Seattle (Tacoma/ University Place) Trip

Hans had a couple days off so we went and saw some of our friends, The Bohmans that live near Seattle. It was a great trip. Here are some moments of our adventure.

 Narrows Bridge

 Sunset of the Puget Sound

We went to the coast which was about 2 hours away normally, but it took us longer... GPS and Kevin don't mix. (Hahaha kidding Kevin)

 Arlee didn't want to put her feet in the sand.

 When we first got there it was really windy, cloudy and cold. So glad that we brought our jackets. BRRRrrrr.

 Hans thought that it would be a lot of fun if we covered him in the sand. Well with two toddlers and a he got a lot in his face. Of course they are going to grab the dry sand and not the moist sand deeper down. I decided that I would help to make this process go faster. Well, lets just say I wasn't that careful either. Ha ha ha

 Hans, Me, Arlee and Aliya

 After we were done covering Hans; Arlee wanted to try it. She was a lot easier to do. I have to say that she was a lot more entertaining too. Arlee was all giggles and smiles. She didn't mind a little bit of sand in her face.

 Abram and Aliya. Abram ate a lot of sand that day and as you can tell he is about to eat the little bit in his hand too. : )

 Arlee all done

 Hans and Arlee are covered in sand and I am for the most part pretty clean. I got some on me from Hans giving me a sandy hug. Which by the way, didn't feel good at all on my sunburn from Moses Lake Water Park earlier in the week.

 Hans and Arlee running out to the water

Kevin was telling us about how he hunted for clams with some school buddies of his in March. Hans and I thought we would give it a go. I was the spotter, Hans was the digger and Arlee, well she just laughed and repeated everything that Hans and I were saying when we would spot, find or get one. It was pretty entertaining and for first timers a thrill.
It wasn't until we took them back to the car where we were camped out that Kevin told us it was illegal since it wasn't the right season. Just as he was telling us this the ranger went by in his truck. So we covered them back up. I thought the boys cold make some clam chowder, but I guess we had to put them back. Darn. Kevin was also telling us that when they aren't in season they can carry chemicals or something that can be harmful to you. This is probably a good reason not to eat them at all. When they are in season people are testing them and making sure they are okay to eat. So rest assured all you clam eaters!

Here are our holes. Apparently, this is also a NO-NO! For every hole that you dig it is also a fine. I felt like a little kid bringing in something to parent and then them telling me NO-NO! Ha ha ha I am kidding, but I wonder if this is how Arlee feels when she does something and later after showing me I tell her not to do it. Just have to say that I am really glad the ranger came after we weren't doing it anymore. We would have had a nasty fine. Maybe we could have said, 'They never told us we couldn't do it. They should have been watching us.'
We had a great time visiting the Bohmans and we just love their little family. Thank you for taking us to the Washington coast and potentially getting us into a lot of trouble with a hefty fine. All I got to say when you tell us about something awesome, "Is this legal to do now?"

The Washington Explorers

Baby Bump Pictures

Here are some baby bump pictures. Enjoy!

April 17th (6 weeks)

 August 2nd (21 weeks)

I am not very good at taking them this time around. But there you go.

Moses Lake Swimming Park

Arlee and went with some people from the ward up to Moses Lake (an hour and a half away). There is a really nice swimming park there. It is reasonably priced and we had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures.

 Arlee geared up and ready to go SWIMMING!

This was when we were going to eat lunch. Arlee is trying to keep warm while we all sat in the shade.

We were in the water most of the time so not too many pictures to see, but you get the idea.  We had a lot of fun and will be going back.

Oh yeah and Hans was in Tri Cities working so it was the perfect time to go and do something with the other ladies in the ward.

Pictures

These pictures don't really have much to go with them, but I thought you might enjoy them.

 Arlee playing in her dress up clothes. She is a little Diva already

 We made smoothies after a family home evening.

 While trying to teach Arlee about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, she basically got stuck on Jesus' owies. Every time that Hans and I would try and move on with the lesson she would ask. "What happened to hands? He got owies?" Funny little girl. Hans then thought it would be a good idea to have her call his mom and have her explain when she learned. "Jesus has owies!" Then she would move on "Do you like my Bambi book?" It was a great first Family Home Evening attempt. We will keep trying.

