Category Archives: hayden

Dec 11 2015
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hayden, Uncategorized

Celebrating 10 in NYC

Earlier this year, I got a wild idea to surprise Hayden with a trip to NYC for her 10th birthday. She loves traveling. Reading about new places and experiences and I thought this milestone birthday would be the perfect thing for her.

She has flown in an airplane before, but was too young to remember.

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Celebrating 10 years at PizzArte

Times Square
Finding Neverland
The coolest rare bookstore

We had an amazing time. Some of the notable places ate at Cafe Lalo, Pizzarte, Randolph’s at the Warwick (where we stayed, thank you Hotwire for a great deal. It was a perfect location and the hotel has so much history to it). We stumbled across the most amazing rare book store while on our way to breakfast one morning. (Westside Rare & Used books) Hayden picked up a hardback copy of 20,000  Leagues Under the Sea as a souvenir.

We rode the subway (more than we planned, when we took it the wrong direction 19 stops and ended up in the Bronx instead of the South Ferry), the Staten island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, a train from Newark to Manhattan, and ended with a cab ride. She was so interested in all modes of transportation. We kept trying to change her mind on the cab ride, but she was so intrigued. So we took a cab from our breakfast spot to Penn Station, which was only going to be about an 8 minute ride (luckily for BJ, who gets extremely carsick). We took off and I could see Hayden, in the rear view mirror, eyes wide with surprise as the driver zipped through traffic, stopping and starting with jolts, making lanes where there were no lanes. He let us out in the middle of the road, where all the cabs were stopped and we got out as Hayden says “Mom, I thought we were going to die”.

We got tickets to see Finding Neverland on Broadway. It was beautiful. The music was fantastic and inspiring. There were sniffles and tears through the audience. It was magical.

We loved the city and took in as much as we could in our short 3 day trip. I cannot wait to go back.

 

 

 

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Apr 06 2014
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hayden, Parenting

A+ parenting tip

Hayden: dad, preslyn just called me an underpit (this is what they call their underarms)

Bj: well, you’re being one. 

I could barely stifle my laughter .

Feb 04 2014
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Ella, hayden, Preslyn

Captured

One of my favorite moments of the year so far 

The joy on their faces is priceless 

Feb 04 2014
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hayden

Locks of love

Hayden had been growing her hair out for about a year and we finally reached the 10″ mark after Christmas. She was so excited for a new do and to get the chance to donate her hair to someone who needs it. It was really exciting for her and a little sad to watch her chop off all that hair. 
But I’m mostly proud of her giving heart and I know someone will be thrilled to have such lovely hair. 

Aug 15 2013
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2nd grade, backtoschool, hayden, milestone

2nd Grade

Dearest Hayden–

Summer’s over, big girl. You were absolutely giddy with excitement in the days, OK weeks, leading up to this morning. I keep hoping to somehow bottle up the excitement and release a little each morning so that it continues, and I SO hope it does.

Prominent memories of the morning:

“Mom, I sat up so fast this morning when my alarm went off that I nearly fell straight out of the bunk bed. I was so excited because its the first day of school finally”

“So, Mom, you ARE staying the entire day with me right??? That’s what ‘room mom’ means, right???” (uh oh…thought you were going to freak out a little when you realized I wouldn’t, and I totally wasn’t prepared for your misunderstanding, but we worked it out and you were ready to go!)

“I already figured out what to say to the kids in my class ‘Hi, I’m Hayden, lets be friends, OK?!?!” (You are one of three new kids in your class and I know you will make great friends.)

You had a backpack in mind all summer and picked out an adorable one that was exactly what you were looking for. You wanted a tuna sandwich, with five cup salad and oreos for lunch and were so excited to use all your new things.


 
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2nd grade…wow. What an exciting year that awaits you little one. You aren’t so little anymore and each year it seems like you grow so much. You are starting at a new school this year and we couldn’t be more excited for you and with you. You have counted down the days and hours with such joy and I hope that joy continues all year long. God has such an amazing year ahead for you and we can’t wait to see all the things you accomplish and discover. 2nd grade was such a pivotal year for your Mama. That’s the year I met some of my best friends that are still with me today (Hello TARA!!!) and I even met your Dad that year! Oh the possibilities and friendships that await you. Open up that brain and your heart and I know that God will fill it with all that He has for you.

I love you BIG BIG BIG!!! (ok…there come the tears that I’ve been holding back) It’s pretty quiet around here….your sisters are playing their hearts out together and I’m figuring out how to spend my time waiting to pick you up and hear all your stories.


Preslyn and Ella are here now and say :
E–Hope you do good and don’t get on red. (Ella prayed such a good prayer, thanking God for the right teacher. It was the sweetest prayer and nearly choked me up to hear.)
{E-H-P}

P–Hope you do good and on your spelling test and have great learning.

Knock it out of the park, kiddo! We’re all rootin’ for ya!

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May 27 2013
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adoption, funny, hayden, mothers day

Mothers

I was so busy during Mothers day that I never properly posted about it or about the fabulous mothers in my life. May is incredibly busy for us, with weddings, graduations, and then nearly every birthday of anyone we know, and then Mothers Day. Literally my husband, dad, and father in law all share birthdays within a few days of each other. It gets crazy!

