I'll HUFF, and I'll PUFF, and I'll wog down the sidewalk!

As I was out for my morning "wog" (because who am I kidding, I waddle more than I jog at this point) yesterday morning, I couldn't help but notice that passengers in the passing cars seemed to be laughing at me. I got a little irate and thought to myself, "haven't these people seen a pregnant woman try to run before?" Of course I had to temper my ill thoughts when I came to the realization that no, they probably haven't seen a fat lady try to quickly waddle down the road while pushing a toddler in a stroller with a furry dog's hair flying in the breeze riding shotgun on top of the stroller. Now that the weather has cooled a bit we're returning to our daily walk routine. I usually start out for two miles just with Hayley, we then loop back by the house and pick up Chloe for an additional mile. Of course Chloe's little 5 inch legs just can't manage a full mile so I end up putting her on the hood of the stroller for the end half... right when we're walking along the busiest stretch of road in our neighborhood for all to chuckle at. It's a good thing I value fitness over vanity because I'm sure I look absolutely ridiculous. So after realizing what everyone is probably laughing at, I begin to think through just how many people I'm giving a "free ride" (in the lap of luxury I might add) while I'm huffing and puffing them along! I was planning to get a double stroller for Hayley and the Frog Prince, but maybe a triple would be in order so Chloe would have an actual seat? I'm sure I wouldn't look ridiculous then.

Hayley had her 18 month check-up with the pediatrician today. She's actually 19 months now, but I had delayed her appointment while I searched for a new doctor. After some soul searching I decided that our current pediatrician just wasn't right for us and luckily I happened upon a pediatrician who has just opened up his own holistic practice. This doctor spent a good hour with me today just talking about nutrition and getting to know Hayley and I'm so thrilled to have found him. Hayley is still on the small side at 22 pounds, but continues to be a healthy and thriving little girl.

Nana and Papa had given Hayley the Cozy Cottage, her very own ball pit, for Christmas. I about killed my self getting it inflated, but my hard work was definitely worth the effort after seeing Hayley's sheer delight over her new toy. Keep in mind that Hayley is obsessed with balls and in Hayley's mind if one ball is good then 150 balls must be heaven. But of course it's no fun to play in the Cozy Cottage alone, which is why Pooh spends every moment in the Cozy Cottage along with Hayley!

Christmas 2007

Christmas must be over. I know so because at exactly 8pm last night our outdoor Christmas lights tripped off the ground fault, signaling the official end of Christmas. We did have a Merry Christmas and now today we begin the holiday clean up (and I'm not opposed to using child labor). Santa brought Hayley more blocks then a little girl could dream of. Perhaps Santa didn't fully think through how these blocks would be used strewn throughout the house for Mommy to constantly step on. Hayley also received a red wagon that her and little brother can ride around the neighborhood in. She's taken her new wheels out for two spins to the park already and, big surprise, yells at Daddy to make the wagon go faster. I'm not going to be able to keep my little thrill seeker off the roller coasters when she gets older.

We hosted Christmas dinner at our home and somehow I managed to make it through without burning the house down (unlike Brian's birthday dinner, but that's another blog posting and our smoke detectors must be overly sensitive). There was one minor catastrophe which was my hollandaise sauce, but I managed to whip up a different cheese sauce and save the steamed broccoli and cauliflower. (Because after all, what good would nutritious steamed vegetables be if not topped with a calorie laden cheese sauce?) Each meal is a learning experience and in this latest episode I learned that the double boiler is not my friend. So now that I'm all cooked out, we have plenty of leftovers and I'm hoping to take the rest of the year off from the kitchen.

Our holiday photos

Ahh Man!

No, pigs haven't started to fly and it's not "really" snowing in Florida. However, considering the ice storms and severe weather that most of the country is seeing right now, this faux snow is the closest we Floridians want to get to the real thing! Friday night we took Hayley down to Main Street where it "snows" for ten minutes at the top of each hour. The "snow" is actually foam. It reminded me more of my old sorority's foam parties then an actual snow storm, but if it takes a bottle of Palmolive to give my daughter her first snow experience then so be it. Just remind me to eventually explain to Hayley that snow doesn't really taste like soap, nor does it occur when it is 75 degrees outside.

