Pretty in Pink

I finished Kiley's room awhile ago but completely forgot to post any pictures.  So this is for everyone awaiting the reveal. 

I think it turned out really good.  Kiley was very excited and loves her new room.  As I mentioned in a previous blog Kiley picked out the dark hot pink so I paired it with the lighter pink to help divide it up.  Christian came up with the idea of the chair rail which was a great idea.  I was originally planning on doing all stripes up and down which I think would have been too busy so this worked out really well.  I made her curtains and blanket for her bed (she helped pick out the fabric).  Then I painted the little table and chairs which were found at a garage sale.  I found the dresser at a garage sale and got it for a $15 steal.  Awesome deal!! Christian then painted it white for me.  And we got her toddler bed and mattress on Craig's list and I painted that white to match as well.
I bought the floating shelves not realizing how difficult they would be to hang up.  I couldn't  put them where I wanted them, because of where the studs are in the wall, but thanks to a patient husband they are up. 
I had a lot of fun, but have to say that I don't know if I will ever paint stripes again.  It was a lot of work, a whole lot more than I expected, especially with a little one around.  But it's done and Kiley loves it and that's what's important.  I didn't want her to think we were kicking her out of her old room but rather that she was getting a special big girl room instead.  And I think that's just how she feels.  So enjoy the pics!

Merry Christmas

 Christmas morning at our house.  The deer just leaving our yard.  Very quiet and peaceful. 

I think Kiley had a lot of fun this year.  She understood a little bit better what was going on but we did end up taking breaks between opening gifts because she would want to play with a toy after she opened it.  I am sure as she gets older she won't want to take breaks in between gifts. LOL. 



 

Kiley was spoiled this year, especially from grandparents, as you will see in some of the pictures below.  I kept forgetting to take pictures so I don't have many but I do have some.  We had a very relaxing day.  Thanks to Toyota giving us a honey baked ham gift card, I didn't have to cook, which was nice since we are 39 weeks pregnant at this point.  It was a quiet Christmas day at home and we enjoyed it very much.  Enjoy the pics.

Kiley got an Ariel doll from Christian and I

We played hide-n-seek.  This is her new favorite hiding spot.  (Our kitchen cupboard)

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Hoggan 

Kiley trying to open a gift

Christian got a drill from my parents.  He was stoked. And had to get right to reading all about it.

Kiley got one of her favorite movie's from Grandma and Grandpa Towner

Santa brought Kiley a Disney princess kitchen set.

And my Grandma and Grandpa (Grandma Tutu and Grandpa Frank) got Kiley a rocking horse for Christmas.  She was very excited and loves to ride it. 

She got other gifts too, but I didn't take pictures of everything.  These were just some of her favorite things that she got.  Christian got me a custom order of See's candy which I have been craving for the last couple months.  I was thrilled and have almost devoured all of it.  LOL.  Overall, it was a great Christmas and we are now ready for this baby to come.  Some stairs and speed walking coming right up. =)   Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.





The Belly

This post is for my mom.  She reminded me that I haven't taken one picture since I have been pregnant.  And I need to take some so I can scrapbook them in the new babies album.  So, this is for you mom.  =)  7 weeks to go!!

Happy Halloween

So this Halloween we had a lot of fun.  We went to the pumpkin patch over the month of October and picked out a bunch of pumpkins to carve and decorate.  Kiley loved picking out pumpkins and taking pictures with all of the fun scarecrows.  Kiley and I carved two pumpkins, the cat and the spider and then Christian and Kiley carved the skull.  She had so much fun helping and watching.  You can tell from the picture that the spider and cat have been sitting out for over a week, hence the loss of some of the spider's legs. LOL.  Christian just carved the skull tonight.  It turned out really good.

 
For Halloween we went out on Saturday to trick or treat.  A friend of ours had talked to people in the ward and had set up houses for the kids to trick or treat at so we could celebrate Saturday instead of Sunday.  Afterwards we went to their place for hot apple cider and treats so the kids could all play together.  Kiley loved it all.  She got to go with one of her friends Maddy.  She loved it.  She was princess Jasmine this year.  She found this dress at the store and said it looked liked princess Jasmine, I just have to say that I was glad it was modest.  LOL.  Over all it was a fun Halloween and I am sure Kiley can't wait till next year. 

Oh, and btw we grew a lawn. LOL.  We have been working really hard on seeding and watering to get a lawn to grow and we are so pleased with ourselves.  LOL.  Hope everyone has a great Halloween!

