You can't tie a good baby down!

Miss Hayley has had a busy week, and it's only Wednesday! In three days she has had her first marriage proposal, first swim lesson, and found a new boyfriend.

On Monday, Hayley and I headed to Publix for our weekly grocery adventure. We were in the produce aisle (where else??) and I had just finished placing a package of tofu in our cart when a mother approached me with her one year old boy and 7 year old daughter in tow. Little Jack was sucking on a sugar cookie from the bakery as his mom made over Hayley. We went our separate ways but met up again in the frozen food aisle where Jack's big sister informed me that Jack wanted to marry Hayley!! Her Mom stepped in and let me know that as they were shopping they had planned out an entire beach wedding for Hayley and Jack!! Of course I knew that Brian would stand for none of this and let them know that Hayley wasn't looking to get married anytime soon, beach wedding or not! Jack looked a little heartbroken. I'm not sure Hayley cared one way or the other as she was still looking at me and trying to figure out why Jack got a sugar cookie while she was getting tofu!

On Tuesday morning we headed out to the YMCA for our first Mommy and Me swim class. Hayley squealed with delight the second her little buns hit the water. She's a big fan of the pool already and thoroughly enjoyed kicking and splashing around in the pool. Of course her good friends Kiley, Trey, and (on and off again boyfriend with the long hair) Kolbe, were there.

So, Hayley has decided that she needs her freedom and has made it clear to Kolbe that she wants to see other boys. She seems rather fond of this new boy... he's about 8" tall, has crystal blue eyes and nods his head in agreement after everything she says. Hayley must really like this new boy because we've caught her kissing him several times (see below video). Notice how Hayley is sure to check out all "angles" of her beau! Brian calls him "Army Daddy." Of course he refuses to believe that Hayley is kissing a boy other than him! I think Hayley might just have the same taste as her Mommy!!

Beach Babies

We set out to the beach this weekend for a Valentine's Day party with our Lamaze group! This was Hayley's second trip to the beach and we learned that apparently the salty air makes her frisky as can be!! Daddy was appalled as within seconds of arrival his little girl was pawing at Baby Jason (little boy in the blue hat), reducing him to tears! Apparently Jason is a bit of a Mommy's boy and wasn't quite prepared for Hayley's advances! Overall, a fun time was had by all and we had beautiful weather! We've really enjoyed our reunions and getting to see how all the babies have changed and grown.

It's been awhile...

...since our last post. Mommy has been VERY busy with work. Unfortunately at this point it has been more wheelin' then dealin', but I'm hopeful that over the next few days I'll start to see some fruits of my labor. Aside from real estate keeping me busy, Hayley has been growing in leaps and bounds and displays a new trick for us everyday. We ended up back at the pediatrician's office last week as Hayley had an eye infection. Supposedly it stemmed from the blocked tear duct (which we have been battling since birth and that shows no sign of going away) combined with the head cold Hayley had several weeks ago. The Dr. put Hayley on an antibiotic, reassured us that this wasn't uncommon, and sent us on our way.

On another note, it has been BRRRR FREEZING here in Florida. Okay, so really it has been about 60 degrees for the past week, but for Floridians it might as well be snowing! I realize I probably won't garner much sympathy from those of you in oh say, Colorado??!!! Obviously the storms that came through Florida last Friday have made national news. We didn't get any severe weather here aside from some heavy rains, but it was incredibly eerie looking when we woke up on Friday morning.

So Hayley has turned into a little speed demon on all fours. Her Great Grams had bought her an outfit that says "High Maintenance" and it definitely sums up our little princess. She absolutely loves our church group playdates and particularly enjoys watching the older kids toddle around. Hayley still hasn't displayed an ounce of stranger anxiety or separation anxiety and at this point I'm wondering if she ever will! It'd be nice if she'd want her Momma, but so far she could care less if I'm in the room with her as long as she's got plenty of entertainment!

Hayley enjoyed her first finger foods, wheat puffs, last week. It took her a couple days to realize that not only was exciting to pick up the wheat puffs, but it was even better to put them in her mouth! She is up to a whopping three teeth now and and it won't be long 'till she can tear into a big, juicy steak!

Below are some bathtime and playtime pictures that we've taken over the past week!

Baby Lesson #78

Teething biscuits are MESSY!!!! The good news is Hayley loves her biscuits and afterwards she gets a bath to boot!

