September Continues, Autumn Is Approaching Fast, September 11th, And Melanie's First Trip To The State Fair!

Melanie has developed quite the little personality. She likes to goof around and play games with us. The other night she thought it was the funniest thing to stick her fingers in Dallan's mouth.

"Eww Dad, you may want to consider flossing a little more." 

Hahaha!
Who knows, maybe she'll be a Dentist when she grows up?

Melanie and I like to have tickle wars. I love to hear her giggle and laugh.
It's so sweet and melts my heart. 

She's turned into a little cheese ball. She has this goofy smile where she wrinkles up her nose and shows off her tiny teeth! It's so funny. 

I've become the Queen of Organization. The Squish has gotten into EVERYTHING! Sooo... I had to store everything out of reach and make room for toys. Now if she pulls these boxes out, it's ok because they have her toys in them. Not to mention they match our decor (which I'm quite proud of).

Abby has 100% tolerance for this baby. Melanie has bit and/or chewed, pulled, yanked on the following:
 her tail, paws, face, and ears. All Abby does is either lick Melanie until she stops or just lay there and put up with it.

 We couldn't have asked for a better dog.

I've discovered the "by the pound" section at Winco. Dallan and I bought four pounds of candy the other day. We enjoyed them as we watched a movie. That was a few nights ago. We STILL haven't been able to finish them! 

Here's more of the cheesy little girl! 

Love her so much! 

I decided to curl my hair one day and it didn't turn out so bad! It was more like loose curls or waves. Whatever it was, I thought it looked pretty nice for my hair type. I actually thought it looked good! For once... Hahaha!

I think I know where Melanie gets her cheesiness from....
Poor thing. She's doomed. Hahaha!

Here's the usual cute "tug on the heart strings" picture of Abby and Melanie. 

Melanie has enough hair so that we can brush it! It's a comb over, but who cares! It's still cute and I have fun brushing it! Hopefully it doesn't make her look too much like a little boy.... Oh well, that's why she has earrings right? Hahaha!
Doesn't she look so adorable! I can't wait until she has enough hair so that I can style it with cute pony tails and such.

She continues to be a daredevil. She can pull herself up on things and now she can walk around whatever she is holding herself up on. For example, in the picture she is using the coffee table to help her stand. She can actually walk around the whole table and if she's close enough, she can move from one thing to another. Like from the coffee table to the couch.
She's getting TOO mobile!

This year was the twelfth year since the September 11th terrorist attack. I can't believe it has already been that long. I still remember it clear as day even though it was many years ago.
I remember it was when we lived in California. I was eleven years old and in sixth grade. I had just finished my breakfast and was laying on the couch waiting to go to school. My parents' watched the news every morning so that is what was on the TV. Then it happened. BREAKING NEWS. The twin towers had been hit.
It is something I guarantee I will remember the rest of my life.
I'm grateful for those who gave their lives and for those who continue to fight for our country so that we may be protected and free.

Sometime last week, I was able to hang out with a good friend of mine, Kristie. We worked together at US Bank for two years. We laugh about it because we started working there on the same day and we both quit at the same time too! Hahaha!
Anyways, we met up at good ol' IHOP and enjoyed lunch with little Melanie. The Squish sure liked her! She was full of smiles for Kristie. After lunch we walked around Murray Park and took the time to talk and catch up. It was fun and good to see my friend. :)

There was a lady bug at the park while we were walking around and I took this picture of it. I thought it was pretty cool and artsy. Maybe? I'm trying to work on taking cool pictures.
Anyways.... Hahaha!

Another friend of mine Madi, and I were texting. Madi, Justin, and their little boy JJ are a family that we met in our ward. Since then, we've been good friends and try to hang out quite a bit. Now what we both have kids, we all work, it's been Summer and we have been out of town, and life has just been plain nuts.... we've had a hard time scheduling when we could all do something.
Madi and I were talking about how we missed hanging out and that we NEED to schedule a "get together" asap. We are pretty much nerds because we sent these pictures to each other to express how we felt about the situation. The first picture is because we missed each other and the second is when we decided to plan a get together. Hahaha!

