My Crib Tastes So Good!

Hayden is a sneaky little girl! The first few moments she wakes up she doesn't make a sound. I know she doesn't want anyone to know she is awake because she is a busy bee back there. At first I thought she was playing in her crib, but apparently not so. She is teething - she has four teeth now and the fifth one has already broken through and you can see it. Before long she is going to have a mouth full of teeth, what a big girl she is!

She loves to put anything and everything in her mouth and lately she has decided her crib is fun to chew on, so late yesterday afternoon when she woke up from her nap, I decided when I walked into her room I would have my camera in hand so you could see that sweet little face. She was all smiles of course! Take a look, she looks like she has eaten a package of oreos!

As I was taking her picture she decided that is was a great opportunity to chow down again - I had to pick her up to get a shot of the crib itself, just so you could see what she has done.

So much for the beautiful crib. So today at lunch I decided to make a run to Storkland. I was actually going there to try and find an Easter dress for her, but my eye caught some pretty crib rail guards instead. They actually aren't that pretty and they aren't really going to match her bedding or her room, but my thoughts are that they are only temporary and I am hoping they will stop her from gnawing down on the wood - I mean that can't taste that good or be very nutrious right? I hope this works. I think Brian and I will put them up tonight and hope for the best. Just wanted you to be able to enjoy these photos and maybe even laugh at them.

Plans for the Week

Today was nursery day for me at church and we had a great time. Hayden was really good, again. She played in the floor with all the blocks, mostly had them in her mouth, yuck and I am sure she will be sick again this week because of it. But she did a great job. John Schmidt's service today was PG-13, since he talked sexual intimacy and the sins of men (and women) so nursery and the children's area was slam packed. He did let everyone in the church know a few weeks in advance. I missed this sermon of course, but it will be posted on the church's website by Tuesday. Can't wait to hear it - Brian said he did a great job. I just wanted to post a few pictures of Hayden from this morning, she looked adorable in her cute little puppy dog dress. And as you can see she has her little blue teething toy in her hand in the pictures. She hardly ever lets it go, she is sleeping right now with it tightly in her hands. She even held on to it throughout most of nursery too.

Here is another shot of her in her dress - maybe you can see it a little better. We are playing in this picture. I was making her laugh by trying to take her toy from her. She thought it was the funniest thing ever.

We have a busy week - I love these! Today I was suppose to make a bridal tea for a friend of Brian's, they are getting married in two weeks. Brian said we can just take the gift to the wedding, I don't think he wanted me to leave, no problem. I am happy to stay here and try and clean a little, plus I need to get to the grocery store this afternoon too. Tuesday, Brian has an afternoon meeting and Wednesday I have meetings at the office and then on Thursday we have a couple's bible study that will last 10 weeks. This started last week and we really like our group. It is 8 couples and we will spend time going over John's sermon from the previous Sunday. This month, the month of love, his sermons are based on romance - what a great topic, especially for those of us with babies in the house. Romance seems to slip through the cracks. We are always so busy entertaining Hayden, changing diapers, making her laugh, making bottles, cleaning bottles, washing clothes, etc. that we hardly have time for each other. But we are making efforts and that is so important to both of us. Let us not forget it was just me and Brian before Hayden joined us.

I like how my sister Lori posts her menu for the week, so I thought I would start doing this too. Ours is awful this week, but until I have time to research some new and interesting meals, this will have to do. Here goes, don't cringe:

Sunday - pizza pasta and southern style biscuits (sound low-fat?)

Monday - sliced chicken sandwiches with wing sauce from the crock-pot, this is a new recipe :)

Tuesday - Pork chops and homemade mac & cheese and salad

Wednesday - bbq chicken and baked beans

Thursday - Bible Study, dinner at their house

Friday and Saturday - we will be at the beach, weather permitting so hopefully we will be eating good. We will only be making this trip if it stays above freezing at night. I don't feel comfortable leaving Maggie at home if the temps dip below 32, and right now it is calling for the nights to be in the 20s, so it is looking very unlikely. Will keep you posted of course.

President's Day

I had Monday off and it was so nice to enjoy a 4 day weekend at home. If only I had these every week, a girl can dream right? My day started off good, Hayden slept in, which was nice because I did too. The two of us had a little girl's day planned. I had talked with a couple of my best friends from high school and we were planning to meet at the mall around 10:45 or 11:00 for lunch in the food court and then some play time for all the kids. I completely under estimated the difficulty of this task since we all have kids. I, of course, only have one, but my friend Melissa has a three year old and a baby that is nine months old and my friend Stacy has three kids, a five year old, a three year old and an 8 month old. Needless to say this event was stressful for me! We all ended up meeting closer to noon because of various nap times for everyone and Stacy has to drive over with three from Auburn, God bless her. But we all managed to get there and get settled in. By the time everyone was there and we had all fed the kids, it was time for us to eat and this was no small feat. I was starving, but we had already been sitting in the food court for about an hour and Hayden decided she no longer wanted to "sit" there. So...thank heavens for my Mom. I did think ahead of time and invite her to come and join us. The girls had been asking to see her and I knew she would be a huge help - so thanks so much! She was able to take Hayden strolling for a few moments while I ate my sandwich. Now, Stacy and Melissa managed just fine with their kids, but they are "seasoned" moms right? I have no idea how in the world they do it. Of course, even when other babies are fussy, no one is quite as loud as my precious Hayden. So everyone in the food court got to hear my little one :)

We had a great day, but I didn't get to stay as long as I would have liked and enjoy spending time with them and their babies because Hayden really, really needed her nap time and I was not willing to compromise on this one. So we left. But over all I had a great time with them and we all agreed that we can't wait to do it again, especially when it warms up, maybe our next outing will be to the zoo.