Below are some pictures of her after bathtime fun. Hayley has found a new appreciation for nudity and between this desire to be carefree and her new mobility we had a heck of a time getting her diaper back on her after her bath!

A BIG Nipper

So Hayley is officially a crawler (or linoleum lizard as they're sometimes called in Florida). Sadly, her new found mobility got us kicked out of Little Nippers today. You see the rule is that once your baby starts crawling, it's time to leave Little Nippers. We (Mommy) really enjoys the social time with other mommies and their babies and I was hoping we could keep attending for a few more weeks. My thought was that I could keep Hayley occupied with some toys and that maybe she would just sit on our blanket and play, but alas, I should have known that my little rebel was going to show off her new skills. As I sat her on the blanket, I could see it in her eyes. She was practically shaking with excitement at all the open space. I quickly changed my tactic and thought "maybe if I just hold her in my lap..." WRONG MOVE Mommy! Hayley let out a shriek so loud that everyone in the room turned to look at us. With a heavy sigh, I set Hayley free and she took off across the room, stopping at each mom and baby and squealing at them as if to say, "Look at me, I'm HOT STUFF!"

So now that we have lost the weekly comfort and advice from the nurses at Little Nippers, Mommy will have to look elsewhere to find the answers to "what is normal?" I guess what I've learned from our time at Little Nippers and my short time with Hayley is that with a baby there is no such thing as "normal." This is a tough pill to swallow for a slightly neurotic new mother like myself. Speaking of neurotic...

Brian informed me that today he found a gray hair on his head. He told me that he thinks it just must have been a hair that didn't grow right and therefore was not "pigmented" properly. If he's getting gray hairs now, just wait until Hayley turns 13!!!!

Here is some new video of our little linoleum lizard doing her thing!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Unbeknownst to me, Daddy has been clicking his tongue at Hayley for several weeks now. He would typically do this while changing a diaper or wiping her face when he needed her to be still as she would stop fidgeting and just stare in fascination at him. Over the weekend she finally figured out how to "click" her own tongue and has been having a ball copying us. Now whenever we go anywhere I can here in the carseat clicking away. Her new accomplishment really makes her feel like hot stuff!

Big news from a big girl!

Jail Break!

I put Hayley down for her afternoon nap today. She was fine until about ten minutes after I had put her down when I heard her just screaming, obviously furious about something. This is very unusual for her as generally when I put her down she will play for several minutes before drifting off to sleep, but rarely fusses much less cries. Of course I ran to her room to check on her. I was absolutely shocked when I opened the door and saw her STANDING in her crib and looking right back at me, her face as red as a beet! Not only was she standing, but she had managed to pull the blanket that hangs above her crib completley off the wall and into her crib. I think it must have scared her, which is why she started crying.

She has just begun to master putting herself in a sitting position from her tummy and obviously we WERE NOT expecting her to be pulling into a standing position already. She's not quite crawling, more like scooting (or slithering as I like to call it) and at this rate she may just be walking before we know it.

Sick of Being Sick

For the past two weeks we have been a sick family! Hayley first came down with a minor head cold shortly after Christmas. It quickly cleared up, but then Mommy started coming down with the same thing. A few days ago, Hayley came down with another cold except this one was much worse. She's had a rough couple of days coughing and fighting a runny nose, but after a few calls to the pediatrician, nightly humidifying, larges doses of Vicks Baby Rub, Triaminic and some good old fashioned Mommy and Daddy loving I think she's finally on the road to recovery.

We spent today working out in the yard while Hayley sat in her excersaucer supervising. We have been working on re-landscaping the back of our house and will post some pictures once we get it completed. Hayley was a very content little girl which is definitley a good sign she is feeling better. We put her down to sleep tonight and she didn't make a peep. Now she usually doesn't fuss when we put her to bed, but we do usually hear her in her room talking and playing with her music box so we became a little worried when we didn't hear any noise tonight. Daddy's intuition spurred him to go in to check on his little girl. The room was dark so he had to let his eyes adjust as he slid open the door. You can imagine his surprise when he finally was able to make out little Hayley sitting up on her knees in her crib flashing a big gummy grin and staring right back at him. She has never done this before, nor had we ever seen her pull herself up on her knees like this. You could tell she was just beaming with pride of her grand accomplishment! Brian of course has now lowered the crib mattress as low as it can go. I think he is convinced she is going to figure out how to climb completely out at the ripe old age of 7 months!

