1st Birthday Party!

Walking, talking, clapping and diaper rash!

Hailey has her first diaper rash. I let her go around the house twice today naked (she didn't make a mess!) to let it dry out. I have been putting cream on it too. Poor baby! It looks like it hurts.

Yesterday my grandmother passed away. This was my dad's mom. Please keep my family in your prayers. It was not a surprise as she has been ill for quite a while. We will miss her. She was the glue that held my dad's side of the family together. The next few months will be challenging.

Hailey says "duck"! She was in the bathtub holding the duck and repeated after me everytime I said "duck". Then she got out of the bathtub and was playing with Skittles and she started clapping! I am SO proud!!! She walks all of the time now and long distances. She still crawls but not a lot. Her favorite thing to do right now is to put her bracelets on, grab as many toys as she can hold and walk around the house.

I think Hailey is the best baby in the whole world! She is so easy!! I am amazed at how obedient she is. Most of the time, when I say "no touch" she lets go. It really seems that she wants to please. I sure pray it stays that way!! She barely fusses and is most of the time ever so happy. I just can't complain. She has made everything so simple. We have a crazy schedule sometimes and she just goes with it.

We think Hailey is a lefty. I am. =o) Only time will tell!

I have to type this ever so quickly because Hailey is in the room napping and she has become a light sleeper. Our computer is not quite an expensive paper weight but close to it. Evidently there is something wrong with the hard-drive. Unfortunately, it won't let us access it to save our stuff. Ugh. We are going to loose some music, pics and documents. I am sure we have learned our lesson now! Windows isn't working at all b/c it is on the main hard-drive. I am on our computer now but using Ubuntu so I can access the internet. I was going CRAZY without the internet!!!

Hailey turned 11 months yesterday. One more month until the big party! I am hoping to pick out invitations this week. Then I have to finalize cake plans.

Hailey is walking a lot! She gets excited when she is doing well and screams with joy as she flaps her arms like she is going to fly. She loves giving kisses and hugs. She says "dog", "kitty", "momma", "dadda", and "nana". Sometimes I think I hear her say "baby".

I just switched up her eating schedule again. When she wakes in the morning, instead of nursing first, I give her baby food. Then a bit later I nurse. Same with lunch and dinner. So at the end of the day she is nursing 3 times. So far it seems to be going very well. She has a lot more stinky diapers.

Uh oh... she is stirring... gotta go!

I have so much to post but haven't been able to because our computers at home have fallen ill. Dahvyd came over for dinner and also took a look at our PC and my laptop. I'm on my laptop now which has a very, very fickle internet connection (it is going in and out as I type) and is very slow. Our PC window's program (windows xp) crashed. It looks like our hard drives are okay. Dahvyd is going to come back another day and work on it cause it is going to take a while. Thank you Dahvyd!!!!

So, once we get our PC working, I have lots of pics to post. Pics of the farm, the youth retreat and at home.

Hailey is the most adorable baby ever. There just aren't words to express how precious she is to Sean and I. She has one tooth that has broken through on the bottom front. It looks like one on the top front is putting the pressure on. Last week she took 9 steps to her Aunt Stephanie. She loves to walk around the house holding onto our hands. She isn't quite confident enough yet to really attempt to walk around by herself though she could do it.

Xander, a 18 month old boy from next door dropped by the other day and is letting Hailey borrow a few of his toys that he has grown out of. The Schuesslers also gave Hailey some of their toys they were recycling. I had also bought her a few toys last week at Children's Orchard. It looks like she has made out like a bandit the past week. I can't imagine what my home is going to look like after bday gifts from the grandparents. Oh my!! My living room looks like Toys 'R Us when all the toys are out. lol! Thank you Xander and Schuesslers!!

Birthday plans are getting set! Hailey's one year birthday is August 21st. We are having a huge pool party for her birthday. I have a cake designed, plus cupcakes and we will be making ice cream sundaes! We have reserved a club house and pool in Lake Mary... a very nice venue. I can't wait!!!!

Ouch! Hailey bit me!

Hailey gives kisses now. If I am holding her and I ask for a kiss, she will give me an open mouth kiss on my cheek. Just before bed, I asked for a kiss but this time she bit down! Yikes... that one tooth sticking up is pretty sharp. I think I have a dent in my cheek. =o) Guess it is time for the "no biting" training.