We attended a Christmas celebration for our small group last night. Hayley enjoyed getting to stay up past her usual bedtime playing with Luke. When Luke tired out she moved onto Luke's good natured dog, Satchley. Poor Satchley puts up with a lot! I've tried showing this picture to Chloe so she'll see how much worse it could be, but she refuses to even look. Anyhow, we all enjoyed the good food and the fellowship!

Brian exclaimed "Ahh man!" at Hayley the other night and we were shocked when she exclaimed "Ahh man!" right back. Aunt Amy pointed out that she probably picked up "Ahh man" from watching Dora the Explorer. Sure enough the first time we said "Swiper no swiping, Swiper no swiping, Swiper no swiping," Hayley chimed in with "Ah man!" Notice in the video she even tries to snap her fingers just like Swiper does! It's probably time that we really start watching what we say around her!

All I want for Christmas...

... is a shiny new set of wheels! The Mercedes Benz of strollers. Ah, the endorphins! Yesterday I managed to have my first successful jog since I came down with my little parasite. The overwhelming nausea combined with first trimester exhaustion just made the thought of running completely unbearable. I did manage to regularly take walks, but oh how I've missed the thrill of a run. And after the carb fest that was my first sickmester combined with all the laying around I've got some fitness gains to make up for! Unfortunatley, I'm not sure how long this running (or speedy waddling) bit will last though. When I was pregnant with Hayley, I had to quit running at about 26 weeks because she was so low that it was painful and I'd be unable to walk for days after a run. This little boy seems to be hanging out a bit higher up, so I'm hoping I've got a future in running this time around. I'm wondering if I should start going to the track and trying the hurdles. Might as well get Junior used to the motion because with those long legs I bet he'll be a natural at the hurdles... and the high jump... and...

As I previously mentioned, Hayley has been a handful lately. We've had several moments where we just wanted to hang her up by her toes. The problem is that this isn't a very effective punishment as she seems to rather enjoy it. Same goes for timeout. Sometimes I think she acts up just so she can be put in timeout... it amazes me how she can entertain herself just sitting alone and staring at white walls.

He may actually be part frog

Our son, that is. From the looks of it so far, he has been blessed with the special ability to leap tall buildings with those legs. This is probably a good thing for him to have though. After all, he's going to need all the help he can get to crawl, run, hop away from his bossy big sister.

Speaking of Hayley, what a little handful she has been lately. It seems we have begun to enter the tantrum stage which can make for some interesting moments. Boy does she get mad when I don't read her mind (typical woman, right?) One thing Hayley has decided she definitely doesn't like is Daddy singing. I can usually sing several songs to her before putting her down for bed, but Daddy can't even get two notes in before Hayley tells him "I done." Last night she even put her hand over his mouth and told him "Noooooo!" Tonight she told him "I done" and then tried to turn the light off on him. Luckily Daddy isn't easily offended!

Boy, oh boy!

We're having a BOY! Looks like Hayley will retain her reign as crowned princess as we'll be introducing a little prince to the world in April. We had an 18 week ultrasound this morning and there is no doubt that this baby is carrying the Y chromosome. So along with that sugar and spice it looks like we will add some snips and snails, and puppy dog tails ("Yikes!" says Chloe) to our household! We were grateful to hear that everything looked healthy on our little guy and now the shopping can commence!

We're baaaaccck!

After surviving another round with the TSA we managed to safely make it back to Florida. Once again I was pleased as punch to have the plane seat next to us open, giving us some needed room for our little Hurricane. While we were in Denver, Hayley became quite the Daddy's girl and would not leave his side. This preference continued throughout the plane ride home. Is it wrong that I actually enjoyed this???

