Hailey and her opinions

Even before she was one, Hailey began showing her spunky personality. For awhile we have called her our little spitfire. As she is approaching two, however, her opinion on things is starting to emerge. Currently, her strongest opinion has to do with the clothes she wears. Earlier this week I picked out a shirt she hadn't worn before to go along with jeans. She started crying when I attempted to put the shirt on. After a struggle, I got her fully dressed, but her crying only escalated. I left her to herself for a few minutes to calm down. When I looked in on her, she had pulled out her laundry basket, thrown half of her dirty clothes all over the room, and had grabbed her favorite shirt, which had been in the laundry basket, and was trying to put it on her head. I was hoping that I would have a few good months with the new baby before I jumped into the terrible two stage with Hailey, however, it looks like it may come earlier with Hailey than it did with Drew.

Funny Drewisms

So I know I've been absolutely terrible about updating the blog. The last post is Hailey's first steps and she is now running and climbing. I think she'll hit the terrible twos much quicker than Drew did.

Drew is increasing his vocabulary and in doing so has said some funny things. I wanted to write these down since I know I will forget them even just a few weeks from now.

1. While waiting at the temple, Drew and some friends were watching the video Mountain of the Lord. Its a video of the building of the SLC temple. The movie gives a brief summary of the Nauvoo Temple and show how it is burned when the saints leave Nauvoo. As Drew watched people set fire to the temple he got very concerned and said, "oh no, oh no! The temple! They are burning the temple! That's not acceptable!!"

2. Last week we had a few days of nice weather. It was a welcomed break from the winter cold. Rob and I decided to have a picnic with the kids at a park. When I picked up Drew I told him we were going to get some food and go eat it at the park. He looked at me stunned and said, "What! The Park! That's ridiculous! It's too cold outside!"

3. The other day I forgot to lock the bathroom door. While I was on the toilet, Drew poked his head in and started asking repeatedly, "mommy, are you going poo poo?" I told him several times to close the door and wait for me to come out. Finally, he said ok and started to close the door. He stopped just inches from closing it, poked his head back in and said, "mommy, don't forget to wash your hands."

Hailey's first steps

Hailey took her first steps on her own two days ago. She is still a little nervous about not having a hand to support her, but give her a few more weeks and I think she will be all over the place. She was more confident even only on her second day of walking. Currently, she is cruising on everything that is her level, whether it's the coffee table, the couch or the kitchen chairs. She trying her hardest to keep up with her big brother and it won't be long before she actually does.

Happy 6 months, Hailey

Today Hailey turned 6 months old. I can't believe how big she is getting. She eats rice cereal, she plays peek-a-boo, and just last week she sat on her own, which took me by complete surprise. I guess I still look at her as my 3 month old. I'm excited for her new accomplishments, but at the same time it saddens me because I feel I haven't cherished every moment of her newborn/infant stage as I got to do with Drew. I've also realized that with every subsequent child, I'll have even less time to devote exclusively to the baby. I imagine that as a family grows in size, the rate at which the kids grow up seems to escalate.

Hailey is a treasure to our family. She still is an angel baby. She's quick to smile and laugh., it takes a lot to make her cry. She sleeps all night long, and every morning greets me with a winning smile even though I know she's famished. She's a great eater so far and has even encouraged Drew to try a few new things.

Along the lines of eating, today Rob was trying to encourage Drew to eat his lunch of Pasta Roni. He begrudgingly ate the sides, but refused to touch the pasta. After Rob's several attempts Drew looked at his dad and said, "no! sorry." I guess he wanted to tell us there was no bribing or coercion that would convince him otherwise.

Drew's O's

This incident happened early last week and I still chuckle over it. You may not find it as funny, but I feel I should write it down so I don't forget it.

Even though Drew and Hailey look very much alike, they are different in several ways. The biggest difference so far has been their eating habits. Drew has always struggled with food. He doesn't want to eat it. Hailey, on the other hand, can't wait until she gets to eat it. She clings tight-fisted to anything with even the slightest taste and cries when she drops it or when it's taken away.

Last week Drew developed a fascination with Wintergreen Life Savers, which he calls O's. The appeal isn't the taste because he won't eat them, he just carries them around the house, saying they are too hot. One afternoon, Drew came running into the kitchen, clapping and shouting "Yay! O's, O's, Yay!" I praised him too because I thought he'd eaten the Life Saver and he's not one to eat new things. But on asking him if he ate it he said, "no, Hailey O!" Drew had given it to Hailey, who had it clenched between her two fingers and was sucking on it. I had to take it away, which immediately made her cry. Poor Hailey, she was excited that her big brother gave her something that tasted so good.

Happy Big 30!