The other day she took 3 steps at Mimi's house! Three is the most she has done at one time. We try to walk her around the house more helping work the muscles and show her that she can do it. One day it will just click but until then she knows crawling is easier. =o)

Michael is leaving us (our dog). We will miss him much but we just can't take care of him like he needs. We don't have time to play with him or even just give him general necessities. I am allergic to him let alone he makes a lot of mess that is mostly my responsibility to clean up. He also has trampled over Hailey a couple times now. We have to keep him locked up when she is out and when she is napping (b/c he wakes her up) and when the mail man is going to come b/c he tears up our front door. The other day when we let him out, he peed in the living room. Yeah. Just stood there and peed. It is just too much for our busy lives, having a baby and wanting a clean enough house to have a baby crawling around. But he is staying in the family so we will be able to see him pretty much whenever we want.

It's been a nice week being able to be home in the evenings more b/c we didn't have youth this week (just got back from retreat) and didn't have worship team practice either. Tomorrow morning I will make deviled eggs and when Sean gets off of work, we are going to hang out with friends and watch fireworks.

We're back!

We have settled back home from our trip to NC. It was just almost NC. Right on the very edge of Georgia. Hailey did absolutely fabulous on the way there, while we were there and going home. There were a lot of challenges though... 1. Packing. How much baby food and diapers do I pack? Am I forgetting something?! 2. Being able to travel in timely manner yet change diapers and nurse. 3. The pressure on Hailey's ears as we went up and down the mountain. 4. Finding our way on the mountain. 5. Taking care of Hailey amongst chaos and other responsibilities on the retreat.

I got car sick.... bleh! I haven't been car sick in a really long time because I found if I sit in the front seat, I'm fine. One time, I sat in the back with Hailey to give her juice as we went down the mountain (hoping it would help with her ears) and it only took a few minutes for me to start feeling sick. We got all the way down the mountain and Sean had to turn back around. Oh my.... I forgot how terrible car sickness was! Luckily, Angela had told me about a pressure point on the wrist for nausea. I pushed the point the whole way up and I think that is why I didn't blow chunks. As soon as I got to the house, I fed Hailey and went to sleep. My dear husband made sure Hailey got to bed and then stuck around, missing the arcade, to make sure I was okay.

Sean thought he was getting away from work for a few days.... haha. We accidently busted a pretty large hole in the wall at the home we were at. It was a complete accident while playing a dancing game. One of the guys fell and then tripped over the fireplace and a huge black bear stool. Sean worked his drywall magic and Adam painted. It looks pretty darn good I must say! Good job guys!!

Oh, and some of the girls and I got locked out of the house up there. Friday most of our group went whitewater rafting. Three of the girls stayed with Hailey and I to go horseback riding (Hailey and I didn't ride though). We left after the whitewater rafting group. I closed the front door and then thought, I need to look around for a key to lock it. Well, evidently the door automatically locks itself. This is a good thing because I don't have to worry about someone getting in while we are gone but how are we going to get in when we get back??? Eeek. I put in a quick call to the Shaws but they were already rafting. When we got back from horseback riding, it would be hours before the rest of the group comes. We ended up lifint one of our girls up to climb onto the porch and she was able to get in one of the doors there. Whew! Otherwise we would have been stuck outside for almost 4 hours with a tired 10 month old!

Sean and I were saying that the youth retreat was successful if just one youth got closer or came to know God. Luckily, it was more than just one! Our prayer is that a lot of seeds were planted and/or watered and there will be fruit from what God did on the youth retreat. !

It's so close!

Before I know it, we will be heading out the door for the NC youth retreat! Hailey and I are setting out early in the morning to pick up Angela and be on our way. The schedule worked out perfect today... Hailey was ready for bed at 6 PM. After feeding and pj's she was in bed shortly after 6:30. This means she will probably be up around 5:30 in the morning but that's good so she can play before the long road trip. Ugh... this means I gotta get up earlier than that! Originally I said 4:30 but I think I'm going to push it to 5:00. I always push it. Yes, I am one of those late people. But I am aiming to get out the door at 6:30 (which is early) so hopefully I will be on time to Angela's. Mmmmmm... I already hear Starbucks calling my name.

During the massive packing this evening, Hailey crawled into my suitcase and had a blast with all the clothes. It was adorable!

Tata 4 now!