trains at the garden

Every year, the Botanical Gardens has an electric trains display that runs throughout an indoor garden built especially for the exhibit. My mom and I took Huntleigh last year, and she could not have been more indifferent. This year, my mom and I took her again and her response could not have been any more opposite. She was as enthralled with the trains as all the little boys around her. "YOOK YIA YIA!" is what she screamed every time the trains came around in a not-so-"inside voice" kind of way. Her excitement was so much fun. I have to admit that I was most excited about the O'Connell's burger that we had afterward. Oh my gosh. It was so good. If you haven't been there in awhile (or ever) you need to go. Get it with grilled onions on top.

in the wake of Christmas

This is what the end result of Christmas looks like with Josh's parents. It's awesomely overwhelming. And then it all gets picked up and thrown into the fire pit in the backyard. (Ah, the benefits of owning property not within city limits....) This year, Huntleigh and Josh went "swimming" in it. This picture really represents why at one point in the morning, Huntleigh walked up to me and just said "Baby...Botchie" and after we found her comfort items, sat in Josh's lap for a long time. I can't imagine what was running through her head as this young two-year-old. She actually laid down in the middle of the floor, too, in the midst of all the unwrapping. I just think she didn't know what to think or do. It's probably also why I have no pictures from Christmas at my mom and dad's house...she was on the brink of falling apart at all moments.



Here she is laying down on Beka's new snowboard after all was said and done.

Merry Christmas

This was Christmas morning at the Hagers. My mother-in-law is a rockstar when it comes to gift-giving. She has the gifts piled in our own piles in a neat semi-circle around the tree and we each have wrapping paper that represents each one of us in our own unique way and then it somehow coordinates with our spouse's paper. And we open in order of birth, starting from youngest to oldest. So this year, Huntleigh was officially the first to open her gifts, and then Beka, then Abby and Scott, then Hannah and Zach, then Josh and me. This year my paper was a gorgeous black and white damask. I think the whole ordeal overwhelmed my sweet Huntleigh, but she was really very good and was content to observe others as they opened their gifts after about the fourth go-around.

Stockings with Pop.

Admiring B's creativity with gifts.

Sweet babe with her new bag.

Silly Uncle Zach.

box heads

"I'm a crazy man with a box on my head! Give me yo candy!!"


Aren't the boxes more fun than the presents anyway?!

Christmas Eve

Since both Josh and I have our families in town, we took all day on Christmas Eve to have our own little Christmas celebration at home. Huntleigh was quite into Christmas this year. She still thought that she could open all the gifts (even mine and Josh's) but she eventually realized that a panini press was not as exciting as the Mr. Potato Head family.


Apparently, Mr. Potato Head now comes with a sword. Aye aye, matey! Be careful kiddos.

puppy love/hate

Huntleigh has the opposite relationship with Kate that she did with Kona. She loved Kona because he was not a threatening animal to her small size. Now with Kate, I have observed that the love Huntleigh has for her is much greater and the thought of seeing her or playing with her is so much more exciting, but the fear is that much greater as well. Even though Kate has already proved to be an incredible hunting partner for Josh this year, the puppy completely comes out in her when she is at our house and she just wants to be loved and petted and played with. This means that when we go outside to play with her, she is ready to jump and pounce and Huntleigh is the perfect size to knock over. This inevitably happens every time we play with her and the inevitable response is tears followed with "Mooooommmmmy!" and then we quickly have to go back inside and recover from the knock down. It isn't but moments later that Huntleigh is ready to do it all over again and she cries when she sees Kate on the other side of the glass looking at us longingly from the deck. I think Huntleigh could repeat that same pattern for an hour or maybe longer. Truly love.

almost 37 weeks

This is the last picture you will see me post of myself with the baby belly. The face is just getting too fat for me to know the public is looking at me and my double chin and my ever-expanding nose. I can't wait for this babe to come into the world. She is overtaking my body.

there's a first for everything

The main reason our friends came to visit us from Iowa that weekend was to see the Packers-Rams game that Sunday afternoon. I have to admit that this was the first football game I have ever been to in my entire life. We've had tickets for the Rams games before, but have always ended up giving them away to people who would truly enjoy the games more than us. This time, we followed through and watched the Rams get their butts kicked by Green Bay. I didn't get up for anything the entire game, except to make one trip to the bathroom. Kurt, you're a cheese head. And Josh called you something else, but I can't write it.

little German flower girl

During the same crazy snowy weekend that we had house guests, Huntleigh was once again, a flower girl, for Josh's cousin's wedding. Instead of a princess dress and a "castle," this time she was in a dirndl at a Bavarian hunting lodge. If you're wondering what in the world a dirndl is, well then, you must not really be German. I cannot even begin to explain how amazing Huntleigh behaved. I was so proud of her. Granted, I did tell her that for every time she obeyed me, she would get an m n' m....and she had probably eaten at least 50 or more by the end of the ceremony, but she was amazing. She had her hands in her mouth for the majority of the pictures I took of her because she was constantly licking chocolate off of them. She was just stellar. She waited so patiently for her turn to walk down the aisle and then she led the way down the aisle. She made a pit stop to say hello to B and then she caught Josh's eye and walked all the way to the end. Just perfect. I could not have been more proud of her. Here are some of my favorite shots from the evening.



