Since you asked...

yes i know, the picture has nothing to do with the post...

Since we decided to make our blog private, we've had a few of you asking why we decided to make the switch, so I'll give a quick explanation. I've been thinking about it for a while, as more and more of my friends go private, wondering if it is something we should do. I never really felt like it was too big of a deal, and that if something happened that made me feel like we should, then I would do it.

Well, last week Charles took an hour from work and went to an internet safety class put on by someone who used to work for the police department and did a lot of work basically hunting down internet pedophiles and things like that. She told some pretty eye opening stories about things that have happened in our sheltered community. Charles came home and told me about some of the things he'd learned and we decided that if we waited for something to happen that made us take our blog private, that would be silly.

I have never been very cautious about what pictures I put up, or what I say about our lives in our blog, and I don't really want to have to be. The whole reason we have it is so that our close friends and family that don't live around us can stay up to date on us, and especially our growing Abigail. This way, we can keep our family in the loop... and keep the crazies out.

Going Private

We have decided to join the masses and make our blog private. We don't want to lose any readers, all three of you mean a lot to us :) Send me your email addresses in an email to heatherhimmergmailcom or leave a comment on here. Thanks!

It is nap time in the Himmer house...

Don't believe me?? Just ask Abigail.

She has found a bed for everyone...

I love this girl :)

iPhone pics

I love having a camera always on hand with my phone, it helps me snap a quick picture now and then without being noticed. Not the best quality... but oh well :)

This is how Abigail relaxed while we listened to Conference last weekend. Nothing like a good wood floor to cuddle up on... silly girl.

Ok, so maybe my snap shots don't always go unnoticed... she was ready for these.

Backwards

Sometimes it isn't about what is IN the picture...

but it is about what is NOT in the picture.

This is what is left from Abigail's snack today. Because of Abigail's profound fixation with Sesame Street, and especially with Elmo, I got her these crackers last time I went grocery shopping. They are cheddar crackers that come in two shapes... Elmo, and Big Bird. Same flavor, different shapes. Well, Abi will only eat the Elmo's most if the time. She either tries to feed me the big birds, or she just leaves them alone.

This girl LOVES Elmo.

Story time

If anyone has any must read children's books, PLEASE, let me know.

Don't get me wrong, I love Dr. Suess and all, but seriously...

This girl could sit and read forEVER, and be a happy camper.

But somehow I don't think she is impressed that I have most of her books memorized, and let me tell you... It is quiet a fete to be able to keep up with all the wockets in pockets and geelings on ceilings.

I told you so...

So I caught some flack for scaring Abigail with the duck in that video.. so this one is to prove that I wasn't torturing her. She really does love it!

Return of the duck from Charles Himmer on Vimeo.

Makes me giggle..

Every time I hear her laugh like this. We are having SO much fun with her right now. As long as you don't need to get something done, this is a really fun stage.

Dizzy from Charles Himmer on Vimeo.

And just a word about my little trooper... I was looking around in her mouth this morning while brushing her teeth and found SEVEN new teeth poking through her gums. Three of which were molars. Yikes... what a trooper!

Amused

hi duck! from Charles Himmer on Vimeo.

Don't think I am cruel, she got a little scared at the end of this, but she had been laughing her head off forever before that, and is still loving the duck days later. She keeps bringing it to me to put on and then bringing me "food" to feed it.

Hilarious.

Just another day in paradise...

Well, we are back from Hawaii and are pretty much back in the groove of things here. We had a really good trip, I think the biggest highlight was that Courtney and Daniel met us there. It was fun to see them, and we are scheming our way to get the whole family out there together some time when we are all filthy rich :) I won't bore you with a day by day recap... but there was one story worth writing down.

Our first night there, we were woken up at 4 o'clock with a crying baby... and then gave up on trying to go back to sleep when at about 4:30, a rooster in the backyard started cock-a-doodle- do'ing. We rented a very small one bedroom apartment that was part of a house on the beach. We all joked about killing the rooster so we could get some decent sleep the next night.

So when at 3 am Saturday morning we heard someone banging on the door of the house next door, and heard a lady yelling, "hey- get up! Answer the door!" Me and Charles looked at each other, livid. Who was this lady, and does she realize what time it is. We caught a few pieces of their rushed conversation and a moment later had a knock on our own door.

We were informed of the earthquake in Chile, and told to pack our bags and get some food and water ready, because there was a tsunami coming. We had a few hours before the sirens would sound and the official evacuation would begin. After our informant left, we all huddled up, and immediately got on our knees and prayed for safety.