This last Thursday, it poured rain. Autumn is officially approaching! I was kind of sad though when it rained Thursday because that was the same day that Dallan and I both had off work so we were planning on going to the State Fair! I was bummed, but Dallan told me to wait about thirty minutes and the rain would most likely go away. He was right! We went to the mall in the mean time, and walked around for about an hour and a half. What do ya know.... the rain stopped! The weather did a complete flip. It was now sunny and ready for us to go to the Fair.
We were on our way!!!

We got to the Fair and we had an absolute blast! Melanie legitimately had so much fun!

Cheesy Girl!

Sun in the eyes... AAHHH!

She was so tuckered out from all the fun!
Not to mention we gave her some whipped cream and it gave her a little sugar rush.
This was the crash after the rush.

Waiting for the horse show to start!

In the evening, there was this band of old geezers and they sang some oldies songs. Some of the songs they did were pretty good. Others... well... they should have left it to the professionals.
Hahaha!

I LOVED the Fair at night. So pretty! It was just like in the movies.

"Hello Mr. Sheep."

Oh you know.... Just staring at some cow butts.

It's true what they say about goats. They'll eat and chew on ANYTHING.
These boogers kept trying to eat Melanie's stroller. One even tried to eat my pants!

Melanie was so happy at the Fair. She was having the time of her life! Every picture Dallan took of Melanie in these rodeo cut outs, she kept making a funny face. Here are two out of the billion we took!
YEE-HAW!

She absolutely LOVED the roasted corn. We did too!!!
So flippin' tasty. Mmmmm!

OF COURSE we had to get some awesome traditional Fair food. Deep fried scone with cinnamon and honey butter AND funnel cake. Both extremely tasty and extremely fattening. Can you say clogged arteries? Good thing we don't go to the Fair everyday. Hahaha!
We let Melanie have a few licks of the whipped cream that was on the funnel cake. Boy was she on a sugar high after that. Hahaha! She was HYPER! It was so funny! Then she crashed and took a nap shortly after. That picture of her taking a nap earlier in this post, was of her during the "crash."

She has this new thing where she likes to point.

Some animals we saw!

Melanie's FAVORITE were the ducks.
I think because she was taller and bigger than them.

LOVED the Fair. We will definitely make an effort to go every year. Now that we have a kid, it makes things that were fun... fun again! It's the best!

More to come..... There's "Plenty of Hope" to go around!

It's Already September! Labor Day Weekend, Melanie Gets In Touch With Nature, Where Is The Time Going?

We ended the month of August with a rough couple weeks. Melanie had her first major illness. At first we thought it was just teething because she had been getting her two top teeth, but then it got worse. She got rashes all over and she wouldn't sleep or eat. I took her to the pediatrician and he said she caught an infectional virus. Poor baby wouldn't eat because she got little canker sores all over the back of her throat. The doctor gave her some medicine and within a few days she was back to normal.

 Let me tell you, having a sick baby is not fun for them OR the parents. Ugh...

When Melanie was sick, Abby wouldn't leave her sight. She was really worried about her. When Melanie took her naps, Abby would lay right next to her and take a nap too. 

One of Melanie's FAVORITE things to do is walk! She always has to be holding someone's hands and having them walk with her. It can get very tiring sometimes... 

Abby HAS to be right under Melanie's high chair while she eats, hoping that she will drop some food for her.

Little Squish knows that if she drops food, Abby will eat it. She thinks it's funny. I think it's annoying! Hahaha! 

Look at the bright side, I guess I don't have to vacuum after every time Melanie eats because Abby eats it right up. She's a doggy garbage disposal.

