Our Long Weekend

Grandma holding sweet Ava

Hayden was insisting on wearing Daddy's hat

A lot of kids are scared of Santa at this age, but Hayden was acting very serious. :)

Hayden's first ride in a moving toy car. He was so excited and his face lit up with a huge smile when it started.

We had a nice long weekend visiting with family and hanging out at home. On Thanksgiving we went over to Pat's for dinner. Mom brought pies and I brought stuffed mushrooms. There were two turkeys, two kinds of stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, squash, sweet potatoes, candied yams, scalloped corn, rolls, green bean casserole, oyster dressing, and pumpkin soup. On Friday we drove up to Springfield to go see Santa Claus, but we weren't interested in doing any shopping other than for me to give my mom some ideas. I don't really want or need too much this year. For dinner we went to one of Josh's favorite places-- Red Robin. Saturday my parents left in the morning because they wanted to go to St. Louis to test drive a Smart Car they have on order and my dad likes to have a day of rest before he goes back to work so Saturday we spent putting up our Christmas tree and a few other decorations. Hayden is fighting a bad cough/cold right now so he's been taking super long naps. We had the tree up and trimmed by the time he woke up.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today on this bright and sunny Thanksgiving I have many things to be thankful for. I am forever thankful for my beautiful family. My loving and supportive husband is such a blessing. We laugh together, cry together, and share in many conversations and discussions together. There isn't anything we don't share with each other and we are so close. Hayden and Ava are beautiful and healthy. Hayden makes me smile everyday and he is just the sweetest and most giving child. Ava is such a joy and her smile lights up her whole face, which in turn, makes my heart melt. I couldn't ask for anything more. I'm thankful for my parents health and their support. They are always offering to come and visit and spend time with us and with Hayden and Ava. Josh enjoys learning how to fix things around the house from and likes sharing what projects he's interested in taking on. I have a wonderful sister I can call up anytime and share funny stories about Hayden or just have a good chat. I have two beautiful nieces I love and adore. Olivia is the most helpful and loving girl and Emma is a sweetheart and a hoot! I am so happy my sister found her loving husband to take care of her. I am extremely thankful for friends-- especially a big group of women who I've become so close to since being pregnant with Hayden. We tell each other how it is, lean on each other for support and a shoulder to cry on, and share many laughs. If anyone has a problem or needs some parenting advice we are all there for each other. I could not have gotten through two painful pregnancies without them. God is good on this Thanksgiving in 2008!

Photo Tag!

So I've been tagged and here is the 4th picture of the 4th album in My Pictures. This is Josh's Grandma Annie holding Hayden when he was just a few months old while we still lived in Florida.

I am tagging: Carlye, Susan, Becky, and Joanna

Rules:
1. Go to my pictures
2. Pick the fourth picture in the fourth album
3. Tag 4 friends

Giddyup!

Ava received this outfit as a gift after she was born. She's a cowgirl just like her Bibi (remember that's Swahili for Grandma).

Happy 3 Months Ava

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic



Our baby girl is three months old. She's a very interested and curious baby. She loves to be held sitting up so she can look at everything going on around her. She smiles at her big brother and loves when Mommy and Daddy come get her in the morning by giving a big smile. She's a great sleeper and has been sleeping through the night for awhile now.

So You Think You Can Dance....

Well check out Hayden!!!

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Hayden loves the theme song to the Backyardigans. A friend of mine was always talking about how her little boy loved the show so I DVR'd some episodes and Hayden just stops what he's doing and gets the biggest grin on his face whenever it comes on. It is hilarious. After the theme is over he's off to whatever he was doing before.

A Few New Pictures

I had to make some crazy faces to get that smile

It may not be the Christmas season officially in the rest of the country, but in Branson it's in full force so here's a few pics of the kids in a Christmas outfit.

Hayden is 17 Months

My baby boy is getting bigger and becoming more like a little boy every day. His favorite book is Where the Wild Things Are and Over the Moon (Goodnight Moon, Runaway Bunny, and My World). He loves playing with Mega blocks and his board books. He's a great eater and there isn't too much he doesn't like, although he goes through phases like any toddler. He loves his baby sister and is always giving her hugs and kisses. He's a great sleeper and it's very rare for him to wake up in the middle of the night. He almost always goes down without a fuss after teeth brushing and reading a million books (ok only 4). He still goes to the play room at Josh's work occasionally so he can be around some other kids and everyone just loves him. Many workers will stop by just to see him-- especially if they're having a bad day. They say they need their Hayden fix.

All in Bows Ava

Welcome Baby Letterman

Yesterday I went up to see Lauren and her new baby girl. She and her husband haven't decided on a name just yet. She was born Saturday morning at 6:57 and was 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 inches long. I let her borrow my hypnobabies materials that I wasn't able to use and it worked beautifully for her. Four hours from the time she woke up with what she wasn't quite sure at first was the real thing to her being born. Very fast! For those that don't remember, I met Lauren from babycenter before we moved to Missouri and after we got settled in I met up with her and another friend from babycenter. Lauren's first baby, Calvin, was born the same day as Hayden.

Out For a Hike

This afternoon Josh took Hayden to Busiek State Park just outside of Branson and met up with Andy to go for a hike. Little Jack wasn't feeling good so he couldn't come this time. Hayden rode on Josh's back in the Ergo carrier.

Halloween Night

This Halloween we decided to not dress up the kids since they couldn't eat any candy anyway. Hayden had a lot of fun answering the door and seeing all the kids. He would get upset when they would leave and we'd shut the door. He would run towards the door as soon as the doorbell rang. It was so cute. Finally at 8 pm we shut off our light as we were almost out of candy and of course we had to save a few for ourselves!! We weren't really sure what the official trick or treating hours were, but we had a ton of kids come to the door for our first handing out candy experience. :)