Braving the Big Bathtub!

We decided last night was the night! We were ditching the "baby" tub...



And going to try the big tub...



Hayden loved it! He loved splashing in all the water! He even got so excited that he kept wanting to stand up! :-)



We may to have to get a few more bath toys. These three toys look kind of lonely in the big tub!

Slumber Parties are FUN!

I love slumber parties, don't you? Well, last Saturday Jeff went to the deer lease with my dad and nephew to check on things, fill up feeders, have boy time, etc. So guess what? Hayden and I got to have a slumber party with Jen and Hudson since they had gotten here the day before from South Carolina! We were so excited! Landree got to have her own slumber party with her Mia and Popee!

So, when Hudson and Jen arrived, our first order of business was to feed the boys and get them ready for bed.

So we thought...Hayden wanted to jump and Hudson was wondering what on earth he was doing!


Well, this is what happens when little boys jump in their bed...they bump their lip.


And yes, we had our first sight of blood that night. Don't worry, I didn't freak out too much! I don't even think I told Jeff now that I think of it.

Ok, so maybe we should try taking some pictures somewhere else!

"Hey there good buddy!" (Poor Hudson, he was such a good sport! That's the only way Hayden knew to show his love was to grab his head, face, ears, etc.)



Maybe we will try something else!


"Hey! Where are you going? Wait for me!"




Hayden decided he was through taking pictures on the bed and wanted to play for a few minutes.


Then, the boys went to bed...for the time being. :-)

Next order of business. Eat dinner...or junk...whatever you want to call it! We had cream cheese, raspberry chipotle sauce and these delicious chips both from Cosco!



Then up next, make Funfetti cookies. We had both heard of these cookies made out of this cake mix (the recipe is on the side) so we thought we would give it a try!



It said to use a glass to flatten your cookies. Well, I didn't have a flat bottomed glass, so we pulled out the next best thing-baby food jars!





If you have not made these and you are not on a diet because you will "need" to eat two dozen of them (I don't know from experience) then go get these now! Even if you are on a diet and think you might can contain yourself, go them them now! They remind me of those yummy sugar cookies with all the icing on top that you get at Wal-Mart! But better! THEY ARE OH SO DELICIOSO...as Landree would say!

After this, Jen and I stayed up for a little bit talking, but we looked at each other at like 10:00 and said we were both ready for bed! It was kind of a crazy night with both boys getting up at different times throughout the night (mostly Hayden), but it was so worth it! It was so much fun!

Here are the boys the morning after...


We had a great week spending time every day with Jen, Hudson, and Landree! Jen and I even got to have a girls day on Friday! We got pedicures, ate way too much at On the Border, and shopped, shopped, shopped. It was nice to have a little time by ourselves! I think I had forgotten what it was like to eat without an almost one year old wanting your attention the whole time! Ha! Sad for us, they went home on Sunday. We miss them already!

1st trip to the Dallas Arboretum

On Monday, we took our first trip to the Dallas Arboretum with Jen, Hudson, Landree, and Mia (Cindy-Jen's Mom). We knew it was a "Mommy and Me" day, but we really didn't think it would be too crowded. Ha! When we drove up and saw a mass number of mommies and kids getting out of their vehicles while we were driving to the back parking lot, we were a little worried. I have never seen so many strollers in one place! Yes, there were a lot of people there, but, in reality is wasn't bad at all. For "Mommy and Me" days, they have crafts, face painting, petting zoo, silhouettes, and kindermusic. Landree got to do the crafts and kindermusic while we were standing in line for the silhouettes. The silhouettes were drawn by a lady there for $5. I think they were worth the wait in line! It was a beautiful day and we got some GREAT pictures! I posted several in the 11 month post and am keeping a few "secret" for Hayden's birthday invitations, but here are a few more from our day...

11 Months

Less than one month until the big day...Hayden's first birthday!

What is Hayden up to at 11 months?

PERSONALITY, PERSONALITY, PERSONALITY! He makes many faces these days! This has become his signature look though! He snarls his nose and makes this loud breathing sound. He is such a mess!






And...he can be quite serious.


Busy, busy, busy! This is how I can attempt to cook dinner...


Or, bribe him with snacks in his high chair. :-) He loves cheerios these days along with his mum mums, yogurt melts, puffs, graham crackers, and mandarin oranges as snacks.

He is beginning to hold out his hand and point at something or at somebody. He will also give you objects or pretend that he is going to give you an object (cheerios) and then stick it in his mouth.



We are working on giving 5. He does pretty well with this.

I am beginning to see him showing preference in eating finger foods and table foods rather than "baby" food. We have tried whole green beans, mashed potatoes, broccoli, chicken spaghetti, regular spaghetti, tortellini, etc. We will pretty much let him try anything we think he can handle. He definitely wants to be eating the entire time you are and wants a bite of whatever you might be eating! He is nursing four times a day and once at night.

On occasion, Hayden will hold out his hand while he is in the high chair and he has finished eating and say, "Mo, Mo, Mo". I am assuming he is saying "more"?

He loves balls of all sizes! We have a few small hard plastic ones that go with toys and we also have $1 ball from Wal-Mart that he loves! He will push them, drop them, etc.

Saying "Momma" and "Dada" much more clearly. He is especially good at "Momma". Wonder if that is because we practice it repeatedly every day? Ha! He will crawl to me, climb up my leg, and say "Momma". Melts your heart, I know! So sweet!

He has his two top teeth, but his two bottom teeth are beginning to peek through! No, doubt he will have them soon!





Loves blowing raspberries over and over and over. This is why in so many of his pictures he has slobber running down his chin!



