This is my norm

Yesterday was so much fun…Hayden was in the best of spirits all day long and she was dressed in festive clothes for Christmas (from Aunt Deb). How fun!! Then last night we bundled her up and took her to the Christmas Celebration in Shenandoah with all my family. It was fun and it was our first Christmas event with Hayden, and we got free food (spaghetti, my fav!!) cider, and a free photo shoot with Santa!! (aren’t her cheeks so cute 🙂 she looks like she is thinking in her brain “Who are YOU!?! “)She was such a trooper waiting in the long line for her first Santa picture. Right when we left she got cranky and slept all the way home.

Yesterday we had Hayden dedicated at church. She was so precious in her little gown, which was mine when I was dedicated. And she did so good. She slept the whole time we were up there on the platform, and then she woke up and got cranky after. 🙂 At least she didn’t cry the entire time we were up there though.

Here are some pics from the special day

Our little family

So beautiful

Her little shoes

And her future best friend,Colton, and maybe future husband ;)(hee hee)

Yesterday was a fun day…long, but fun. It was our first holiday with our Hayden. We took off to College Station for lunch with my family. We had a lot of people this year, and some that don’t normally come to our Thanksgivings. I got to meet a great great aunt of mine, who is the only living relative of her generation. It was neat to see everyone. We even found out that a great great grandmother of mine was named Hayden, therefore, our daughter has a family name, and Elisabeth is also a family name.

We pigged out for lunch and the food was amazing. Alli, I loved all your recipes. You’ll have to send them to me. I don’t eat turkey but there was ham, stuffing, green beans, yams, all sorts of casseroles, and desserts to feed the world. I didn’t get any because we had to leave, but I heard they were awesome!

Then we headed home for dinner with Bj’s family. Again, fun times were had and much food was eaten. Hayden was so tired from the day that she fought her sleep so hard. She finally crashed and then slept all night long.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. I know I did. I am so thankful for all that the Lord has richly blessed me with. For a wonderful husband and beautiful daughter, a loving family and the best friends ever; for health and shelter; a job that provides all of our needs and the ability to stay home with my baby; I am thankful for each day that I live and for my salvation by His grace. And of course for the best pup ever, Hoobie 🙂

Hayden laughing

Uncle Britton, “Aunt” Jessica and Hayden

My family

Me

“Unc” and Hayden

TURKEY SONG

So funny!!!

Well what a nice weekend we had. Thursday we went to the dentist to get the teeth all cleaned for the wedding, then I got my hair highlighted, blonde and red. It looks pretty cool I think. (THANKS LIN) Friday the weather was great, BJ got off work early and we went out of town to Victoria for Leslie’s wedding. Hayden did great on the ride there and had her first hotel experience. She did so good all weekend, and wasn’t even fussy during all the commotion and rehearsals and wedding. The wedding was so beautiful and we got to see some old friends that we hadn’t seen in forever. We got back Sunday night and watched Madagascar. It was really cute and we liked it.

I can’t believe this week is already Thanksgiving. This month is flying by and soon it will be Christmas. WOW!! I am really excited about having our first holiday as a full fledged family!

Hayden has started smiling alot now, and even laughs out loud too. It is so cute. I love it when she looks right at me and grins the hugest smile ever! what a great feeling.

Well I hope everyone has a great SHORT week 🙂

Calling all Moms!!!! How do you get the kid to keep the pacifier in the mouth??? Hayden cannot keep it in her mouth for nothing. SHe loves to suck on it, but constantly pops it out!! HELP!!!

I hope you have a wonderful day 🙂

This weekend we went to Colton’s 2nd Birthday party. He is getting sooooo big. I can’t believe how fast he has grown. It seems like yesterday I was holding him and he was so tiny…tinier than Hayden. One thing is for sure…In the gang that was invited to the party there are no girls except for Hayden…we have got to get her some friends…the world around us is being overloaded with boys. (by the way, deb I must say again, that you did a SPECTACULAR job on his room!)

Then after that I took mom to her surprise birthday party by the ladies of the church. It was so great because she had NO clue at all. We went to Cheesecake Factory and there were 22 ladies there. It was great. We had a great time and ate wonderful food.

Well last night we put Hayden in her crib 🙂 I felt like we were sending her to college or something. It was a milestone in her little life! She was so cute and little in it. She didn’t sleep through the night though so I ended up bringing her back into our room at about 1:30 am but as soon as she sleeps through the night every night I think she will do fine. I am going to keep putting her in there though so she gets used to it (and so I get used to it 🙂 )

This morning she cracked the hugest smile at me and started laughing with no sound. It was hilarious…I tried to get my camera out but I was too slow. So cute though!

This week I am getting everything ready for our trip to Victoria this weekend. BJ is playing the piano in Leslie Pimentel’s wedding so we are headed down there on Friday. It will be our first time to stay in a hotel with Hayden! Hopefully she does good like she has been.

Today I am going to hang out with mom for a while on her birthday. Happy Birthday again Mom!

Hmmm…so apparently I have some hidden secret as to how to get a child to sleep through the night…I don’t really know what it is I have done right, but I will tell you some of the things I do and maybe one of them is the secret.

Each night I make sure to change her and get her in her night clothes while she is good an awake…then, I feed her until she conks out. Usually she will stay asleep as I transfer her to her bed. We have been letting her sleep on her tummy since she was able to hold her head up and turn it in the bed on her own. That is when she started sleeping through the night. Also, I don’t let her sleep with her pacifier, because then when it falls out she wakes up. Sometimes she will fall asleep with it in, but I will take it out when it starts falling out and she never knows the difference. Helps her to sleep more soundly instead of barely asleep.

hmmm….other than that I have no clue why she sleeps all night. Last night she woke up a couple of times, but just because she had gas…once she dirtied her diaper she was fine.

We had a fun weekend. Hayden let us get so much stuff done on Saturday that we had been wanting to do around the house. She slept her normal 9-7am Friday night and then took some long naps on Saturday while we cleaned the house, and talked about a bunch of upcoming stuff that needed to be taken care of. Very productive weekend. Then Sunday, bj didn’t feel so well, so he stayed home and Hayden and I went to church and then to the Harvest fest afterwards. It was fun and there was a good turnout.

This week if Hayden sleeps through the night every night like she has been we are going to put her in her crib next week 🙂 So exciting!!

Oh…great news..I got invited to play on a softball team starting up in the spring. I am so excited because some of you know how I LOVE softball 🙂 Now I will get to play again. I need to start practicing since its been a while since I played last.

Here are some updated pics of Hayden 🙂

Hayden and Aunt Deb at the basketball game

Hayden and Mommy – Harvest Fest ’05