Celebrating 1

What a nice, wonderfully long weekend we had! Brian and I enjoyed spending lots of time with our big, birthday girl. We had the family over for a cookout and birthday party on Sunday afternoon. Hayley donned her party dress and entertained as she always does. Chloe dressed up for the occasion too and wore her pink sundress and new pearls that Uncle David and Carolyn had given her! (No, I'm not crazy!!)

Hayley LOVES all of her presents! She got a big, soft, stuffed dog to roll around on and promptly named him "Dabin." She got some toys to play with and some new clothes. Most importantly, she had her first bite of cake! Okay, so maybe it wasn't "real" cake, but the apple cake actually tasted pretty good as Brian ate some for breakfast and if Brian will eat it.... :-) There was a small amount of sugar in this cake, and Hayley's reaction after eating the cake is precisely why this little girl will not be getting sugar on a regular basis. Her sugar high was obvious to all in attendance!

Yes, Hayley got almost everything a little girl could want. The only thing she didn't get was... hair. We've got high hopes that Hayley will be flaunting a head full by birthday number two!

Happy Birthday Hayley!

Today is our little girl's very first birthday! We can hardly believe that it was a year ago that we welcomed her to the world. Our time with her has gone so fast! (At least after the first four REALLY long months!) Luckily, Daddy has a four day weekend for Memorial Day and we are enjoying getting to spend the day with him. We plan to have a small birthday party on Sunday for Hayley and she'll get to enjoy her very own homemade, organic, apple cake! We'll post an update at the end of the weekend along with some birthday pictures.

A Visit to Colorado

Hayley and I have spent the past week visiting Mimi, Grandpa, and G-Grams in Colorado. We flew in on a VERY long flight last Saturday in an effort to surprise G-Grams for her 89th birthday. I haven't blogged in awhile because I was a little stressed over preparation for the flight, after all, it is a 4 hour flight and Miss Hayley isn't one to sit still for 4 seconds. Daddy had to stay home and work and this was my first solo flight with Hayley. Luckily, we had booked a direct flight on Frontier and we were fortunate enough to sit next to a 15 month old boy named Austin and his (also) stressed out Mommy. The flight started out well. I like Frontier because they have the little tv screens in the headrest and they show you real-time flight tracking. As the hours went by, I began to notice that we were taking a very "southern" course. As we headed towards San Antonio I began to get very nervous that either our plane had been hijacked and we were headed to Mexico, or worse, we were still going to Colorado and were going to be flying for a lot longer than anticipated. Seconds later, the pilot came on and confirmed my fears... we would indeed be spending an extra hour flying due to the massive thunderstorms over the Midwest. As I looked at the fellow Mommy sitting next to me, I think both of our eyes welled up with tears and we both sighed heavily. When we finally landed it was 11pm eastern time and WAY past Hayley's bedtime. As frazzled as I was, she did very well through the flight and received several compliments on her good behavior. Thank goodness for portable DVD players and Dora the Explorer. Now I just have to survive the flight home tomorrow!

We've had a very good visit however and I think we gave G-Grams a good surprise. Hayley has loved all the attention and even got to go swimming with Grandpa!

Getting to know the cousins

Hayley's cousins, Nate and Caleb, were in town this weekend and so we headed down to Nana and Papa's for dinner on Saturday night. Hayley had an absolute ball playing with her cousins! She was particularly mesmerized by her oldest cousin Caleb who crawled around like Spiderman and let Hayley crawl on top of him. She loves watching the "big" kids and wants to be smack in the middle of their playing. Caleb and Nate brought Hayley a Dora the Explorer car to ride on and Hayley gave her two favorite cousins a Go Diego Go pool toy.

Nana and Papa have a swimming pool and it's an unwritten rule that if there is a pool then Hayley is going to get in and swim! She DEMANDS to get into any pool she sees. We couldn't even let her out on the lanai before dinner because she was so determined to get in the water and she fussed when we would restrain her from getting in. After we ate dinner we put her swimsuit on her and she immediately knew what it was for as she made a beeline for the pool.

Hayley is walking very well now. She can stand up by herself without holding onto anything and has become very skilled at squatting down to pick up a toy and standing right back up. She loves to explore and chase after Chloe!

I need to rant

Little did we fully comprehend that when we decided to become parents we would be open to scrutiny by the general public. Until now, we had only noticed friendly smiles and quick waves when dining with Hayley, but lately for some reason, those smiles have turned to looks of disapproval each time we've strapped Hayley into the highchair. We shrugged a lot of this off as just being paranoid and nervous about not wanting to disturb others with out talkative (yet VERY well behaved baby). (Besides, it's not like we were ruining someone's candlelit anniversary dinner at the fanciest restaurant in town. Think kid-friendly before 7pm dining type establishments!) However, last weekend was the straw that broke the camels back. Keep in mind that Brian and I have taken extreme measures to follow the "rules" of parenting. Being the germaphobes we are Hayley's little buns have never touched a highchair because we smother every inch of the chair with a cloth cover. We then cover the table in front of her with a Tabletopper so as to keep her "plate" as clean as possible. I suppose this looks neurotic to some, but if neurotic keeps me from having a sick baby then so be it!

Since Hayley's arrival, we haven't had many family dinners out, but we are trying to go and enjoy ourselves a little more now. My beef begins last weekend as we went through the above prepping process at one of our favorite breakfast spots. We did notice the annoyed look of the woman at the next table, but shrugged it off as something unrelated to us. Of course when she started badmouthing us as parents to her dining partners loud enough that we could hear it, I took it personal. She just couldn't understand why we "didn't just get a plate for our baby?" Right, because most 10 months old eat their Cheerios off of a plate!! When our meal came, she really got fiesty. Apparently she was appalled and disgusted by the fact that we were feeding our baby the same food we were eating!!!! Now, in light of the dirty looks we've repeatedly received, this seems to be disturbing to a lot of people. From the looks we get we might as well be feeding her a big vat of chocolate rather than the veggies, chicken, and ground beef that are part of our meal.