Families Are Forever

Grandma Cleo Hoggan passed away on October 6th, 14 days before her 93rd birthday.  She will be greatly missed, but I know that she is happier on the other side now that she has been reunited with the love of her life.                                       

 My mom was there with her when she passed, holding her hand.  I believe Grandma was waiting for someone to be there with her before she left us.                     
I was unable to attend her funeral due to doctor's orders and financial circumstances but I heard all about it and how beautiful it was.  She was dearly loved by all and from what I heard the attendance at her funeral was a great example of that.        
 Many family members spoke including all my uncle's, my aunt Paula, my cousin Cloe and my sister April.  And there was a beautiful musical number performed by my cousins Amy and Catherine.                                                              
 All of the brothers and sisters were there and almost all of the cousins, and trust me there is a lot of us, so that is quite remarkable.  It just shows you how much this women meant to so many, both family and friends.
I'll have many fond memories of her...picking black berries in the garden, her Christmas decorations, candy always on the coffee table (even mixing M&M's with Skittles in the same bowl, my dad was surprised when he grabbed a handful, LOL).  Fireworks on the hill in Solana Beach, walks down to the beach,  games of Croquet and Yahtzee, Family Reunions, and most of all her hugs and kisses, especially her kisses.  She always made sure to kiss us when we arrived and when we left.  She is a truly amazing person with a great work ahead of her, I am sure of it.
Kiss, Kiss Grandma.  I love you! 

 

Yum Yum!!

So this weekend we made some Halloween cupcakes.  Kiley was so excited about this.  I let her pick out the decorations, cake and frosting.  She was a big help. LOL That is in eating them. LOL. 

My little helper!

October Fun

We have been up to a lot lately.  These are just some of the things we have done this month and last.

Kiley and I got to go to the zoo with some friends.  She really liked the giraffes.

I found this beautiful praying mantis on our kitchen window. 

Kiley and I go to story time at the library every week and they read books and then make a craft.  This was her fish face mask that she made all by herself.  She was very proud of it.

Then Christian took Kiley and I to Kings Island (which is like a knott's berry farm) on Toyota day.  They shut down the park for Toyota employees, but from what we found out it was even more crowded than on a regular day.  There are a lot of Toyota employees.  But at least it was discounted tickets.  Besides we have discovered that once you have kids you do these things for them not yourself so no roller coasters for us just rides Kiley wanted to go on. 

This was the only ride I could go on since I was pregnant. LOL.

Christian took Kiley on her first roller coaster ride. 

She loved it, as you can see with the hands up and smile on her face.

This was the only ride that she did by herself.  She never cried she was just acting shy because we were trying to get her attention for a picture.

And this was one of her favorite things.  She loves posing with the characters.  All in all we had a lot of fun and we have been keeping ourselves busy this month. 

Baby Talk

So, just a quick little update on the latest with baby and I. I am officially over morning sickness. Hurray!! I can eat and cook again. And we are now at 25 weeks and entering our third trimester. This pregnancy seems to be going by faster than the last one. I can't believe it's already the third trimester.

We found out that Kiley will have a little sister to play with. She is very excited. When we asked her what she wanted she kept asking for a sister so we are glad we can grant that request. LOL. Other than that not much else has changed. We are keeping busy as usual and we will keep you updated.

Crafty

Well, lately I have been making all kinds of things. I finally finished the dress I made for Kiley right before we went out to Cali. She has been wearing it a lot lately because it won't fit her much longer. LOL. I waited too long to finish it.

Now, I am in the process of making her a blanket and curtains for her new big girl room. She is so excited. We wanted her to have a say in her room so first I let her pick out a pattern fabric for her blanket and curtains and then I picked out some other fabrics to go with it.

Then for the walls we let her pick out a color. She chose a dark hot pink. LOL. So, in order to make this work I chose a lighter pink to pair it with. I did the dark pink on the bottom then put up some white chair rail and then did dark and light pink strips on top. She is in love with it. Once I finish painting all of the furniture from garage sales and finish all of the sewing it will be ready for her. My goal is by the end of September to have it all done. This way she will have 3months to get use to a new room before the baby arrives. So, cross your fingers and pray that I stay focused. LOL. Once it is completed I will take a picture and post it.

The other night I made my very first cheesecake. It turned out so good. This recipe is a keeper. And I put my own little twist by putting a yummy glaze on the top. It is a Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake. YUM! It's not everyday I bake so I had to take a picture of this. Enjoy!