We got back into town late Saturday night (or shall I say early Sunday morning?) We've spent the past few days allowing Hayley to get back on her usual schedule as well as get ourselves unpacked and back into the groove of things. We had a great trip and luckily the weather held for us... no snow storms to contend with makes for a much easier trip. Don't get me wrong, it was still cold and quite the shock to my thin flowing Florida blood. Hayley seemed to enjoy the cooler weather though and the altitude sure fired up her appetite.

4 Generations


A day at the park

Hayley's Gone West!

Greetings from Colorado! Hayley and I have been enjoying our time here since last Friday and Daddy flew in last Tuesday. I was pleasantly surprised at how well my trip with Hayley went as we breezed through the airport and security. Hayley was happy to wear "Bear" and seemed to enjoy a grand new adventure. She was really good about holding my hand in the airport and having "Bear" just gave me extra piece of mind that she couldn't get away. I was VERY nervous about the flight because not only was Hayley missing her afternoon nap, but we would be in the air during her usual dinner time and wouldn't be landing in Denver until her usual bedtime. Despite these things, she did wonderful and happily sat and watched videos for most of the flight. Unfortunately, the batteries for the DVD player went dead with about 45 minutes left in the flight and that is when I broke a sweat. She did her best to "entertain" the passengers around us and somehow I managed to keep her on my lap. Such a relief that Daddy will be accompanying us on the return flight. Because after all, misery loves company.

We've done our best to keep Hayley busy with trips to the park and the Cherry Creek Mall where they have an indoor children's play area that Hayley had a ball in (until she fell out of the cereal bowl). We'll post more photos and another update once we return home.

I got no strings to tie me down!

It's not like it should be a surprise. I mean after all, Brian and I knew that the product of our procreation would be anything but laid back. It's just not in the genes and we were pretty aware of this fact. We thought we were ready, but I don't think anything could have truly prepared us for the demands of our Hurricane.

We'll be making a family trip out to Colorado in about a week. Mommy and Hayley will be flying out a few days ahead of Daddy and therefore Mommy is busy preparing for a three hour plane ride where she'll be forced to contain Hayley on her lap. Did I mention that it is a three hour plane ride? Not only does Mommy have to survive the plane ride, she first has to make it through the airport. The stress created by just merely thinking about the feat that lay ahead prompted me to purchase this. Yep, I'm "hoping" to be one of "those" parents. When I was younger (read: childless and knew EVERYTHING), I used to see parents who would attach a leash to their children in public places. I'd shake my head and think "what type of parent puts a leash on their child?" Well, now I know. The parents of a Hurricane, that's who!

I couldn't wait to get home and introduce Hayley to her new "Beary" special friend. After all I thought, Bear will give Hayley a bit of the independence that she demands, while allowing Mommy to manage the airport without having a heart attack. But alas, our daughter is no dummy and Hayley was not at all happy to meet Bear. She now screams if I even place him near her. She obviously has no interest in just the illusion of freedom. She wants it all.


So today was all about the pumpkin here at The Roberts' home. We traveled down to a local, FREE (I learned a lesson after last year's pumpkin fiasco) pumpkin patch. Hayley could have cared less about the pumpkins and found it to be LOTS more fun to just run through the maze of hay bales. Never one to sit still, it should be no surprise that she also wasn't interested in taking pictures with the pumpkins.

After some lunch and an afternoon nap, Hayley spent approximately one minute helping Mommy and Daddy clean the pumpkin so Daddy could carve it. At first she wasn't too fond of the pumpkin goop, but warmed up to it fairly quickly and decided to see what it tasted like. Our "laid-back" daughter was not at all pleased when we tried to keep her from eating the insides of the pumpkin.

"I'd rather be running!"


"Ahh, much better!"


"What is this stuff?"


"Guess I'll see what it tastes like."


"But I WANT to eat it Mommy!!"

