the favorite toy

When Zach was little, his favorite toy was a duck. I've included a picture for your viewing pleasure.

When I was little, I'm sure I loved some normal toy. Halle likes normal toys too, but her favorite favorite "toy" is a bit abnormal. Here is a picture of her complaining that I took her favorite toy away. Her favorite toy? Zach's socks (she's holding them in the picture - I finally just gave them back).
She LOVES to carry around his socks. Sometimes the socks are new, but mostly they are used. It can't just be one. She must have a sock in each of her hands. If one is taken away, she will throw a fit (let me remind you of the above picture). Halle sucks on the socks occasionally, but mostly she just holds them. I, personally, don't see the draw.

Yesterday as we were getting ready for church, Halle was holding a pair of socks. We packed her in the car with the socks. We walked in church with the socks. And during Sacrament Meeting Halle still had the socks. I couldn't help but think what was going through the heads of the couple in back of us. Here was this little girl grinning at them with one sock in her mouth and another in her hand. They were probably imagining handing Halle a ten dollar bill and saying, "Here, Sweetheart. Give this money to your mom and dad and tell them to buy you some real toys."

I guess it could be worse - she could carry around shoes and suck on them. Wait... she does that too...

Halle's surgery

So today was the big day for Halle's surgery at Primary Children's. My sweet mom stayed with Zach at our house and the rest of us headed off to the hospital.

Halle did so well. Even with getting up two hours early and not eating, she was a chipper little girl. She smiled at all the other kids, reached out for the nurses/doctors to hold her, and practiced singing in the high tones of her register in the waiting room. Below is a picture of 90% of Brandon and Halle in the waiting room. It felt like we were waiting to get dinner at Chili's - we had a little beeper that we just waited to go off.
Dr. Downey ended up fixing her umbicial hernia and also doing an umbilicoplasty. He said it went very well. After Halle came out of surgery, Brandon went back to be with her (only one person could go back immediately following surgery). The nurse asked why the mother didn't come (as that's more typically) and Brandon informed her I was a wuss. True statement. The first time I saw Halle after the surgery, I started crying. She was moaning because of all the pain and it made me so sad. Brandon told me Halle was doing much better than he first saw her. The picture below is Halle coming out of anesthesia.

Anyways... we're home. Halle's doing well. When Brandon put her in her crib, she crawled over to her favorite corner, face-planted, and went immediately to sleep. We have to keep her tummy bandage on for 5 days, but other than that, she should be feeling better in the next couple days. New belly button - here we come!

I turned on my laptop this afternoon and found that the screen was cracked. Unless we had a meteor shower hit last night I wasn't aware of, I'm pretty sure it's from little feet using it as a step stool. Wherever there is a crack, the light from the screen doesn't show through. So now I have a black hole at the top of my screen as seen below. The only positive is that now, when I look at my desktop, Brandon is wearing a shiny black fez.

a look into the mind of Zach

Zach cracks me up with the things he says. Maybe it's just in his delivery, but I never stop smiling when he is around.

**Our conversation this morning:

Zach: Dad is going to be the carer for me and Halle.
Me: Dad’s going to take care of you guys?
Zach: Yeah.
Me: What is Mom supposed to do then?
Zach: You can go downstairs and play with toys in my bedroom.

I think I just lost my job…

**I overheard Zach and a friend of his talking:

Little Girl: [Looking at herself in the mirror] I am Cinderella.
Zach: [Looking at himself in the mirror] I am Jesus.

**While I was singing in the car Zach asked, "Mom, is everything okay?"

**He has also been really into WHY questions. I consider myself a smart woman, but I don't know how to respond to many of his inquiries.

Zach: Why are eggs white?
Me: Because that's how Heavenly Father made them

Zach: Why does an elephant have a trunk instead of hands?
Me: Because that's how Heavenly Father made him

Zach: Why does a triceratops have three horns?
Me: Because that's how Heavenly Father made him - it's a good thing Zach's religious

Zach: Looking at me from the backside] Why are you so big?
Me: Because I'm an adult

Zach: Why is this mirror so big?
Me: Because I have a big head that I need to see - unfortunately this made perfect sense to him

**And... to finish it off, here is my favorite picture of Zach and Halle this week. Sharing pancakes, spit, and that yucky cold virus...

Important 9-Month Halle Facts:

• She weighs 16 lbs 10 ozs (10th percentile) and is 27" tall (25th percentile). Our pediatrician suggested I add oil to her food. I had to smile at the idea of deep-fried yogurt.


• Halle loves food. No really... she LOVES food. When food lands on her tray, she is two-handing it into her mouth as fast as possible. Zach will leave a trail of bread around the kitchen and Halle cheerfully crawls all over gathering up her bounty. And forget about eating your meal alone. As soon as Halle realizes you are eating, she is standing at your chair, all big-eyed, waiting for a bite.
• Our pediatrician wants us to see a surgeon about Halle's hernia. We have an appointment with a pediatric surgeon at Primary Children's Hospital on Tuesday. We'll see what he says.


• Halle was not named after Halle Berry. The idea for her name came from a 1998 movie starring Lindsey Lohan. Can you name it?

Some good memories from Christmas:

• The whole family rolling on the ground laughing during a game.
• Zach getting a bike from Santa and exclaiming, "I love my new bike!" He is exponentially getting better and now cruises around the island in the kitchen at full speed. He wears a helmet for all those times he steers into the countertop.


• Running around the neighborhood collecting my Christmas Eve dinner that was cooking in my neighbors' ovens.


• Always having people around to play games with. The fun ones this time around: Time's Up, Carcassone, Small World, and Puerto Rico.


• Zach's cousin telling him not to be scared during a sleepover because "you have us".


• Bucket brigading the presents from upstairs to downstairs and hearing the grunting as people passed them down the stairs.


• Zach saying he wanted birthday cake for Christmas because it was Jesus' birthday.


• Halle having a chili potato for the first time and now refusing to drink formula. She is her father's daughter.


• Zach telling me that he wants to always wear his pajamas. We lived in them over the holiday and now Zach thinks that's the norm.


• Laughing with my SILs during Girl's Night and being grateful to have married into such a wonderful family.


• Zach rubbing my head and telling me I'm a good girl.

'tis the season

As Thanksgiving is a week past and it is December, I feel like I would be slow if I posted about the holiday now. Know that we had a wonderful time. If you're really that interested, check out my sister's blog to find out what we did. Just pay no attention to the section about BYU winning the football game - we are not affiliated with them. On a side note, the past couple months Zach has been randomly yelling, "Go BYU!" Brandon was disturbed because neither of us are BYU fans. We found out recently that his nursery leader taught it to him and he practices the chant every week - wonderful... We are currently working to unbrainwash him.

I love the Christmas season. The Christmas decorations are up (and keep getting put back up daily because of 3-year-old hands). We dance nightly to Christmas music and Zach and Halle both love it - Brandon also doesn't mind practicing his moves. Zach practices his dance moves outside by the road with only a shirt and underoos on and then sneaks back inside without my knowledge (my neighbor informed me of this). Halle eats our presents and I often find pieces of wrapping paper in her mouth. Packages arrive daily and Zach thinks every one is for him and that the picture of the FedEx truck on the box means there is a similar-looking toy truck instead (he's been a very disappointed boy lately). Ah... good times.

Here's some pictures from the last couple days:

Dancing with Daddy

Brandon and Zach getting ready to decorate. Zach was adamant that the Santa hats were worn.

Halle cleaning my floor. She eats everything within reach.

Zach playing in the leaves