The last two are of Arlee just being her silly self. I have to say that these were hard to capture. She started being a show off and running all over the place once she saw the camera come out. :)

What is in a name?

Well, I like the unique names and that don't sound like you have just made them up.  So when we named Arlee, I didn't want the Bailee's and Kaylee's. As you can imagine I was thrilled that Hans liked Arlee. Another point that I look for, is a solid name that people cannot shorten. Example: Ar, lee, Arl, etc.  Also one that is easy to spell. So keeping those rules in mind.  We came up with....................................

The only thing that I can think of shortening it to would be LIDDY, but it is a little too close to LIBBIE which my mom goes by. So this name is perfect for our next little girl.

I made these letters to make up her name one day when I was in a crafty mood. I wanted them to be in the same color pallet as the ones I already have for Arlee. Why? Because they are going to be sharing a room and I don't like things to clash. Good idea? Of course, because I am happy and I am sure Lydia will love them when she is older; or maybe not. Never know when things are going to go out of style. Right?

I stayed with the green, pink, blue and brown feel that are in Arlee's letters, but Lydia's has a lot more bright pink.

Tell you the truth I was debating on changing the name until I went to the craft store to figure out something to pass the time. Since, I didn't find a craft idea book. The only thing that I could even think to do was her name. This meant that her name was going to be set in stone. I debated with myself for awhile, but decided that is what her name shall be and I wasn't going to change it.

How did her name come about? I was watching a movie with Arlee and when it was over I was looking through the credits to find a good solid name. Weird, I know. But this seems to be how I do things. I asked Hans what he thought and he liked it right away.
The hard part was coming up with a middle name. As I have done before I looked through different things for ideas, but nothing seemed to add up. Then I came across a genealogy book that my grandma had put together for all the grandchildren to have for this last Christmas. (This book has stories compiled in the book about all the people who in there. This was the best gift idea and I can't wait to add to it and pass it on to my kids.) I looked over the pedigree chart and found Helen NAOMI Estes, who is my great grandma on my mom's mother's side.  We will be using NAOMI. Hans liked that name. I wanted her middle name to be after an ancestor. Arlee's middle name is Nichole, which is my middle name. Lydia's middle name will be after her great great grandmother.  After coming upon this name I decided that I would tell my grandma (mom's mom) what her name was going to be. Especially, since it was her mother's middle name. Come to find out it is also my Aunt Carrie's middle name too. Talk about two great people to be named after!
Anyway, I think you can figure out that her last name will be Hoge. Hopefully, she will love her name and realize that she is not the common Bailee or what have you. Just hopefully. Not to mention her name meant something to us when we decided what it shall be. I never met my great grandma Helen, but I heard great stories about her and can't wait to meet her.

So let it be known, Lydia Naomi Hoge is going to be our next little girl. We are thrilled that she will be joining our family and we have a name set in stone for her arrival.

Just a side note,
Arlee has a baby doll that she got from Hans' parents this last Christmas. She calls it Lydia and takes really good care of her. While playing with the doll she changes the diaper, feeds it, comforts it when she is crying and so forth.  Arlee has such a nurturing personality and I can't wait to see if it will carry over to her new baby sister.

I am going to do as my mom has told me and make sure that I don't push Arlee away, make sure there is room for two on my lap, let her help me with her, etc. I think that these are great ideas and I hope that I can help accomplish a great relationship between the two of them. I know it won't be peachy all the time, but I really do hope.

Until next time,
The Hoges
Hans, Chelsey, Arlee and little baby Lydia

BIG GIRL HAIR!!!

As you may have noticed. I am pretty excited about Arlee having big girl hair. She is now 2 years and 4 months old. I say that it is about time! Here are some pictures.

Arlee didn't like standing on the counter so I had to hold her. So she has a little bit of an unsure face. As you can probably tell in the second one.

What Are We Having?

IT'S A....................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... ...............................................BABY....................................................................................................... .................................................................................. ..................................................................................... .....................................................................................GIRL!!!!

 Her profile

 Profile again

Top: Foot
Bottom: Face on the left hand side

 Face pictures:

Top: Girl part
Bottom: Nose and lips on the left hand side

IT'S A GIRL! We are all excited to have another girl coming into our family. Can't wait to meet her face to face. I am sure she will be a little doll just like Arlee.