  She loves to put Mom's and Dad's shoes on her feet and try to walk around.  She likes to get in her bottom drawer and pull socks out.  Most of the time she calls them socks, but sometimes she calls them shoes, too.  She tries to put her shoes on her feet, too. 




She knows lots of body parts and can say most of them.  She can find her eyes, ears, nose, cheeks, mouth, hair, belly button, toes, and sometimes her chin.  She also does head, but she usually calls it a hat.  She put so many things on her head that she learned the word "hat," but now she thinks her head and hair are also called "hat."  She's only starting to differentiate.



She loves to read.  She will bring books to me to read.  She'll also flip through her books on her own, sometimes "reading" them out loud.  She's also observant.  She found a duck in one of the illustrations in Six Dinner Sid and pointed it out to me, saying "duck."  I hadn't even noticed it, and we'd read this a lot :)  I love that she'll snuggle right up to me when we read, too.


She's starting to be a little helper.  She can throw things away in the garbage and go get things I ask her to get.  She helps get dressed by putting her arms through sleeves.  She can help me put her toys away, too.  Not that she always minds....

Sunday was her 18 month birthday, so she got to go to nursery for the first time!  I heard her have a little freak out while I was leaving, but she must have gotten over it quickly.  Sister Samuelson wasn't there at the beginning of nursery, but was there later.  She told Matt after church that she had never seen anyone do so well on their first day of nursery.  She also came home with her own puppets to color - and so it begins....


We had her 18 month well check today, so here is an update on her stats:
Weight = 24.4 lbs (74%)
Height = 32.75 in (79%)
Head = 18.5 in (70%)

She is perfectly healthy, although she did not like the doctor's office today if they tried to do anything to her.  She did get to be weighed on a standing scale, though! Anything more than that elicited screaming, crying, and flailing.  Good news, though, is she is done with her shots until kindergarten.  Also, we completed the MMR vaccine study. Yay for compensation! :)

1.5 years gone already.  We sure love our little girl!