Mimi and Huntleigh. Notice m n' m's in hand.

Cousins August and Huntleigh.  Notice fingers in mouth.  Mmmm...chocolate.  

Waiting with perfect anticipation.  

let it snow.

Our good Cedar Rapidian friends came into town to have a fun and crazy weekend with us. Of all weekends, and all the activities we had planned, this had to be the one where it snowed all those inches of snow. (Seriously, who has time to watch the weather.) These are our kiddos at 3 1/2, 2, and almost 2.

And here Julianne and I are, at 5 months and 9 months along. This is our second pregnancy that we have gone through together, with almost the exact same timeline.

sticker belly

So, this morning, the guy who cashed us out at Trader Joe's gave Huntleigh as many stickers as she was tall. How sweet. I was the recipient of the majority of those stickers when we went to Bed, Bath & Beyond. I walked around Target like this, too. What can you do, but laugh, when your belly is this big and awkward and a perfect place for your child to put her stickers? Can you see my feet popping out underneath my belly? I saw a picture of myself yesterday from before I was pregnant and I started crying. Will I ever be that size again?! Here's another view, just for some perspective.

band-aid fascination

No, we don't have any boo-boos. We just found the band-aids in the cabinet!

'tis the season to be merry

hunts and kate the great

a girl and her dog

Well, here's Kate. She is beautiful and awesome. I know most of you think that I'm crazy about getting this puppy right before I get the new baby, but I really didn't have much of a choice. As most of you know, my husband is a hunter, and he's been waiting for a long time for the right and perfect pup to come along for us. Kate happened to be that perfect pup. She is a beautiful and well-trained (for a 9-month old puppy) British lab that comes from a well-bred line, and there was really not a way for me to say "no" to Josh. I must admit that for never having had a dog growing up, I am already so in love with Kate. And so is Huntleigh. Without any prompting at all, she just looked at Kate and said, "I yuv you so much." I have heard her say it to Kate at least 10 times since yesterday. In her excitement, Kate did tackle Huntleigh at one point and knocked her over onto the grass, but after some dramatic tears, Huntleigh still loves her and wants to see her all the time. Josh took her to the farm today to hunt with her for the first time and she's going to stay up there for awhile. Raccoon Ranch is the real reason that we're able to handle getting Kate right now. She can live up there when we are unable to take care of her. (Like when this little babe comes along in four weeks.)

big changes

This was one of the most recent conversations between Josh and Huntleigh:

J: Do you want a black puppy?

H: I want lellow puppy.

J: How about a black puppy?

H: (a very thoughtful pause) No. I want lellow puppy.

J: (very persistent) Are you sure you don't want a black puppy?

H: (equally persistent) I want lellow puppy.

This dialogue went on for quite a bit longer than is interesting, but it was just so funny to hear as they were in the living room and I was in the kitchen. Eventually, the brainwashing worked.

J: Okay...well, we're getting a black puppy.

H: Black puppy? I want black puppy.

She's coming on Monday. We've already named her Kate. Are we crazy or what?! I've never had a dog in my entire life, so I told Josh he would have to train me as well as our puppy. I also told him that technically I will have nothing to do with her until at least the end of February.

cookie cravings

Okay, so Huntleigh has these three fake cookies that are part of her kitchen collection and the other day as we were playing with them, I wanted the cookie to magically turn into a real cookie so that I could eat it. I was finally able to go to the grocery and snatch a package of them, which I opened as soon as I got home and ate half of the package. No joke. I just put one in my mouth for every grocery item I put away. Ohmygosh. They are so good for some reason. So now, when I see Huntleigh's fake little cookie, I can just run into the kitchen and actually eat a real one.

Yes, I'm a fatty. And Josh, honey, if you make fun of me, then I will incriminate you by posting a picture of how much Coke I bought for you the other day. Love you.

i finished

Well, I really didn't have faith in myself that I would actually get around to decorating the tree, but I did. It's just been sitting in our living room with simple white lights on it for two weeks now. And then last night, all the tree lights went out and Huntleigh said "Oh no! Yook!" and I honestly thought that if we could not find which light strand was the problem, that I was ready to throw the tree out into the front yard. The thought of shoving my body with this big honking belly around the tree just to re-strand all the lights was almost too much to bear. But Josh got on his hands and knees and did some searching and we recovered most of the lights and I felt a lot better about things. So...I decorated it tonight. Just a few simple ornaments. Here are some of my favorites.

playdoh pastime

something new

My sister-in-law, Abby, has a new website for her shop. Check it out.

33 1/2 weeks

I realize that it has been awhile since I posted an "official" picture of my belly growth. I went to the doctor this week and I found out that I had gained 9 pounds in 2 weeks. My nurse just declared: "Well you had a growth spurt!"



So yeah, I've been eating a lot of these. They're from Trader Joes. If you haven't gotten any of these yet, or if you can't get them in your city, you must have some. Let me know and I'll ship some to you. I'm serious. They are so, so good.