Our Daughter Is A Genius

Although I may be a bit biased. Several months ago I bought Hayley an activity table with wooden block shapes. She's spent a lot of time playing with this table and we would regularly sit and I would show her how each block fit in a specific slot. In the beginning, she looked at me like I'd lost my mind, but as the months went on she began trying to put the shapes through a slot. I heard lots of frustrated yells. Not only does this "puzzle" take mental acumen to know which block goes in which slot, but then positioning the block just the right way so it will fit through it's respective slot. You can imagine the pride that filled Brian and I tonight when our little "genius" identified that the square block goes in the square slot and succeeded in passing the block through to the other side. Next we're aiming for the red circle, followed by the blue triangle, and then after that, onto Harvard.

Sayonara, good riddance, be gone, adios!

First things first. GOOOOOO Colorado Rockies!!!

Dare I say that normalcy (whatever that is) is beginning to slowly return to the Roberts' household. I've had three days in a row of almost being nausea free which means I've been able to actually do something around the house other than curl up in the fetal position on the couch and fantasize about throwing up. For example, on Monday I was able to mop our tile floors, a feat I hadn't dreamed of attempting for the past 12 weeks. So yes, our tile floors were filthy and I'm beginning to wonder if the mere sight of the filth isn't what was making me sick. Anyhow, I'm cautiously optimistic that I'm rounding the corner and saying a happy sayonara to nausea and exhaustion.

Brian checks on Hayley every night before he goes to bed. Over the past few weeks we've noticed that she's really begun to snuggle with her bed buds. Here's a picture from the weekend that we took. She's got Pooh (as in Winnie, just to be clear) under one arm, Giggles the laughing doll under the other, and Froggie is underneath Giggles. We've had a discussion about removing Giggles from the crib. Giggles does just that... giggle, and it's beginning to creep me out to be awakened by the sound of a crazy sounding laugh over the baby monitor in the middle of the night.

We took Hayley down to Main Street a few nights ago for a little ice cream treat. I tried my best to take pictures of her (like I do everyday) and this is what I come up with. If I didn't know better I'd think it was a snapshot of her running a marathon... she just needs to be throwing down a cup of water. I'm surprised there aren't flames coming off the back of her. She's a fast little thing!

Here's a few more recent pics!

Queen of her throne!

Hayley and Papa!

I don't know who spilled all the balls, Mommy! I was just trying to pick them up and put them away!"

The Graduate

After six weeks of making the daily commute for a 10 minute swim lesson, Hayley is now an official Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) graduate! It definitely hasn't been an easy road, but we do feel confident that Hayley could survive if she ever fell into a body of water. Unfortunately at this point, Hayley was not able to learn to do a good swim. The culprit... her size. She doesn't have the size and therefore strength to be able to consistently roll from a swim to a float and back to a swim at this point and so Miss Amy, our instructor, felt it best to focus on a solid float. Apparently Miss Amy has 12 month olds that are bigger then our little peanut. We will go back to see Miss Amy next March for a few refresher classes and hopefully Hayley will have "grown in" to being able to truly swim.

Here's a little video from Hayley's last lesson!

It's A... TORNADO!

On Wednesday, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to get a first glimpse at my little parasite through ultrasound. It was amazing how clear and perfect this little person is already and I'm only 11 weeks pregnant. When I was pregnant with Hayley, I only received one ultrasound at 18 weeks so seeing our babe this early on was a great new experience. It certainly makes all the (exhausting, never-ending, gut wrenching, did I mention exhausting?) nausea "almost" tolerable to have the proof that there is actually a baby causing it. The good news is that the baby looked healthy and active... very active. So active that the nurses asked me TWICE if I'd had caffeine that morning. Are you kidding me? I ended up with a "Hurricane" my first go round and I was caffeine free the entire pregnancy. I shudder to think how much more hyped up Hayley would be had I been on caffeine during her development. So at 11 early weeks, I'm already a nervous wreck that this time I'm growing a "Tornado." I'm.In.Trouble.

