Today we had an up close and personal visit from the Sandhill Family. Little baby has grown a ton and it won't be long until he's sent out to fend for himself. One of these days Hayley is going to love looking at all the different animals that come to her window! Chloe doesn't seem to be too interested in defending her turf, so I guess we don't have to worry about her scaring any of the critters off.
It's a small zoo, but a zoo nonethe- less. Since Greyhawk Landing is somewhat considered "country living" we expected to see a little more "wildlife" then in the previous places we'd lived. After being in Florida for several years, we've come to expect seeing exotic birds like the Sandhill Crane families that roam around. Little did we know we would be sharing our new home with a family of deer. Apparently they live in the preserve behind our home and we've been fortunate enough to see them up close from our lanai. We've spotted (and heard) an owl and several falcons and hawks as well. Between the deer, the birds, the three Shih Tzus and cat next door, it's almost like a day at Wild Kingdom!
o today Shelley and Hayley ventured out for our first girls only shopping trip. Our store of choice, Target. Hayley had a grand old time... she slept through the whole thing. It was a good experience for Mommy though as I learned how the infant seats sit in the carts and it gave me more confidence in figuring out how to "shop" with a little one in tow. There is soooo much more to errand running with an infant then I ever imagined. Anyhow, I picked up a Bumbo for 
Hayley. She has such a desire to sit, that I thought for sure she would love the Bumbo. So far she really seems to be enjoying her new toy! She's been sitting contently in her Bumbo just looking around the room during awake time. Chloe seems to be enjoying the Bumbo as well... Hayley is right at her eye level now!
We ventured out today for "Little Nippers," the new mom and baby group offered at our hospital. It was good to see some other moms and Hayley enjoyed looking at the other babies. She was such a good girl the entire time. Our car ride was so peaceful I had to keep looking back to make sure she was still in the car with me. This is quite the change from the little screamer I had just a week ago. Thinking it was just a fluke, I was even more amazed when she fell asleep and didn't utter a peep the entire drive home. Anyhow, Hayley got to see her boyfriend, Colby (the long-haired boy from Lamaze class) and she enjoyed having so many new faces to look at. She is so alert for her age... she got mad at me as I tried to feed her because all she wanted to do was look around.
So today we went to our Lamaze reunion. Hayley had a great time hanging out with some fellow toothless diaper wearers. She behaved like an angel... of course she was on her best behavior for all the little boys. Out of our Lamaze class, Hayley is one of only two girls. There seems to be a baby boom of boys here in Florida. Everyone we have met through childbirth classes, etc has or is having a boy and this has Daddy worried.
One little boy took a particular liking to Hayley. He had quite the head of hair and Daddy says this is the last long haired little boy that Hayley will be sitting next to! Colby was born the day before Hayley and has a twin sister (I think he must have recognized Hayley's cry from the hospital since we were there at the same time)! We have never seen a baby with hair like Colby. The pictures don't do him justice! 
Brian and I both felt better about how things are going after getting out and talking to other parents who have babies the same age as Hayley and are going through some of the same things we are. It is so easy to feel like you are the only one with a baby that cries or fusses so being around these other parents definitely made us feel more "normal." We realize now how good Hayley is doing at night as we were about the only ones who haven't really struggled with nighttime sleeping.
We had a very patriotic 4th of July today as we celebrated our nation's birthday with family and friends. We also took the occasion to celebrate Brian's recently announced promotion to Major with the US Army. We are so proud of all his dedication and hard work in achieving this milestone... Hayley definitely has a Daddy to be proud of! In honor of these two events, we grilled some burgers and had a great cookout on the lanai with Brian's parents, Aunt and Uncle, brother David, and good friends Chris, Dawn, Candy, and Luke.
After a very rough day on Sunday, the past two days with Hayley have gone very well. She slept for 5 hours straight on Sunday night which was wonderful. She is still really fighting sleep, but finally accepting the pacifier is making a big difference in getting her calmed down and keeping her that way. She has been waking up from naps relatively happy which is a big change for us. It is so nice to FINALLY be able to see her interact more with us and seem content. We are cautiously optimistic that we are rounding a corner and on our way to happier days!
Now, that being said, we are still constantly pulling from our repetoire of soothing techniques. I am trying so hard to create a bedtime/naptime routine for Hayley (because all the books tell me this is important). As I've said before, she STILL really likes the country music. Her naptime routine now consists of a "routine" of country songs. Little did I ever believe that George Strait would be singing the lullabies that put our little darling to sleep! Here's a picture of Daddy and Hayley in the middle of the routine (and yes, that is "the" Bissell in the background).
... I was thinking to myself as Brian and I were heading off to bed at 8:30pm on Friday night. Our nightly routine now consists of taking turns wolfing down a meal as the other does everything possible to keep Hayley from fussing. She will catnap from the 5 to 10pm timeframe, but is very easily awakened and insists on being held during this time OR ELSE! So after we get done trying to eat dinner, we again take turns holding Hayley while the other gets ready for bed. This is usually around 7:30pm since we want to be ready for Hayley's "big dive" after the sun goes down. As the house darkens, we both start to get that nervous feeling... will she or won't she go down easy tonight. You can just sense the tension as she finally nods off into a deep enough sleep that we summon up the courage to set her down in her bed. SUCCESS! We jump into bed, afraid to even breathe in fear that "the princess" will awaken. (You'd think there was a pea underneath her mattress!)