We spent time with both of our moms and my family loved on me and made me feel so special. I’m so thankful that we live close to our mothers and get to spend so much time with each of them!

Lately, Hayden has been trying to convince us to adopt a brother for her, or to please go to the doctor to see if they can see a baby in my stomach. (Chuckling) A couple of weeks ago, when I told her that adoption is extremely expensive and something that takes time and patience and lots of money, she responded ” Can you just give them your debit card??”

Her newest response came today when she asked me, “Well, can we just get a cheap one??”

I love that girl. All my girls. I’m so thankful for the joy they give me and that I have been blessed to be their mother.

The twins brought home brown bags with “breakfast in bed” for me on Mother’s Day.
I shared 🙂

Preslyn–my baby and mini-me

Ella–My sweet princess. She is so girly and loves to wear dress up clothes

The child that made me a Mom, Hayden–7yrs

Me and My Mom after one of our daily workouts

A Mother’s Nest necklace I made for a customer of mine. Loved how it turned out. 

So thankful that this photo is so full! Love my girls!! H, E, P

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May 23 2012
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hayden, kindergarten, milestone

See ya, Kinderbabes…I’m off to conquer the world!

Today Hayden graduated from Kindergarten. We are so proud of her and her first year of school. She far exceeded any of our expectations and excelled in every way.

She was honored to get to lead the American Flag pledge, which is a HUGE deal for her that she stood up there and didn’t get scared.  Her class performed a really cute dance that they had practiced and all of their personalities really showed. It was hilarious! Great way to help all of the parents make it through without crying!

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Hayden had an amazing teacher this year (Ms. Moake) and we are really glad that her first experience in school was a good one!

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Some of her accomplishments for Kindergarten were:
~Perfect attendance
~A honor role all year
~Level I reading group (this was the highest and she was alone in her group so she asked to go back down to H so she could read with her friends)
~Scored either a 100 or a 105 on every single spelling test the entire year
~Achieved the excellence in Art award for the first semester (second semester awards are Friday)

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She is reading and writing and growing up right before our eyes. We are so thankful for the person she is becoming  and the character that she is developing.

As she was receiving her diploma, they read some things about her
-Favorite color is red
-Likes to eat guacamole
-Wants to be a doctor when she grows up
Hayden is so excited for the summer but also to head off to first grade!

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Oct 23 2011
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hayden, teeth

Losth another tooth

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Oct 10 2011
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6 years old, birthday, hayden

hayden’s birthday weekend

We had so much fun celebrating Hayden turning 6 years old. I still fumble when I try to say that she is 6. That sounds so foreign and old. Yuck!

We hung crepe paper so she would have to bust through it to get out of her door the morning of her birthday. She loved it and it was the perfect way to kick off her birthday.

She lucked out this year with her birthday falling on a school day. (I never had a birthday fall on a school day and always wondered what that would be like.) I whipped up some yummy ice cream cupcakes  (thank you Pinterest) for her school friends and ate lunch with her. She requested McDonalds.

Her sisters had picked out a tiara and necklace for her to wear that day and we gave her a Barbie fashion sketch pad. Super fun for our little artist.

While she was at school that day her dad and I were furiously racing to finish assembling the birthday gift we had gotten her (and her sisters). A trampoline! It came down to the wire but we finished it and her surprised face as we pulled up to the house made it all worth it!

After we all bounced our guts out, she wanted to celebrate at Incredible Pizza.

Sunday rolled around and Hayden was so excited to finally get to go to church. Our church has its own happy birthday song that we sing to everyone and she had been talking about it all week. She was smiling the biggest smile while everyone sang…wish I had a picture of that one.

Then we finished up her weekend celebration with a lunch at Red Lobster and of course…..they sang to her there too.

This picture shows exactly how amazing the weekend was. They were plumb tuckered out!

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Oct 07 2011
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6 years old, birthday, hayden

6 = old.

It’s 3:44 a.m. and you are officially six. Wow. A 6 year old??? How did this happen??? I really feel like yesterday we were roller skating around the rink celebrating her being 5. I was just as in shock at how that felt, then,  and now I have to say, “six year old”???? What in the world!? That sounds CRAZY! I feel the same way I did when I first had to say my new married name. Like my mouth won’t even properly form the word.

Hayden, slow down!! You are the most amazing child. I never could have imagined that my child would one day be YOU. You have taken every vision that I ever had of what being a mom would be or what my child would be like and thrown them out the window, and then exceeded every expectation I could have ever had. You embrace every single moment and make it as amazing as anyone could ever imagine. You see things in a way that some adults can’t even see. You comprehend things that I don’t even sometimes comprehend. You are like girl genius embodied. I feel like I have to give people a warning label before they meet you because you are so unique and amazing and unlike any other person I have ever known. And people immediately love you. How could they not?? That fabulous smile and those warm brown eyes just wrap theirselves around our hearts.  I love you in a way that I never knew could exist.

Thank you for making me a Mother. I didn’t have a clue what I was missing and cannot imagine a second without your little life entangled into mine.

Shoot for the moon, little wonder…and then keep going and never stop.

This seems so long ago http://munsons.blogspot.com/2005/10/she-is-finally-here.html

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