So of course Hayley thinks her Daddy is just the coolest. So cool that she's turned into quite the little copy cat. I've tried to explain to Brian that this unique power is something that needs be used wisely. I was hoping I'd get the point across that he should get Hayley to copy him doing something useful... like oh, say, cleaning the house or cooking dinner. Instead? THIS is what he teaches her. I'm doomed!

American Idol 2025?

Daddy and Hayley have a nightly routine. It goes a little something like this:

6:00pm - Daddy returns home from work to a frazzled Mommy and a VERY HUNGRY Hayley.
6:01pm - After giving Daddy a hug, Hayley yells at Daddy to change so she can EAT!
6:15pm - Mommy, Daddy, and Hayley sit down for family dinner.
6:25pm - Hayley is done eating and spends the next 5 minutes mashing spaghetti into her hair while Mommy and Daddy attempt to have what almost resembles an adult conversation.
6:30pm - Daddy wrangles Hayley from her highchair and whisks her off to the bathtub while Mommy begins dishes.
6:40pm - Daddy proceeds to nursery with American Idol Wanna-be wrapped in hooded towel.
6:41pm - Hayley begins her tryouts for American Idol (this is Mommy's cue to pour the milk, we don't want our songbird to be parched)
6:45pm - Tryouts are over and Hayley's pajamas are on. Our diva proceeds to the couch where she demands her milk, quality time with Daddy, and the opportunity to watch Wheel of Fortune while she "unwinds." Mommy begins scrubbing the red spaghetti ring out of bathtub.
7:30pm - Lights our for our little star.

Below is an outtake from one of Hayley's latest recording sessions. Keep in mind, this happens EVERY night!

Here We Grow Again

Perhaps it's time for me to confess that there is a better explanation to my lack of blogging besides just being busy. If we combine my (somewhat sudden) increase in business with relentless, all day nausea, followed by an unwelcome head cold it may explain a bit better why I've refrained from burning up the keyboard. Fortunately, the life altering nausea that I'm suffering from is not the result of a terminal disease (although most days I do feel terminal), but rather the result of what I like to call my own personal parasite. "Somehow," I've managed to turn up pregnant. My new status comes as a bit of a surprise for us. We had factored another child into our life spreadsheet (yes, Brian has created a spreadsheet which maps out our future) but Baby #2 was not scheduled to appear on the spreadsheet until year 2009. Of course we realize that sometimes God's plans are different (and better) than our own and Brian's spreadsheet hasn't imploded, so I think we'll be okay!

At this point I'm nine weeks along and looking forward to weeks 13 and 14 as that is when the nausea I suffered while pregnant with Hayley ceased. My due date is April 17th which will make Hayley and the new baby approximately 23 months apart. We've definitely become exicted about the aspect of our two children being closer in age then we had ever anticipated. We think this will be a great opportunity for them to be close friends, and after being an only child I'm anxious to see the relationship that will develop.

Now, if we can just figure out how to break the news to Chloe...

"I'm Done"

So Hayley and I have been dutifully attending 10 minutes of swim lesson everyday for two and a half weeks now. It's been a lot of work... for both of us, BUT Hayley is making good progress. Today the skills that she has been learning seemed to "click" for her and she did a great job of back floating all by herself. Her swim is getting much better as well. We've had some head orientation issues to overcome. All of Hayley's previous experience in the water caused her to develope a habit of pulling her head back, as if to keep her head from going under water. When she pulls her head back, it makes her body go vertical in the water when we need her to be completely horizontal in order to swim and rollover into a float. The progress is slow, just a little bit everyday so having a day like we had today is VERY rewarding and encouraging.

Hayley's swim instructor, Miss Amy, has been very consistent about telling Hayley "All done" when the lesson is over. Yesterday at the end of the lesson, Hayley began telling Miss Amy "All done." This is definitely Hayley's new buzz phrase.

Are you ready for some football?