A New Year

I'm trying not to start the year 2007 with a bad attitude, so for my first paragraph I'll make some small talk and save my rant for paragraph two! We had quite the excitement here in Greyhawk Landing on New Year's Eve. As Brian and I sat down to enjoy dinner (with Hayley asleep per her 6pm bedtime, even on New Year's Eve), we quickly noticed flashing blue lights out our back window and a police flashlight shining in our backyard and across the street. The police car continued to proceed up the street and then after a few minutes circled back down our way. Of course we were panic stricken... it was obvious the police were looking for somebody. After several tense minutes we were relieved to learn that it wasn't a serial killer, and it wasn't a burglar, it was.... A COW!!!!! Yes, the police were on mad search for a COW that had gotten lose in our neighborhood. Now living in Florida I've been concerned about encounters with gators, snakes and spiders, but cows had never even crossed my mind. Looks like Bessie must have made a clean break because as far as I know she was never found.

So for my vent to start the year... Hayley is a little GIRL (and a darn cute little girl if I do say so myself). You may think that I'm telling you something that you already know, but lately there seems to be some confusion. Hayley has quite the personality and manages to attract a lot of attention anywhere we go. She squeals whenever she sees someone in a store and is quick to flash a gummy grin which evokes an immediate response out of strangers. The problem is that if she gets called a "cute little guy" one more time her Mommy may just have a conniption. Not that I can't understand it... after all, she's bald as can be and I know that she can look a lot like a little boy. So what's a mother to do to help her girl out! I understand now why babies get their ears pierced, but between Hayley, myself, and Chloe, I don't need another task to add to the list of daily hygiene maintenance and I've always thought of ear piercing as a "rite of passage" for young girls. I could put a bow in her hair, but the lack of hair makes that impossible as well! My only option seems to be dress her in pink. But that doesn't seem to work either as she has been called a boy multiple times while wearing pink flowers on her shirt. I guess I should be thankful, I'd probably be even more peeved if I had a boy that was being mistaken for a girl all the time!

Here's some video taken of Hayley on New Year's Eve. She's laughing and playing with Daddy, one of her favorite things to do! Cheers and best wishes for hair in 2007!

Holiday Hangover

Christmas has come and gone and now we are on to ringing in the new year. We had a good Christmas... it was rather quiet, but good nonetheless. Hayley woke up on Christmas morning and got to open a few presents from "Santa." She happily played with the first piece of wrapping paper that she tore off for a good thirty minutes. Mimi and Grandpa gave her a "piano" and she has really been enjoying playing with it each day.

Speaking of Mimi and Grandpa... they are here:

But they could be here:

You know in Florida they sell fruit on street corners, in Colorado they sell shovels!!

Santa Feels A Lot Like Chloe

Hayley met Mr. Claus for the first time today and as we expected, she was more interested in his beard then anything else! Below is a video of the entire experience! I imagine next year Hayley may not be so eager to sit on Santa's lap!






So we've been very busy over the past week. We had a wonderful visit with Mimi and Grandpa and on the day they left our old neighbors from Atlanta, Ron and Teresa, arrived! Brian has had the good fortune to see Ron and Teresa almost once a month when he attends drill in Atlanta, but I have not seen them for almost a year and it was so nice to catch up with them again. There aren't many things we miss about Atlanta, but great neighbors like Ron and Teresa are definitely one of the main things we miss!

Now that we are getting back to our "routine," we've been busy getting ready for Christmas and just attending to daily life. Hayley has been busy trying to get this crawling thing figured out. She's been taking lessons from her big sister Chloe and just this morning she managed to make it up onto all fours and rock back and forth. Somehow I think life is going to majorly change for all of us in the near future!

6 Month Checkup

Hayley got a clean bill of health at her six month checkup on Wednesday. Although she is still on the low end of the growth charts, her weight gain was right on track as she was 14 pounds, 10 ounces and 26 inches long. She was such a good girl at the appointment! She only had to get one shot this time and was so sweet as she didn't even cry. Her little face just turned red and a tear came out of her eye.

We are now getting ready to head to the airport to pick up Mimi and Grandpa for their week long visit! Daddy has been in Atlanta at drill for the past three days and we are anxious for him to get home tomorrow.

And finally, as I was taking these pictures today it dawned on me that my little chunk finally has elbow dimples! I love when babies have such chubby arms and their little elbows are just two dimples!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

... at the Griswald's, err I mean, the Roberts' house. Clark and I spent the day Sunday putting up Christmas lights outside after a long two days of finishing up our landscaping. We're absolutely pooped but are proud to say we have the most "glowing" house on the street! It may be 80 degrees in Florida, but doggone we're gonna make it feel like Christmas if it kills us!