One of the many benefits of making your own baby food is that it always has some "chunks" and never gets as runny as jarred baby food and so sometimes the transition to table food can be a little easier because babies are already used to the consistency. Hayley had absolutely no trouble adjusting to table food. She's not picky and leans more on the side of being a bottomless pit rather than finicky. In short, she likes to eat, she knows what she wants, and she's not afraid to tell you what she wants! If she wasn't happy eating what I was giving her, she'd let me know. At home, we sit down and eat dinner as a family with Hayley eating cut up bites of what Brian and I are eating. Why should it be any different at a restaurant?

Perhaps it is because Hayley is small for her age and people assume she is younger than she is. Maybe many of these people passing judgement have never had children of their own or had them so long ago that they've forgotten what kids do at each stage. Either way, I've learned a valuable lesson about passing judgement and we're doing our best to not let other peoples' opinions upset us. We're also trying to teach Hayley to spit soggy Cheerios at the "offenders" on command. How's that for taking the high road??!! :-)

Fun with the girls (and Papa)

Hayley's second cousins, Morgan, Emily and Lauren, were in town last week and so we had dinner on Friday night with them. They all wanted to see Hayley's famous swimming skills so we strapped on her swimsuit for some pool time fun. She's starting to enjoy the water so much that now she starts crying when I take her out of the pool at the end of our swim lesson. I do believe I must have given birth to a really cute fish.

Easter Ham

Our little ham spent Saturday anxiously awaiting her first visit from the Easter Bunny! We spent Sunday morning at church and returned home for Hayley to receive her Easter basket and to go on her first Easter Egg hunt!

We hosted Easter Dinner at our home and were fortunate enough to share the day with 15 family members. Of course Hayley (and Chloe) enjoyed the endless stream of attention and we greatly enjoyed the time spent with family! Below are some pictures from our holiday.

BREAKING NEWS!!

Hayley took her first steps today!!!! (And you can see the fear in Chloe's eyes)! Over the weekend Hayley became an expert at pushing her walking cart around and much to our excitement this afternoon she took her first few steps to Daddy! We may just get to have an Easter Egg hunt after all this year!

Things change...

... but somehow they stay the same. When Brian and I met, he was in the Army. Before we got married he got out of the Army and joined the civilian world. After being married for 2 years, he ended up in the Reserves and being mobilized. For a year I experienced the life of an Army Wife before Brian returned to the civilian world. Now I'm once again going to be an Army Wife and little Hayley is going to be an Army brat! Brian has been mobilized again, this time under Operation Enduring Freedom. Over the years I've come to learn that you can take the man out of the military, but you can never take the military out of the man.

It's definitely going to be a big change for us. We've enjoyed the luxury of Brian working out of the house for the past three years and his short commute from the bedroom to the office will be replaced by a significantly longer commute from our home to MacDill Airforce Base in Tampa. He will be a Contract Officer, a job that he is optimistic will be fulfilling. He's going to miss getting to walk out of his office and play with Hayley on his lunch break and I know that Hayley is definitely going to miss seeing Daddy all throughout the day.


We spent the weekend tying up some loose ends around the house and spending time together with Hayley. We took Hayley over to the community pool (which is heated) today so she could get a dose of swimming followed by some quality time in the swing.


Hayley is finally beginning to get the hang of holding her own bottle (which would be a big help to us)!! Obviously you can tell she is quite pleased with herself and I couldn't help but share this picture!

And the winner of the swimsuit competition is...

So Hayley has REALLY been enjoying her swimming lessons. She's turned into quite the little fish and squeals with delight when we walk into the pool area. I'm sure she doesn't mind the fact that her boyfriend Kolby is in her swim class either! We had our fourth lesson today and the instructor has helped me work up enough nerve to start letting go of her in the pool. Hayley's problem is that she gets so excited while swimming that she wants to squeal and ends up swallowing a bunch of water! However, she is determined to swim and I'm hoping that over the next few classes she'll be able to swim to the side by herself.

A Visit From Mimi!

We've had a busy weekend! Mimi flew in on Wednesday and Hayley has been busy showing her all her toys and daily activities. G-Grams had sent Mimi with a special gift for Hayley, a new stuffed bunny. Hayley LOVES her new bunny and has been giving the bunny lots of hugs and kisses!

We spent Friday evening at a rehearsal dinner and Saturday evening at the wedding of some good friends. Brian had met Phil while attending the Army Advanced Course in South Carolina two summers ago. Phil married Allison who was and raised in Venice, FL which is about 30 minutes south of us. We have enjoyed several dinners with Phil and Allison over the past two years when they would come to Florida for a visit and Brian was honored to serve as a sword bearer in their wedding. It was a beautiful military wedding and we enjoyed getting to talk with some of these men and women, most of whom have spent a significant amount of time in Iraq. It was refreshing to hear some opinions on the war straight from the mouthes of the Soldiers who are endangering their lives for our security.

We will be very sad to see Mimi head back to Colorado tomorrow afternoon, but Hayley has so much enjoyed her time with Mimi and is already looking forward to her next visit!

Ho Hum-mus

The weather has been beautiful here and we took Miss Hayley across the street to the park this afternoon so she could get a little swinging in before dinner. She loves being in the swing and letting the wind blow through her 3 little hairs! Hayley even talked Daddy into taking her down the "big kid" slide. Daddy let me know that they sure aren't making playground equipment as big as they used to!

Last night we did a little mealtime experimentation and gave Hayley some hummus. We're not too sure this is something she'll be interested in eating again!

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.