Hayley is, but only if it's good 'ol Denver Bronco football! We may live in Florida, but don't worry, her Momma intends to raise her properly. Courtesy of Grandpa, Hayley was able to start NFL season off right!

Hayley is 15 Months

It's been a while since our last update as we have been a busy, busy family! Mommy has been working with clients a lot lately, Daddy has had some out of town travel, and Hayley has had some busy days since ISR swimming started last week. Hayley's first swim lesson was last Monday. The class is a big committment as we have to attend a private lesson every weekday for 10 minutes. Of course Hayley was none to happy about being put in the pool and not being allowed to do exactly what SHE wanted. She's cried through just about every lesson (which apparently is normal for the first week or two). By Friday, the cry was pretty fake and she was actually smiling and laughing in between remembering that she was supposed to be mad. In just a short week though she's learned to hold her breath, open her eyes under water, and pull up on the side of the pool for air. We're excited to see Hayley progress through the lessons and are even more excited about the end result. We think Hayley will be thrilled to be so independent in the water.

Last Monday, before her first lesson, Hayley had her 15 month doctor checkup. The Dr. reaffirmed that she's still a little peanut. Hayley is STILL not even 20 pounds! She came in at 19 pounds, 12 ounces and 31 inches long. Luckily, the Dr. didn't seem at all concerned about her weight and she got a clean bill of health.

We got Hayley her own chair last week. So far she loves it! A fitting throne for our little princess!

There's a thief among us...

and the suspect completely denies any culpability. I spent a good hour today tearing the house apart in search of the remote control for the TV. We've been pretty good about setting the remote on one of our end tables, but now that Hayley has gained a few inches, I'm beginning to realize that perhaps that isn't the best idea. See, we have one of those complex cable, audio, tv systems that without a remote, you're dead in the water so I knew that finding this remote before Daddy came home to relax for the evening was a matter of life and death. I searched everwhere, pulling the cushions off the couch and looking under furniture. No remote, but I did find a significant amount of Hayley's toys and books stuffed under the couch... who would've thought??

All the toys Hayley had managed to stuff under the couch



I pleaded with Hayley to show me where the remote was, but she just looked at me like I'd lost my mind and went back to playing with her new found toys. I began to think like my Hurricane, tracing the steps to all her favorite hiding spots in our house. I looked under the dining room table, in her hamper, in every single one of my kitchen cabinets and drawers. I checked the office, scoured her room and finally headed off to the master bedroom. I checked the bathtub, under the bed, our hamper, our closet, the shower, all of our bathroom drawers... suddenly it hit me! Daddy had caught Hayley sticking one of her toys in my trash can (located inside the bathroom cabinet under the sink) over the weekend. VOILA!! The remote! It's always the last place you look, isn't it? :-)

The scene of the crime



Hayley still wouldn't fess up to the crime. She claims she was drunk on milk all day long... pretty weak alibi to me!

The suspect... trying to talk her way out if it

Category 5

Hayley picked up a few new words over the weekend. She now says boat (in reference to the raft that she floats around the pool in while yelling at Mommy to "kick"), and bawk for book. I've noticed a deeper connection between Hayley and Chloe and apparently now they are having full fledged conversations. If you ask Hayley what Chloe says she will tell you "Arf!"

Hurricane had a wonderful time at friend Luke's second birthday party on Saturday. She loved the toys, other children, and Luke's dog Satchley! Below are some pictures of our party animal!

Trying to climb into the school bus


Hayley insisted on being in the middle of Ring Around the Rosy


Playing ball with Satchley


Building with the boys!


Refueling... Looks like a hurricane has already worn Daddy out!


Time to play again


Hayley REALLY liked Luke's new toys


Hayley saying "Arf!"

Tiny Bubbles

I managed to wrangle Hayley's hair into pigtails this weekend. It was tough getting those few strands of hair into two different rubberbands, but she sure did look cute!




Now the after pigtails style does leave something to be desired!



Hayley has started to try to copy Daddy and blow bubbles in the pool!