We had a nice Thanksgiving Day (our only real day of relaxation over the long holiday) and celebrated dinner down at Nana and Papa's house. Aunt Etta, Uncle Lee, and Uncle David all joined us! We had much to be thankful for this year, with Miss Hayley being at the top of the list of things we are thankful for. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Hayley tried her first bit of butternut squash. We think that perhaps this maybe one of the foods she is thankful for! Of course we didn't get any type of face out of the experience, but she's started "smacking" everytime we feed her the squash! Below is a video of her "smacking!"

We'll be going to the Pediatrician tomorrow for Hayley's 6 month checkup. We're anxious to see how she's grown over the last month. Hayley is getting so close to crawling and gets stronger by the day. She's definitely rearing to go and we're both afraid she's going to be a little speed demon once she figures out how to move those arms and legs.

Home Improvement

It's been awhile since our last update as we have been a busy family. Hayley has been busy trying new veggies each week. With each new food we excitedly get the video camera out and the digital camera ready in the hope of capturing a unique reaction to a new taste. However, we're beginning to wonder if Hayley even has taste buds as she doesn't make any face one way or the other no matter what we give her. The good news is that so far she isn't picky. The only thing that seems to make her mad at mealtime is just not getting the food in her mouth fast enough! So I spent all afternoon today pureeing organic goodies for our little eater. Hayley now has a freezer stocked of cubes of butternut squash, peas, green beans, avocado, pears, and sweet potatoes. What more could a little girl ask for? Here's a recent picture of Hayley as Brian was trying to teach our little patriot that you stand with your hand over your heart for the national anthem. (Yep, she's going on 6 months and no real hair in sight!)

We've spent the past three weekends engaged in home improvement projects. Our first project began with the garage as we finally got around to installing some garage shelving and unpacking those final remaining boxes. We've spent the past two weekends working on the yard by rearranging and planting some additional plants, putting in a stone edge, and remulching. We still have quite a bit to do as we plan to edge around the Magnolia trees and add some colorful flowers as well as just cleaning up and putting some plastic edging around the entire perimeter of the house, but so far we are pleased with our accomplishments! Here are some of our before and after pictures:




We'll be spending Thanksgiving here and will be enjoying the day with Brian's family before getting back to work on the yard and getting our Christmas decorations up.

A Disenfranchised Voter

We've had many firsts already this week. On Monday, Hayley had her first experience with sweet potatoes which she seemed to take quite nicely too. So far she has had a few different cereals, avocado, and sweet potato, all of which she snarfs down quite eagerly but for some reason avocado still seems to draw the most funny faces out of her. There must be something about those avocados!

Our second first of the week occured today as we headed out to the polls for Hayley's first experience in grown up civic duty. Hayley was in prime voter position as she rode in front of me in the Baby Bjorn. As I picked up my ballot, she was quick to try to snatch it out of my hands. Apparently she thought it was HER ballot! I had to explain to her that she had to be a little bit older to vote. Nevertheless, she was bound and determined to make sure her opinion counted. (After all, she's had to suffer through the radio ads and commercials for the different political candidates like the rest of us for the past three months!) We sat down at the voting booth and she immediately began beating on the table and pointing (with slobbery fingers for extra emphasis) on the candidate she wanted. Fortunately, we have so far raised Hayley right and we shared the same mindset as far as who should win our vote.

As we handed over our ballot, she was quick to flirt with the man putting the ballots through the computer. Her efforts didn't go unrewarded and she walked away with a sticker to let everyone know she was a proud, politically active American!

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.

Hayley's 4 Month Checkup

We survived Hayley's second round of shots and Daddy even stayed in the room without causing bodily harm to the needle wielding nurse. Hayley actually did very well with this set of shots and just cried a little (who can blame her?) rather than the blood curdling screams she let out two months ago. Overall she had a good checkup and is hitting all her milestones, but as I suspected, the Dr. is concerned about her weight. At 4 months she is 24.5 inches long and weighed 11 pounds 9 ounces which is a significant drop from the 25% range that she had been weighing in for her previous checkups. The Pediatrician seems to think that perhaps my milk is not "fatty" enough and has asked me to start giving Hayley about 8 ounces of formula a day. We go back in a month for a weigh in to see if Hayley's weight has gone up some.