Hoggan Family Reunion

I have a lot to catch everyone up on so get ready to be overloaded with information.

First things first, we had our 2nd Hoggan Family Reunion in California this August. We had so much fun. It all started out with April and Steve's day (each family plans a day with activities to do). April and Steve held the first Hoggan Family Olympics. We arrived at the park in the morning and we began with our opening ceremonies which included finding a rattle snake by one of the trees the girls were suppose to run around as part of their obstacle course. All of us girls fled the scene and the guys swept in to take a closer look.

My dad has always wanted to catch a rattle snake, he grew up catching all kinds of reptiles; so now, he can check that off of his list of things to achieve in his life. LOL. Christian and Dad got the snake into a bucket and Steve and Dad took it up a hill into some brush to free it. Once our opening ceremonies were concluded we started our Olympics with the girls running the obstacle course April designed. Then we had a family dance competition followed by the catch Kiley competition and a water game.

The Towner Family walked away with the Gold metal which will be passed off to the next Olympic winner next family reunion. We went home to cool off at the pool and have a BBQ. That night April made an amazing four course meal. We celebrated Christian's birthday and we played Minute to Win it. It was so much fun, we were all laughing pretty hard.

For Mom and Dad's day they treated all of us to Disneyland. This was so much fun. The girls were so excited. We did their nails and hair the night before so they would be all ready to go in the morning. Kiley was so excited when she saw the castle. When she watches the Disney movies and sees the castle at the beginning of the movie she calls it Disneyland so this was a very exciting moment for her. We went on a lot of rides like Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, all of the kid ones obviously, this trip was for them. Their favorite part though was meeting all of the characters and having their picture taken with them, especially the princesses.

We had a lot of fun just watching the girls take it all in. Mom got the girls each a Disney scrapbook so we put the pictures in there for them and both Kiley and Quoia look at them often. The girls did really well, we didn't leave until 6pm and we got there at about 8am so it was a long day. April and Steve stayed to do some roller coasters and the rest of us went home to put the girls to bed and relax after such a fun day.

The Next day was just a recovery day, some pool time, bowling (which the girls absolutely loved) and game night ( a new game April and Steve introduced us to, Scotland Yard, really fun game). And Trudy, Mark and Kyle came over to say "hi" and celebrate Trudy's birthday (we always celebrate our birthdays together).

Then it was our day to plan. We decided to spend out day at the beach and have lunch there. Kiley loved it. She is in love with the sand. She just can't get enough of it. She wanted to be buried in it. I would have thought that this would have been a scary experience at such a young age, but she thought it was the best thing ever. She wanted us to do it over and over again and then she would just sit there, this little head, and smile and take it all in. She is so funny.

Our day was just a relaxing one and we went home and had movie night that night and celebrated Mom's birthday even though her birthday wasn't until Monday since April and Steve would be leaving the next day.

That concluded our Hoggan Family Reunion. It goes by so quickly but we had a lot of fun and can't wait for the next one. April and Steve headed back to Utah that next day and Christian and I headed up to his parents to have a weekend with them before heading home to Ohio.

When we got to Sheila and Steve's we took Kiley to the park and the duck pond. She is a very active child so she really needs all the activity she can get. Then we went to Rubio's that night. Oh how I love Mexican food, I can never get enough. The next day we went to Seaport Village and the Mormon Battalion. It was fun to walk around and see downtown. Kiley loved the carousel ride at Seaport Village. There is just so much to look at there...the balancing rocks, the kites, the sculptures, the boats, and the shirts that change color in the sun. Sheila got Kiley one of those and some nail polish. She loves the nail polish, she loves to stand in the sun by the window and then come show me that her nails have changed colors. We had a lot of fun.

The Mormon Battalion was awesome. It has changed so much since I have been there. Kiley loved the part where they dressed her up and she loved panning for gold. That night we had IN-N-OUT and relaxed and watched a movie with the traditional SeQuoia is out by 10pm on the couch. Hey, at least it's not 9pm anymore. LOL. They know what I'm talking about. I'm getting better believe it or not.

Sunday we went to church and got to visit with Sue and Mike before heading back down to my parents house to spend one last day with my mom and to see Michelle and Ryan and their new little baby boy Tyler before getting on the plane to head back to Ohio.

Oh, how we miss Cali already. You can never get enough of it. Until next time Golden State.