PS - it was really a sight to see. We sat in the food court, with three strollers - two of them double strollers. Three moms and 6 kids, who would have thought??

And in honor of President's Day I would like to officially say that I really miss President Bush. I saw a picture the other day that had W's face on a billboard with the quote beside him saying "Miss me Yet?" and it made my heart smile. Yes I miss you! I can't thank him enough for his 8 years of leadership for the United States and I wish him and Laura all the best - just my two sense worth.

Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's Day was wonderful. We all woke up at a good time, not too early, not too late. Hayden got up and had her normal breakfast and then got to play a few mintues with both of us as we got ready for church. She looked adorable and on top of everything she stayed in nursery the entire time and they even said she did really good, not a beep. I prayed for her and the nursery workers all during church. I figured we would walk in and she would be screaming her head off, but that was not the case. All the other babies were however doing this and this made me feel good.

Ok the first picture is of one of my Valentine surprises - both were delivered to my door. Brian is so wonderful, even if this one was definately partly for him. As you can see it is a dozen chocolate covered strawberries and before I could get a picture taken of how beautiful they were, three were already mysteriously gone.

This picture is Hayden's presents - what fun! The big pink bag is her new carry bag that matches her luggage. The big piece of luggage with her name on it was a gift from my Mom and Dad to her for Christmas, they are so pretty and she will of course be super stylish. The other little ones are a card from Brian and I, some pretty socks, toothpaste to go with a tooth/gum brush I had already gotten her and three little rubber duckies. She has an obsession with all rubbery duckies - she loves them all. And the last item is a cute little valentine puppy dog that says "Kiss" on it.

P.S. - the dozen red roses were the second gift from Brian - these were also delivered. I love, love, love flowers of any kind. He is amazing!!!

And this last picture is what she wore to church, too cute. However this outfit isn't complete, because we were already home and getting undressed. She had little white tights on and a white sweather with pink trim around the collar and sleeves - adorable. The lady at nursery said she is a doll and well I would have to agree. Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day too. I love you very much Brian, you mean the world to me and to Hayden. We don't know what we would do without you. Thanks for all you do for us!

Snow Day

I couldn't have been more happy to have a snow day in February of this year. The day was exactly perfect timing. God planned this perfect, for me anyway. Valentine's Day weekend, it happened on a Friday, which for me meant a day off to make a three day weekend and to top it all off Monday is a holiday - President's Day! This could not have been any better. Four whole days off with Hayden and Brian. We had a blast. Here are a few pictures from Hayden's first snow.

Long Blogging Vacation

So sorry it has been weeks and weeks without so much as a peep out of me, but these have been extremely busy times for me and I am happy to say that my huge conference for work has passed and I survived!
Our family had a wonderful Christmas and New Year this year with Hayden and I find myself day dreaming from time to time about years to come and how much we have to look forward to! Hopefully I can post a few pictures soon, but most of you have seen them on my facebook page.

I just got back home and back in the office after being gone for conference for 5 LONG and HARD days away. I used to enjoy traveling for work and getting some time out of the office, but I have to say when you have a little one at home traveling is no longer fun, it is heartbreaking. I spent every waking moment thinking about her and wishing I were home, or at least in the same area code. I wanted to be able to rock her to sleep every night and see her smiling face each morning - now I am back home and get to enjoy these little moments. If I can remember soon I will take my camera into her room when she wakes up first thing in the morning to capture her smiling face. She wakes up in the best little mood after a long night's sleep. I can assure you she did not get this from her mommy. I usually don't wake up in an ill mood by any means, but I am never happy and embracing the day, although I definately should rise and shine each morning thanking God for another day alive, but this is not the first thing that comes to mind each day, maybe I should start working on that now.

Now that January has passed and today is the first day of February, to me it is the coldest and most boring month of the year, I will officially start my new work-out program! I have lost all of my baby weight :) - but when I got pregnant I was 10 pounds heavier than I was on my wedding day, so that is my goal. How you ask did I gain 10 pounds in only 6 months? Well if you were married to my wonderful hubby you would have gained all this if not more as well!

I will keep you all posted on my progress and hopefully will be out of the current size pants and into my size 6's in now time (my old size 2 and 4 would really be pushing it, so no need to ever think that will happen again). Brian and I are taking a much needed anniversary trip this year to Puerto Rico and I would love to be in a swim suit by then, so I have until the first of June to get it off, definately doable!! And for the record I can get in to a swim suit now, even my old one, it is just not a pretty sight and I would hate to do that to anyone on the beach.

I can say this about my weight and body image. Now that I have had a child, weight isn't as big of a concern to me as it was before. I certainly have extra weight in the tummy area and around my hips and even have some very small stretch marks on my hips, but everything I have I wear with pride, because to me having Hayden here now is the most amazing thing ever and totally worth everything my body went through to get her here.