Heads or Tails?

Some of you (Mimi) have been very concerned about Chloe's "lifestyle" now with all the recent change of a new house and Hayley's arrival. While I know that Chloe still doesn't understand why we have to keep the new "Bebe," Hayley certainly hasn't cramped the pampered life that Chloe is used to living. While Hayley was napping over the weekend, I went to work straightening up clutter and getting a meal ready. As I walked into the great room, slightly out of breath from a day of non-stop running around you can imagine how relieved I was to know that the work I was doing in the kitchen was not disturbing Princess Chloe! Chloe's got a big kiss for the first person to identify which end is which!

Hayley is 4 months old today and tomorrow we are headed to the Pediatrician for her 4 month checkup and shots. Daddy will be coming with us for this appointment and I'm certain I will have to send him to the car when it is time for Hayley's shots. I'm armed with a list of questions for the Dr. and am anxious to see where Hayley is at in terms of growth at this point! I'll post the results of our visit in my next post.

They're GRRRRRRReat!

Well it wasn't Frosted Flakes, but Hayley got her first bites of rice cereal today. Our Pediatrician suggests starting cereal between 4-6 months and I'd tried to hold off as long as I could but I just finally got tired of the nagging feeling that my little girl was hungry. I feel even worse about her being so hungry after seeing the way she responded to cereal. After about three bites she figured out exactly how this eating thing is done and couldn't get enough. We started off with just a teaspoon and ended up giving her 2 more teaspoons. She was not happy that we cut her off after that, but we felt it was best to see how she responded to this small dose first. By the second bowl of cereal she would start shaking with excitement when she saw the spoon coming towards her mouth! She'd even wipe her mouth with her bib after each bite! Talk about a southern lady! :) Below is some video of her first few bites.






Hayley was not happy when the cereal was gone. Here's an "after" picture as she was fussing for more!



I finally got a little bit of video of Hayley laughing.

Let's Eat!

I think I've mentioned this before, but our sweet, little Hayley can be awfully demanding when it comes to food. While I wouldn't say she's exactly "laid back" about everything else, she does handle other uncomfortable situations (such as a dirty diaper) without much fuss. However, when it comes to her food she wants it when she wants it or somebody is going to pay. Brian and I can't help but laugh each evening (when she seems to be the hungriest) about the little tantrum she will throw over getting her milk! She'll be happy and playing one minute and within seconds, with no warning, she will turn to an all out rage until she gets that bottle in her mouth.


This second video shows her rolling over. We were trying to get her to laugh but she wouldn't until we turned the camera off!

Fish Feast

Brian's old Army roommate, Trey, came to visit us over Labor Day weekend. The guys kept busy with a round of golf and a deep sea fishing excusion on Saturday morning. They had wonderful weather for their fishing trip and I know Brian really enjoyed the experience. Here's a picture of Brian's "big catch!" Just kidding, before heading out into the deep water they stopped close inland and caught some bait fish. (Kind of cruel, don't you think? Guess I'm just not so fond of the whole food chain concept, even though I'm at the top of it.) Brian didn't catch any fish period, not even a single bait fish! However, Brian's brother David and our friend Bob each caught a Barracuda. That left me with the challenge of figuring out how to cook Barracuda! We had a huge feast on Saturday night. We grilled the Barracuda and topped it with an avocado chile salsa. The fish was actually really good... it is very similar to Mahi Mahi. Anyhow, we had plenty of fish leftover that we froze and will enjoy our second Barracuda feast in the coming weeks. Below are some more pictures from the fishing trip.




And of course no post would be complete without a new picture of Miss Hayley. Here she is fresh from the tub and in all her glory!

Creative Problem Solving

I've really been enjoying the jogging stroller I purchased and Hayley seems to enjoy our walks/jogs almost as much as me now that she can sit up like a big girl and see all the trees, clouds, and people. However, I couldn't help but feel bad as we would head out the door and I would see little Chloe's heartbreak that she wasn't invited on our outing. The problem is that Chloe poops out fairly quickly and I don't get much of a walk in if she is with us. Knowing that Chloe is pretty adaptable, we developed a solution that seems to keep everyone happy (and give all the neighbors a good chuckle). Chloe will even let me jog while riding like this. I think she enjoys being up so high and feels like the spoiled pooch she's always been! I know people must think I'm nuts, but I sure enjoy getting some fresh air with my two girls!