SLEEP???? Getting better! Yes, finally! We are finally down to one feeding during the night...most of the time. :-) We have started letting him cry some when he wakes up before we feel he should "need" to eat. Sad I know. I hate every moment of it. But, we feel that it is a necessary evil. To say he has a little bit of separation anxiety it probably an understatement. He is a little attached to his Momma (and Daddy). But, it is getting better. We also put a box fan in his room for some white noise. This has seemed to help as well. He usually takes two naps a day. Usually, at least one is a good one (1 1/2 to 2 hours) and the other being about 30-45 minutes.

What's not to love about this age? Nothing! We are so in love with our precious little boy! We love you Hayden Luke!

Pitiful

Doesn't he look so pitiful? Begging at the fridge like no one ever feeds him?

Just Because...

Just because...



I love this picture. I think Hayden is happiest with no clothes on! Ha!

A game of "Paci Take-Away"

Oh how Hayden loves to play a good game of "Paci Take-Away" with his Daddy and Granddaddy.



Hayden will try to put his paci in his Granddaddy's mouth and Dad will take it and put it his mouth. Hayden will laugh, laugh, laugh. Then, Hayden will grab it and put it in his mouth. They will do it over and over again. Hayden thinks this is so much fun. Dad said that we needed sound to go along with these pictures because hearing him laugh like this is priceless!



The bad thing is that he is usually playing this game with Jeff when it is time to go to sleep and Jeff is rocking him. That's ok, it's absolutely precious to hear him laugh!

Double spoonin' it!

Hayden has starting grabbing at the spoon when we are feeding him. So, I thought it would be good to start giving him a spoon to explore with! We have a long way to go but he thought he was so big trying to eat his black beans and corn with his very own spoon!



PS...I am so excited that my best friend Jen is coming in from South Carolina today! It is sure to be a fun week ahead!

A little bit of sunshine!

Can I just tell you how much I love sunshine? We have really loved the off and on again sunshine this past week! :-) Now, I am just ready for all sunshine and no rain! We have been doing a little shopping, going for walks, blowing bubbles, and just hanging out outside.

Back in the day (before Hayden could crawl), you could walk outside to get something out of the car or do whatever you needed to do without this little man following you. Well, not so much any more. I literally was outside for just a second and Hayden was hot on my trail! HE IS SO FAST and definitely doesn't want to miss an opportunity to go outside!

Mommy's little helper!

Check out who has suddenly become Mommy's little helper...



Hayden can be playing in the living room and he will hear you open the dishwasher and I think he literally "sprints" (crawls) to the kitchen so he can get in on the action. Wonder if he will have this much enthusiasm as a teenager? Ha!

Life in the Country...again

Well, well, well...look who came to visit us?



Jeff just happened to go to the back door a few nights ago and this little guy was staring right into our back door. Seriously! I about died! I was so thankful that Jeff saw him first or I might have. I know this is part of living in the country, but I have never seen such an ugly creature so close up! I guess this little possum thought he might get a handout or something. Well, sorry little guy...all you get is a crazy man holding a spotlight and trying to shoot at you with a 22!

Sick, but thankful!

This past weekend was not a fun one for our family! Mom, Dad, Robin, her BF, Jeff, Hayden, and I all ate dinner together on Thursday night. Dad and I cooked what we thought was a fabulous meal that night! Pork ribs, baked beans, cornbread salad, mashed potatoes, and pineapple angel food cake. Sounds good huh? Well, come Friday night…not so much! Something, something really bad, had hit our house! Jeff and I were SICK, SICK, SICK! So, Saturday morning I called Dad to see if maybe he might go get us some Gatorade. But, before I could ask, he says “How are you feeling?” “Well, NOT GOOD.” I answered. Well, they weren’t good either. They were sick too! So, I went to the store to load up on Gatorade, apple juice, and ginger ale for both households. Jeff and I sat/laid around like zombies (taking turns doing our thing in the bathroom) anxiously awaiting the next time Hayden would take a nap so we could sleep too. Lucky for us, he took too great naps, played so well, and was such a happy boy that day.



Luckily Mom didn't get it near like we did. I think she did have a little bit of an upset stomach, but not all the "other" fun things that go along with it. That is the last thing she needed to be dealing with! Robin and I pretty much got over it by Sunday but Jeff and Dad are better, but not quite feeling back to normal. Hayden and I got out of the house on Sunday and enjoyed some fresh air, sunshine, and a little shopping at Canton.



We do think it was food poisoning and not the virus going around because we all ate together and all got sick within a few hours of each other. And…knock on wood…this precious little boy didn’t get sick! I am so thankful!



I wish we could blame it on someone elses cooking, but sadly, we can't. We still can't figure out what it was on the menu that night that made us sick but, I would not care if food poisoning ever made its appearance again! Actually, I would prefer that it didn't!

Mom Update 3-2-10

Mom, Hayden, and I had a little outing today. Today was the first day that Mom has had on "real" clothes, put on make-up, and gone out to do something other than go to the doctor or be in the hospital in over 2 months. We went and got her nails done, went to Subway to eat lunch, and to a local shop to see some friends. And, she did great. She was a little tired when we got home, but it was so good to have her out and about and enjoying some sunshine and "her" time.



Doesn't she look great? After loosing 100 lbs in the last two months, she has no clothes that fit her. She is wearing my clothes in this picture and they are even a little big on her! We are so thankful that she lost so much weight to help with her recovery, but certainly don't want her to continue loosing weight. She really is eating quite well now, so hopefully she can maintain her weight. Physical therapy is coming three times a week and home health comes once a week to check on her and draw blood for testing. Other than that, she is trucking right along and is getting stronger each day.

I can't tell you how GREAT it is to have her home!!!