i'm back!

     so...i have no excuse really. just that i got sick of blogging. i have SO much to catch up on, not sure i will even try to blog all that we have done in the past few months. i also can't believe that i didn't blog more about my africa trip. i posted a lot of pictures on facebook, have talked lots and lots about it, gave a lesson in church about the trip, journaled it (like actually wrote. in  journal. weird, right? :) ). i will probably just randomly tell stories from the experience throughout the next little while.
   without further ado,  here are some highlights.
sean's parents got home from their mission. welcome back jim and jill! quincy and west have loved spending some time with them and having them so close! we had family pictures done right after they got home. quincy, in true 2 year old fashion, was a real treat that day.

     sean and i went to las vegas, just us. it was so much fun! we met up with reece and rylee and went to the michael buble concert. vegas never disappoints.

     sean and i had our 5th wedding anniversary 2 weeks after we got back. we counted the vegas getaway as our celebration and also went to sundance on our actual anniversary. we had a great time both places! happy 5 years sean!!

     i've been doing some redecorating in my house and finishing the kid's rooms. i'll post pictures soon. everything is still in the process.

    west's birthday is on the 13th. so my craft area is a party planning disaster. stay tuned for a birthday post!
    did you know west crawls by the way? he does. no walking yet. stands up to things, scales the furniture, but no walking. he also still only has 2 teeth. the bottom 2. but 3, maybe 4?, are breaking through on the top as i am typing...poor boy. it's been rough on him. still my happiest boy though.

     another rough milestone, Q no longer has her binkies. big girl room in the basement, potty training, all other transitions from baby to little girl have been a breeze with quincy. we knew this one would be different. she NEEDS that bink. it was getting so she literally wanted it all the time and it was driving me nuts. but, i'll admit, it was nice to have the plug and the soother that her binky has been. it took the bribery of a new Belle doll, Belle gloves, and the beauty and the beast DVD that just came out for her to throw her binkies in the garbage. it also took 3 days of her believing she would die without them. she said lots of prayers to help her be okay without them and we read lots of stories and talked a lot at bed and nap time. it was so sad to see her so broken up about not having them. but now she is great! and says adorable things like, "heavenly father helped me and now i don't need my binkies anymore!" and "i am okay without my binky mom, i will not even cry!" i am so proud of her. and she loves all her new Belle stuff!

      speaking of Belle...we went to disneyland! we were there for 5 days with a group of friends and had a blast! i was surprised how much west loved it. i knew he would like the music and lights and that he would be pretty easy there, but i had no idea that he would really LOVE it. he sat right up to the bars and held on tight on the rides and danced to the music and looked and pointed and made noises about the things he saw. he cried when sean took him off the dumbo ride and his favorite was small world. we went on it 4 times. and quincy...well,  we knew our little princess lover would be in heaven. the first day when we were checking into our hotel she saw a little girl wearing a cinderella dress.. it was over from there. that's all she could talk about was that she needed a cinderella dress. that evening, we got her one and she wore it the rest of the trip. we went to ariel's grotto for lunch one day and she met all the princesses. she was STAR STRUCK. this was her face when snow white, the first princess came down the stairs.

     i think this lunch was her favorite part of our trip.

      pointing at the castle. everything was so exciting!

      the hotel we stayed at was great! it had an entrance to downtown disney and california adventure. because it was so easy to go in and out of the park, we took breaks. to eat, take naps, and swim! the pools were really fun. quincy, will, and teagan went down this slide millions of times.

      west loved the characters, i thought he would be a little nervous, but he got right in there!

     can't wait for our next disney trip!

     i know i'm leaving some things out. we have been busy as always. we had a great summer, but it was TOO FAST. still, i am excited that fall is here and having fun planning birthday and holiday parties. loving the leaves on the trees and the cooler weather.
     before i go i can't forget a video of my kids entertaining me. you know no matter how busy, the hadlocks always have time for a dance party!

     oh i have to share this one too. Q's absolute favorite is justin beiber. this video was taken earlier this summer when she was first starting her obsession. :) this song was our summer anthem. we were in toys r us the other day and one of his songs came on. i didn't even notice and she goes, "mom! listen. justin beiber!" sorry this video is so long, and i really am embarrassed i recorded her with that bedhead! just up from a nap. i'll admit, she didn't have pants on either. at least i didn't show that this time. (i promise my kids are dressed and ready sometimes.)