Little Goblins

It's been a busy weekend so far for our little socialite. Never one to miss a party, we headed down to the new Main Street on Friday where they were having a Halloween parade for kids and a costume contest for dogs. The place was packed... it was like Mardi Gras for little people (and dogs). There were strollers everywhere and it was fun to see all the kids dressed up. Of course Hayley was just happy to be outdoors enjoying the fresh air and being toted around in the Baby Bjorn.

On Saturday we attended our 2nd Lamaze Group Reunion and Halloween party. It's been so much fun to see everyone's babies and how they've grown each time we meet. Hayley is an elephant this year for Halloween (not Dumbo though, just a run of the mill elephant) and we got some great pictures of all the babies. We have such a hard time getting Hayley to smile in her costume... it's like she knows that we're doing something to her that she is not going to appreciate in 12 years!

In some of the pictures below, you may notice the "pumpkin" trying to put the moves on Hayley. In fact, her kept trying to suck on her ears all afternoon. She finally just had to tell him what her Daddy taught her, "hands off pumpkin, I'm going home with my Daddy!!"

Our host and hostess had a beautiful home and they also had a little Shih Tzu. Those who have Shih Tzus know how perceptive they are... they are masters at picking out the biggest sucker in the room and this little dog was no exception. The second Brian sat down with his hamburger I was able to snap this picture!

5 Months Old

Hayley is 5 months old today and yesterday we returned to the Pediatrician for her weight check. The doctor was pleased with her progress as she gained a pound and a half since her four month visit. She now weighs 12 pounds, 15 ounces and is 25.5 inches long. I think she's just meant to be a long and thin little baby as even with her good weight gain she is still in the lower percentiles for weight and the higher percentiles for height. She's also a very active baby and must do 50 crunches a day in an effort to situp. The gals at Little Nippers think she should lead an "Abs of Steel" class.

You can see a monthly progression of Hayley's changes by clicking here. Here are some of the things that Hayley has been doing the past few weeks:

• Chewing, drooling, and chewing (fingers are her favorite) but still no teeth in sight.
• She's found her toes and figured out how to get them in her mouth. When we go to get her out of her crib in the morning its a guarantee that at least one footsie of her pjs is soaking wet!
• Talking and making lots of different noises. She's learned how to let out high pitched squeals which she loves to make at the grocery store when there is someone ahead of us in the aisle who isn't paying attention to her!
• Can sit unassisted for almost 10 seconds before falling over.
• Loves it when we hold her in a standing position... you can tell she feels like such a "big" girl!
• Paying more attention to Chloe and is just thrilled when she sees Chloe walk by.
• Seems to be quite social and at this point has no problem with strangers. She smiles at everyone who looks at her and loves loves the attention.
• Still shops with Mommy and enjoys every second she is in the Baby Bjorn. We have to make an outing everday or she can get a little grouchy... Daddy's worried we may have a shopaholic on our hands!
• Grabbing for everything she sees (it's getting really hard to grocery shop with her little hands waving out in front of me)!
• Car rides are MUCH better and she seems a lot more content in her new carseat. We think she can see out the window now and enjoys looking at all the trees, etc.
• Still doesn't like being on her tummy but has begun to reach for items while she is on her tummy and then just roll over when she's had enough (usually after about 15 seconds).
• Loves it when Daddy "Zrrrbrts" her belly and Mommy says the vowels to her.
• Still enjoying every ounce of her cereal (she's had rice and oatmeal so far). We may start some veggies in a few weeks.
• Still going to Little Nippers each week and seems more and more interested in talking with and staring at her "little" friends.

These pumpkins ARE NOT for sale!!

We headed out yesterday to Hunsader Farms and the pumpkin patch. I think we will add this to the ever growing list of dumb things we have done as new parents! Hunsader Farms has a lot to offer in terms of activities for kids, but Hayley is not nearly old enough to enjoy the festivities. Basically, we paid to park, paid for admission, and then fought the crowd, only to take a few pictures of Hayley and Chloe at the pumpkin patch and buy ourselves a snow cone! Had I recovered the brain cells that I lost while pregnant by now I would have had the good sense just to go down to one of the church pumpkin patches and take Hayley and Chloe's pictures there for free. Anyhow, the pumpkin patch itself was of course full of other parents trying to photograph their little darlings. We tried to find a semi-quiet corner to begin our photo shoot. It didn't go as I had hoped. Within minutes there were people surrounding us gawking at our babies and asking if Chloe was a "real" dog. They had their cameras drawn and were taking pictures left and right. Chloe didn't know where to look and Hayley was more interested in trying to eat the hay which (as you can imagine) sent Daddy over the edge! I finally just accepted that with all the distraction I was not going to get "great" pictures of Hayley or Chloe, much less of them together. I WILL get my Pumpkins with their pumpkins pictures another day, mark my words! :)

While trying to de-stress over a snow cone, we met up with our friends Chris, Dawn, and Luke. Luke was showing off by eating Cheerios in front of Hayley. I would have given $100 to know what was going through her little head as he was waving those Cheerios in front of her face!