After another hour or two, we were all packed up, and spent about $80 at 7-11, the only place open, so we had some water... beef jerky and granola bars. (lucky for us, we didn't have to live off of jerky and granola bars for a week)

We headed up to an LDS church up in the hills, and parked our car, and started our 10 hour wait for this Tsunami to hit. We were just minutes from the shore, and had a great view of whatever was going to happen. After about 5 hours, Charles' Aunt and Uncle called and said they were coming to get us, and take us to their house, just up the road. We went to their house (not knowing that it was even lower, and closer to the water). When we saw where it was, we decided we would say hi, and then leave a good 30 minutes before the tsunami was supposed to hit the big island.

Well, when we got there, we started watching the news, and getting a better idea of what was going on. It had already hit in Tahiti, and was only 6 feet there, and would die down even more before it hit us. So we decided to wait and see what happened on the big island, and then if it was a big one, we could walk the 5 minutes back to the church parking lot in time to be safe. Besides... they were grilling chicken and corn, who can pass up a good lunch?

Before long, the estimated time came and went, and nothing happened. We saw a little bit of a tide change a few times, but nothing big. After about another hour, they had called off the warning and we could head back to the beach. I think the official tsunami was 3 feet or something like that.

It was a big scare... but luckily for us, that is all it was. It was quite an experience, and one we will not soon forget. It was a good reminder of why we should be prepared for emergencies that may happen wherever we live.

I'll spare you from the hundreds of pictures from our trip. If you really want to see, I put them on facebook here and here. They should be public links, so you don't have to have facebook to see them (I don't think).

Horsies

The weather has been really nice here lately, so we have spent LOTS of time outside this week. Abigail just can hardly stand to be inside and not out exploring. I love that we live right across from a horse pasture that always has at least 2 horses for us to go give grass to.

But I think Abigail loves it more than I do.

In the first video, Abigail is picking grass and throwing over to the horse and saying "Thank you"

Untitled from Charles Himmer on Vimeo.

And in this one, she is having a hard time saying goodbye.

Bye BYe Horse from Charles Himmer on Vimeo.

On a side note: Did I mention that on Saturday, I spent the whole day at training, and now I am a certified Zumba instructor?? I am really excited. Don't know what Zumba is? Check it out here.

And... did I mention that we are going to Hawaii on Thursday, and that Courtney and Daniel are meeting us there?

I'm pretty thrilled about life right now :)

I smell T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Today when I went to pick Abigail up from the child care center at the gym, I found her sitting on the couch watching Sesame Street with her new friend. Her new BOY friend. She had her head on his shoulder, and would sporadically sit up and scratch his back.

ALREADY??

We are in for it....

HELP!

This little girl has me questioning my decision to "retire" the pacifier this week.

After many weeks of sickness over the holidays, Abigail became VERY attached to her binky, and her two favorite dolls. It has gotten where she basically has to have all three, all the time. If you leave the house with out one... Well, Heaven help us all.

So, after debating for a few weeks, on Monday I decided it was time to get rid of the binky. I gathered them all up, except for one. The one I left out, I snipped the end off- I'd heard this is the way to go. Well, for the most part, she is totally fine. She doesn't ask for it anymore. She plays all day just fine with out it. She has become less clingy, and doesn't need her dolls all the time anymore either.

The flipside? She doesn't really sleep.

Well, sometimes she does. But nap times are a huge struggle, and some days just don't happen. And we've had 2 nights now where she has been up for about an hour and a half just fussing. I give her the snipped pacifier, but of course, that isn't what she wants.

SO... I'm need help! Do I just need to stick it out a few more days? Do I just give in for now, and hope it will be easier in a few months? I don't mind her sleeping with one. I just don't like that she was needing it ALL the time.

Any words of encouragement, or discouragement? haha... hurry fast, before I give in and go get the ziplock baggy out of the kitchen cabinet!

Candid camera...

There are things that I catch with my iPhone, that I wouldn't ever catch if I had to take time to grab my real camera. Here are a few moments I snagged up this week.

Here is Abigail ready to say a blessing on the food before lunch.

She was mesmerized most of the time we were at the zoo.

This peacock opened up right in front of us as we were walking down the side walk. It was cool to see it ruffle up its feathers and spread them like this. So pretty :)

And... here is what I found after I got out of the shower the other day. Toilet paper through the bathroom and bedroom. When does this fascination end??

Killing Time

Yesterday we were waiting for Aunt Courtney to get online and video chat with us... but she was late for our date :) So we were killing some time, and this is what we came up with.

Abigail's "I don't know" is probably my favorite thing that she says :)

Killing Time from Charles Himmer on Vimeo.