Ok I know I put up tons of pictures of Abby and Melanie. They're just too cute not to! How can you not show the world something as sweet as this? Dogs truly are man's best friend or in this case "baby's" best friend. Abby literally treats Melanie as if she was one of her own puppies. 

Someone enjoyed squash....

Squish has become more independent. She can now pull herself up in her crib and she walks around the perimeter. 

She's growing too big too fast! 

So remember Melanie's illness I talked about earlier? Well I caught it. Shocker there, my body has no immune system...

Anyways, I was puking and pooping then I got a MAJOR headache. It wouldn't go away for anything. Not even Advil or Tylenol helped. I went to the doctor because my head hurt and my neck and back was REALLY stiff. I've never felt a stiff neck or back like that. So a trip to the doctor turned into a trip to the hospital. They wanted to make sure that it wasn't meningitis. They made me wear a mask and I had to wait to be picked up from the doctor to go to the hospital. The doctor didn't allow me to drive myself. My dad came and got me and Dallan met us at the IHC in Murray. They drugged me and made my head stop hurting. 

Turns out... This illness I caught from Melanie triggered an insane migraine. It's called a "complicated migraine" or was it a "complex migraine?" I don't remember. Whatever it was, I hope it NEVER happens again! 

Melanie has six teeth now. Four on top and two on bottom. She likes to bite herself to feel her teeth. 

Weirdo...

Our little Drama Queen. 

My parents got her the cutest dress! 

She wears it to church quite often. 

Cutest. Face. Ever.

She's learned how to wave "hi" and "bye bye." It's adorable. 

Now that she has teeth, she's like a little beaver chewing up all the wood furniture in the house. Ugh! 

Me and my mini me!

We have fun at home together. I love spending time home with her. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Bright eyes. 

Melanie has learned how to give Eskimo kisses! It's so cute! All you have to do is say "Eskimo" and she leans in to let your noses touch. It's sweet.

Football season has officially started in the Hope home. 

Little Ute Cheerleader.

Can't forget about Abby. We love our pooch. 

We has the most AWESOME Labor Day weekend. After I got off work on Saturday, we headed to Heber, UT for a trip to the cabin. The ride there is always beautiful! We seriously live in a pretty place. 

So pretty much my Father-in-law is the bomb.com! He took a trip to Pocatello, ID for a high school football game that he recorded. Anyways, I knew he was going there and I asked if he would stop at Jack in the "Crack" (I mean Box, Jack in the Box)  and get me a few tacos. Two for 99 cents. Haha! He did!!!! He stopped there on his way home and brought me back tacos! 

Best. Father-in-Law. Ever.

I enjoyed every one of them all be myself. Yes there were six of them. And NO I didn't eat them all in one sitting. I enjoyed some at the cabin. :) 

First picture says it all. Cabin Sweet Cabin! 

We saw tons and tons of wildlife there. Melanie saw her first deer! She kept trying to talk to it. It was cute.

There was also a Mama moose with her baby in front of Dallan's car. We didn't dare get too close to it. We didn't want to get charged. Then again, we didn't even have to try to get close. It was already right in front of us! 

Our "Lot of Hope."

 Great place to be to get away from the worries of the world. 

Melanie and Dallan having some fun on our little walk. :)

There's nothing quite like the sounds of nature, playing cards for hours (LITERALLY hours), talking, laughing, and endless junk food. 

Of course, we HAD to take a family picture!

This month on the 2nd, Melanie turned 8 months old! She's growing up! 

We came home from the cabin Sunday night. That following Monday, we spent the day at Seven Peaks water park. We had a blast! Our Squish absolutely loves the water!

It's only September 5th, and already we've had a lot go on. I was talking to my friend Madi and she mentioned how she's been waiting for life to slow down. She said she's realized it most likely never will slow down. 

I have to say... I agree. 

Life gets busier and busier. But you know what? I wouldn't trade it for anything. As long as I get to tackle this crazy life with family and friends, bring it on! 

More to come.... Just wait for it :)