Me and My Homie

There are a lot of reasons why me and Sofie are tight. Here are just a few:

• As you can see in the picture, we were both blessed with the most beautiful set of EARS you could ever wish for.
• We have similar dance moves, and we are both willing to SHAKE IT anytime, anywhere.
• If Camilla would let us, we would only eat ICE CREAM and waffle cones.
• We carry our BALDNESS gracefully.
• We brush our teeth and SHAVE together every single morning before I go to work and school (although my toothbrush doesn't have princesses on it). Sof loves the electric razor vibration on her cheeks.
• We both get pretty GROUCHY without meals, snacks, and naps.
• We both go through a ziplock bag full of CEREAL each during Sacrament Meeting.

I love my Sofie.

Sweet Lucy

Beyonce has her newest fan --- Lucy Renee Hallows. Lucy was born Wednesday night at 5:05 p.m. and she was 8 pounds 6 ounces and 20 inches long. This is how it all went down:

• Camilla had contractions all Tuesday night and woke up Wednesday morning having regular but light contractions. We went into the hospital at 8:00 a.m.
  
• Of course, as soon as the nurses got Camilla hooked up to the machines her contractions completely stopped. After an hour the nurse came in and told us we had to go home.
  
• Camilla put up a persuasive arguement listing all of the reasons why she was going to have the baby that day. She was determined to not go home and prepped the nurse to go back to the doctor and convince him to induce us.
  
• Christy (our amazing nurse) came back 5 minutes later and surprisedly told us, "He said YES! We're going to induce you right now."
  
• 10:15 a.m. Camilla was induced
  
• 2:00 p.m. the doctor broke her water
  
• 4:00 p.m. Camilla started to progress pretty quickly
  
• 4:50 p.m. she was fully dilated
  
• 5:00 p.m. Camilla pushed through three contractions
  
• 5:05 p.m. Lucy Arrived!

It honestly happened that quickly and smoothly.

First impressions of Lucy:

• She's perfect
  
• A thicker version of Sofie
  
• I wanna squeeze her cheeks
  
• Look at those thighs
  
• Loved nursing since age 23 minutes
  
• Cuddly
  
• She didn't get Jarem's ears
  

I believe the most important impression is the one that Lucy made on us. She's fresh from God's presence and that is extremely apparent. She's eternally apart of our family, our hearts, and our lives. It's going to be a sweet ride everyday from here on out with our little Lucy.

Lucy's Debut

I decided to do this maternity photoshoot because I am so overcome with gratitude and joy that we're expecting baby Lucy. Certainly there are still the standard aches and pains that accompany any pregnancy but I really have treasured these 9 months. I love you already Lucy and can't wait to meet you so soon!

Also, a HUGE thank you to Chelsea for braving the blizzard. Isn't she brilliant! winterhollerphotography.blogspot.com

Steps to having the best Valentines ever

The following is a step by step process of how to make the most of your Valentine's evening with that special someone. This technique has be tested and proven as of February 14th, 2009.

7:45 pm : Turn off the NBA all-star slam dunk contest. You can watch it later on YouTube if you really need to.

8:00 pm : Go to Hollywood Video in attempt to rent "The Notebook" (yeah right....like it is really going to be in stock. Come on dummy, you should of thought of this beforehand).

8:10 pm : Go to Blockbuster in search of the same movie (you'll have a similar result).

8:20 pm : Wait in line at the Redbox in hopes of renting any sappy chick flick you can get your hands on (by this time the only DVDs left in the machine are Wall-E and Fools Gold --- neither will do).

8:30 pm : In desperation, buy a cheap bottle of sparkling cider and some discounted-week-old cheesecake (yeah, that will make up for your failure to bring home what she really wanted --- Noah and Aly)

8:45 pm : Come home and complain about Zoobies in the Redbox line as you turn the Slam Dunk Contest back on the TV.

9:00 pm : Have the amazing idea of downloading "The Notebook" from Itunes (you're now a hero).

9:00 -10:00 pm : While the movie takes an hour to download, have your valentine clean up your unibrow so you don't look so beastly for church the next day (this should really turn her on).

10:00 pm: Watch "The Notebook" with your valentine. Occasionally whisper things in her ear that are romantic and heart warming. Essentially, you can repeat anything that Noah says during the entire movie. Two winners are: "I will be anything you want me to be. Just tell me what you want, and I will be it" or "If you're a bird, then I am a bird."

And that is it! If you follow those steps you are destined for success on every February 14th from here on out. If your a little unsure on how your lady will respond, I would just stick with the step at 10:00 pm and forego the prior shannanigans.

---I love you Camilla....thanks for putting up with a romantically retarded husband when it comes to Valentine's night.

To The Left, To The Left

Sofie and Jarem have this morning routine of having a dance party before he heads off to school and work each day. Sofie inherited her dad's good dance skills, and she also seems to have a similar fascination with Beyonce. Here is a little demo of my baby girls skills.

Boricua de Pura Sepa

Saturday night Camilla, Sofie, and I ate dinner with some great friends from Puerto Rico who now live in American Fork. Giselle Fernandez lived in Vieques when I served there and we became great friends. I always admired her strength and her determination to do what was right no matter what happened to her. Six months after I left Vieques I served in the ward of Giselle's mom Trini. Trini is just as amazing as her daughter Giselle and she probably put about 10 pounds on me from her Mangu. So anyways we had a great time Saturday night catching up with Giselle, her two kids, and her sister Maira who is living with her in American Fork. I think it is pretty funny to see all the hair Giselle's kids have, and our poor little Sofie is still as bald as her dad is :)

Camille's Wedding

Last weekend I went to Camille's temple wedding in Dallas, Texas. She was a recent convert when I arrived in my first area in Puerto Rico and we became friends quickly. She she taught with us every week and has always been a super star member. Although we are the same age, she is truely a role model and inspiration to me. I am so incredibly happy for her and it meant so much to me to be at her sealing.