Has it really been a year?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HENSLEIGH

I really cannot believe my baby girl is 1. It is so crazy to me how fast that year went by. Watching your baby grow up seems to happen in a blink of an eye. Being with her everyday its hard to notice that she is changing before your eyes but then before you know it she is 1, walking, talking and has more personality then I know what to do with. It really has been a year full of joy! Don't get me wrong it has been hard as well. I am not one who is known for patience and I will tell you that having a baby is a sure test of patience. I spent many days in tears with frustrations of breast feeding. It was a ruff 11 1/2 months but I am proud of myself for making it that long! I sometimes catch myself forgetting that she is still a baby and that just because I tell her she shouldn't or can't do something doesn't mean that is going to happen. I am sure this is just a glimpse into the many years ahead as a mother. But it really is the greatest blessing and I love my sweet, spunky and crazy little girl!

I was so excited to throw her a birthday party. We held it the day after her actual birthday so more people could make it down to Bountiful. The party turned out great and I had so much fun making decorations and the cake. I am no cake baker that is for sure, I have never made more then a simple boxed cake. I wasn't too pleased with how the cake looked but it tasted delicious and for never making a real cake before with fondant and all I guess it turned out ok. I was however very proud of the fondant characters that Treagan and I made to go on top of the cake. They turned out adorable!

Her 1 year stats: Weight: 20lbs 6oz 45%
                           Height: 31 1/4in. 95%
                           Head: 17 1/2in 25%
                         

August 16, 2013
The morning of her birthday.

Spending the her birthday in her favorite place.
Outside! 

She loves climbing in, on, and over everything! 

Her birthday chalk board

The fondant characters. We also made a buffalo.
Her favorite things in the world are her stuffed animals so I thought it would be fitting to decorate with them! 

Her birthday banner. The light from outside made pictures so hard to take! 

I was looking forward to her opening her giant bear hoping for a great reaction. She did not disappoint. She loved him from the second she opened the box. I was one happy Momma. 

Within seconds for setting the cake down she was already face first into it. She LOVED it! 

Get it Hensleigh!

It was the perfect day! We are so grateful for everyone who came and celebrated with us. Thank you to everyone for all your love and support.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my sweet baby Hensleigh!

A Summer in Utah

Our Summer 2013

We have been very busy this summer with family vacations, 2 family weddings, lots of family visiting from out of town and trying to catch up with friends. The summer has gone by quick!

Hensleigh has adjusted to living in Utah. She is adapting to lots of people around the majority of the time and so am I. We are still living with his parents but on the house hunt as of right now. Hopefully we find something soon.

Treagans niece Aubree got married the end of July and my brother Mike got married the following weekend. Both weddings were beautiful and we had a fun time celebrating. We had a serious dance party at Aubree's wedding. Hensleigh loves music and loves to dance which makes for a very fun time on the dance floor.

As for Mike and Kyah's wedding I am so excited to welcome a new sister into my family. Kyah and Mike have been dating for about a year and now they are enjoying the marital bliss. I love her and I couldn't think of anyone more perfect for Mike. She really is his better half.

In the middle of all of this madness we found time to do some hiking, had a date night at the i fly Utah and flow rider which by the way is so much harder then I ever expected! It humbled me when I fell after only a few seconds of riding the board. We had some pool time oh and I made the crazy decision to chop my hair. What was I thinking??? I still don't know. I guess its been an event in the making since I wanted to chop it about 2 1/2 years ago but now that its gone I miss it like crazy. I just want to flip my hair over, twist it in a bun, throw an elastic around it and walk out the door. That was my daily hair style and I miss it. Now I actually have to do my hair everyday which isn't the funnest thing around but I am learning to like it. Treagan loves it so I guess thats a plus but he loved long as well. At least I have hair and can do it! RIGHT?

Now for the busy summer through the eyes of the i-phone.

At the Salt Lake Temple after Aubree's and Matt's wedding. It was the best sealing I have ever been to. Their sealer was truly amazing! 

Beautiful Tedrah

Emma and Tedrah cousin love

Some more cousin love with Hensleigh and Sophia. My wonderful sister and mother whipped up these adorable dresses for the wedding. 

It's dancing time! 

Hensleigh doesn't tend to like men so much but she loved her Uncle Brian. 

I do have the cutest grandpa around if I do say so myself! 

Hensleigh discovered one of her favorite things to eat. I dare you to try to take it away from her. You will get a nasty scream and an intense glare! 

This girl loves bath time. Especially in the sink! 

Uncle Mike here comes your girl

Beautiful couple! 

Papa and I 

The beautiful bride. Ready to sit back and relax after a long day! 

Some camping in the mountains. Side note: I do not recommend hiking with a baby bijorn unless you want your shoulders and back to kill afterwards. But I had not other option then carrying her so it had to suffice. 

Meme and Papa

I really thought with my back ground of snowboarding and wake surfing I would be able to pick this up very easy. I was so wrong!!! 

This was the weirdest but cool experience. I wish I had words to describe how it felt but there just are not. You have to go and experience it yourself. 

Side note: If you ever do go experience the i fly and you have long hair. put it in a pony tail and then braid it! I had mine in a pony and up in the helmet and it still got more snarly and tangly then ever before in my life. I had to cut knots out of my hair. It was horrible! 

The long. 