Chloe is just now starting to warm up to Hayley a bit more and has started letting Hayley actually touch her. So far Hayley has been WONDERFUL with Chloe. It's almost as if she understands that Chloe is a dog and she must be gentle. Usually she tries to grab everything she touches (like our hair) but when she touches Chloe she generally just feels her fur and won't clench into a fist. Hayley laughs everytime she pets Chloe or sees her walk by. Hayley is also close to sitting up on her own. She seems to have the support she needs in her back to sit, but is still trying to learn balance.

Mommy's Little Sunshine

Daddy is once again in Atlanta this weekend at Army Reserve Drill, but that hasn't stopped Hayley and Mommy from having fun together (although we do miss Daddy terribly when he is gone)! We spent today doing some cleaning (which apparently Hayley thought was a lot more fun then Mommy did) before meeting up with some neighbors to head over to our neighborhood "Hawk Fest." (The name of the community we live in is Greyhawk Landing.) Hayley wasn't all too interested in the festivities, but for the older kids it was great. There was a fire truck for the kids to climb in, a police car for the kids to sit in, and one of the police horses that the kids could pet. The weather was absolutely gorgeous... hard to believe it is October. I've been a little homesick, particularly for friends and family, since returning from Colorado, so it helped to have a beautiful day here to help remind me of why we moved to Florida.

Hayley has turned into quite the little motor mouth lately. It's adorable to see her try so hard to get her "words" out. I'm certain that in her mind she thinks she is speaking perfect English. Of course I've also convinced myself that she is saying Mama! Anyhow, if her conversation level now is any indication of what's to come then Hayley probably isn't the best person to be telling any secrets to!

We have a trip planned to the pumpkin patch next Saturday and are hoping to get some cute family photos!

Back From Colorado

We arrived back in Florida from Colorado late Tuesday night (or should I say early Wednesday morning), as by the time we made it back to the house it was 1am. Hayley has jumped back into her old routine with no problem. Her Mommy and Daddy on the other hand are going to need a few days to recover! We had a very enjoyable trip and all things considered, Hayley did excellent travelling through the airport and on the plane. We kept fairly busy while in Colorado and the weather was beautiful the entire time we were there. Brian got some golf in and Hayley and Chloe both enjoyed all the extra attention. It was nice to just "get away" for a bit.

Hayley seems to have filled out/chunked up a bit while we were in Colorado. I'm not sure if it was the altitude or a growth spurt, but either way she was certainly enjoying eating. She's also turned into quite the conversationalist. She'd love to tell anyone who is interested all about her trip and will be accepting phone calls! Below are some pictures of our visit!

Six Years of Wedded Bliss

Six years ago today Brian and I were standing in Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas reciting our marriage vows to each other. At the time, we could have never imagined that in six years we would have lived in 3 different states, 2 different homes, and spend our sixth anniversary with our new little girl!

We are currently in Colorado visiting Shelley's friends and family. We left Florida last Wednesday and took a direct flight out of Tampa with both Hayley and Chloe in tow. Yes, we were that family that everyone in the airport saw and thought, "I hope they aren't on my plane!!" I have been stressing about this trip since the day I booked the tickets. Luckily, our flight was only half full and we were able to have the seat next to us for Hayley's carseat. We sat in the very back of the plane and although Hayley fussed a little, she did much better than we had anticipated. Hayley has been an absolute angel so far this trip and has adjusted to well to the time zone change and all the increased activity. We've got our fingers crossed that the rest of the trip will continue this way and that we will have a relatively "easy" plane ride home.

We traveled up to Frisco today to visit our dear friends Gerd and Becky at their beautiful mountain home. The weather has been wonderful since we arrived in Colorado and today was no exception. We had a nice lunch and Hayley got to meet her Gerd and Becky for the first time. We'll post some more pictures of our visit once we get back to Florida.