And the short. I MISS MY LONG HAIR:( 

10/11 months and our new adventure

August 1, 2013

Our lives have changed in the past month and a half. We have picked up everything and moved across the country to be closer to family and to start the new chapter in our lives. My little sister, Hensleigh and I left Iowa on June 24th and headed to Utah. Hensleigh didn't enjoy the long drive much but she did pretty well.
I had a really hard time leaving and I am still missing Iowa. That place was home to me. It is were everything started for our family and I have been in Iowa for the past 7 years. It will always hold a special place in my heart and I am grateful for the time I spent there.
Living in Utah is going to take some adjusting to. Especially since we still don't have our own place. I look forward to that very much. We will start looking in the next few weeks now that Treagan is working and we have a source of income.
Treagan is enjoying work so far. Things have been running smoothly and he is keeping busy. I just feel like I am on vacation because I haven't stayed in one place for more then a week. I'm always going back and forth from Cache Valley to Bountiful with a trip to St. George and Idaho.
The move hasn't just been hard on me but also on Hensleigh. She started crying whenever I would put her down for bed. Something she normally never does. She would wake up in the middle of the night screaming, I think because she was scared. She is meeting a million people and I think it is all just too much at a time. She has been doing better since we first got here and hopefully she will continue to adjust and learn to love our new life here in Utah. Hopefully I can do the same.

She has really grown up in the past 2 months:

-She is one fast little crawler!!
- Can stand on her own for 2-3 seconds
- Took her first step but neither Treagan or I witnessed it. Two of my sisters and my Mom did so we say it doesn't count.
- Hates baby food. Will only eat it in the pouches and is even picky about which ones she wants to eat. She loves big people food but still only has 2 teeth so she chocks on everything making me have a heart attack. It is not a good situation and I am a paranoid mother!!!
- Loves all stuffed animals
- Still rolls around like crazy while trying to change her diaper
- SHE DOES SIGN LANGUAGE!!!!!! I was on the verge of giving up and then right around 10 months she signed "more" for the first time. She also does please and sometimes all done. It's so exciting to see her learn and progress. She is very stubborn with them though and sometimes refuses to do them.
- Says mama, dada and ball which is more like "ba" but every time we pick a ball up she points at it and says "ba"
- Learned to point. It's so cute!
- High fives
- Loves to swim except we dunked her under the water and she doesn't enjoy that too much.
- Such a mommas girl. It's cute but also frustrating. Sometimes she won't even let me put her down or let anyone else hold her.
- Only nurses once a day in the morning. The move really screwed nursing up. I'm just happy she will still do it in the morning.
- Puts every single thing she finds on the ground in her mouth. She has chocked twice and I seriously thought she was going to die. I cried like a baby. I am ready for this whole everything in the mouth stage to end. I hope its sooner then later!
- Still takes 2 naps a day. So grateful for that!
- Goes to bed at 7pm and I have to say its the greatest thing EVER!
- Sleeps 12-13 hours still. I was worried the move was going to make that stop but after 4-5 days she started sleeping good again.
- She climbs up my legs when she wants to be held
- She cannot sit still
- Will sometime cuddle in the mornings with us. We enjoy the rare occasion.
- Won't sleep in either grandma's cribs they have. She will only sleep in her pack n' play now. I guess its good for me so I can take her bed with me wherever we go.
- Jabbers and screams (happy screams) all the time. Sometimes it is way too loud for her mama and dada's ears.
- She will hardly ever laugh. Shes been that way since she was a baby. It's so frustrating I just want her to laugh!!!

She is so much fun and usually such a good girl. I do think 9-11 months has been the hardest stage yet. I'm sure the future will prove to be more frustrating and demanding but for now I look forward to the next stage! Love my little girl though. Blessed to be her mom! 

Now a little glimpse into our lives through photos.

Iowa City flooded this summer. We went to check it all out. 

This two wonderful friends of ours are the best! We have all become so close and saying goodbye to them really started the waterworks! We tried to spend as much time together before we moved. As you can see we get a little too competitive with each other! 

Sweet little Isla and Adelaide. We were sad to leave our friends.

My hard working husband graduated residency!!! So proud and grateful for all the he has done to get our family to where we are today. 

I have never loved working somewhere so much. So grateful for such a wonderful job, bosses and co-workers. It truly was a blessing sent from heaven the day I got that job! 

The waterworks began after saying goodbye here as well! 

The sign we found Hensleighs name:)

Iowa City will always hold a special place in our hearts. This is just another reason why. 

Morgan and I drove through a crazy rain storm. It was so scary!!!! 

SCARY!!!!!!!

Stopping to get some grub.

Trying to keep Hensleigh happy during a 18 hour drive. Ice cream works wonders! 

Almost home! Beautiful Bear Lake

Spending time with great-grandma Simmons

Learning to love all the people and her sweet cousin Sophia.

This is when our vacation to St. George started. It took us 9 hours to get there. We all wanted to die in the car and Morgans face expresses our true feelings. 

Sleeping on the boat:)

Celebrating the 4th of July

Jaysa bug

Hensleigh loves the water! 

Getting our tan on! 

6 Olsen kids all grown up.

Then we headed to Yellow Stone. And if you can even believe it I had never been. We had a blast and Hensleigh loved being outside the majority of the day! 

360 something stairs we climbed to get this view of the waterfall. It was totally worth it! 

Yellow Stone Lake

Ashlee was a champion and sat squished in the back seat with her two kids. Thank goodness for her! 

We have had a blast so far this summer. We look forward to the rest of it!