This month we celebrated Rob's 30th birthday. I had a fun time with his birthday, and I think he did too. Just a few weeks before the big day, I decided to throw him a surprise party. I'm pleased to say he didn't suspect a thing, which is an accomplishmentsince his 25th birthday celebration was a surprise party as well. Either I'm great at surprise parties or he was just way too busy to notice all my planning. A good friend (and my accomplice) offered to watch the kids while Rob and I went to dinner. This allowed her to be at the house to set up and let everyone in. The food was good, the cake was good, and the company was fun. We had a great evening. And it was great to actually go on a date. The last one I can recall was in November 2009. (It guess 2010 was a busy year for us.)

New tricks

One thing I love most about being a stay-at-home mom is seeing all of my kids' new tricks. At Hailey's last appointment, her pediatrician asked if she purses her lips together and blows, making noise and a spit bubbles. I guess it is a common development milestone for babies. Recently, however, she has taken this trick to the next level. She scrunches up her face, sticks her tongue between her lips and blows, spraying saliva everywhere. Once she runs out of breath she inhales and does it again, scrunching her face more and spaying further. I get a kick out of the faces she makes as she does this. I hope to catch it on camera one day.

Drew new tricks are usually on the active side, something you'd expect from a two-year-old boy. His most recent is "big jumps." It can be off the couch, off his bed or off the stairs. I stopped him today, though, when he stood next to Hailey's head and said "big jump!", meaning he wanted to jump over his sister. He may have been able to make it, but it wasn't a risk I was willing to take.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Yeah, I know I'm a few days late on it, but that is consistent with my blogging (i.e. the last post was Dec 27th and I included some Halloween pictures.) 2010 seemed to go by fast for me. I guess as I'm getting older, the years seem to blend together. This year will stick out for me, though. It was a year full of many changes: we have a new home, a new job and a new member to our family.

This week I had a rewarding mom moment. These are moments we all need once in a while as stay-at-home moms. It wasn't a grand event but a very simple interaction between Drew and Hailey that I happened to see. It was a moment where I saw Drew as a big brother protecting his little sister, and Hailey as the little sister looking up to and thinking the world of her big brother. Of course not long after this special moment, I put Drew into time out for hitting his sister. But perhaps as they get older I'll see these moments more.

Holiday Happenings

So I already have lapsed on my blogging commitment. I can't believe how fast December has gone. We had a great time with Christmas this year and have created some fun family memories. However, before I get into Christmas, I wanted to recap the last few holidays; and yes, I'm starting with Halloween since I didn't post anything about Halloween this year.

Halloween

Drew and Hailey had two different costumes this year. For the mall trick-or-treat event, Drew was a train engineer. He was going to be a race car driver, but I couldn't find a race car helmet anywhere. While I was looking at Spirit Halloween, I came across this train engineer outfit. It had blue overalls, a blue hat and a red scarf. I added the blue shirt underneath and he looked almost like the real deal. The costume was size 3T so he may just be a train engineer again next year. Since Drew is in love with trains right now, he sure was excited to dress up. He was even more excited to don the outfit when he discovered that candy was a major part of the fun. Even now, several months later, he says "trick or treat" when he wants to raid the candy bucket.

At the same mall trick-or-treat event, Hailey was the little doctor. She wore a pumpkin designed long-sleeved onsie under a pair of blue baby scrubs. Her ensemble was completed with black headband. Two years ago Drew wore this costume sin headband and helped us win second place in the church trunk-or-treat trunk decorating contest. I had mixed emotions as I fished out her costume from Drew's boxes of old clothes. I can't believe my little boy has grown up so fast, but I was glad to also have Hailey carry on the doctor costume tradition.

The kids' second costume was part of our family dress up for the ward Halloween party. Since there was and adult costume contest, I thought Rob and I should participate (my running partner spear-headed the activity and was judging the contest so on threat we had to dress up!) Rob and I were the washer/dryer pair while Drew and Hailey were the dirty laundry. I'm pleased to say we won the contest; although, I had an unfair advantage because I knew my friend would get a kick out of it.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was in two parts this year. Since Rob was scheduled to work 6 am to 9 pm on Thanksgiving, we joined him at the hospital for a Thanksgiving feast in the cafeteria. The meal consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and stuffing (filling as they call it here). Rob didn't mind the food (he's gotten used to the cafeteria-style food), but for me it was just an "at least we can be together" moment.

Thanksgiving round two was definitely better. The Sunday following Thanksgiving we had our feast at home. My sister Ashley and her husband, Matt, joined us. Rob's dad, Wally, was also with us. Drew loved having more family around. He relishes the attention he gets and is quick to perform for them, whether it be eating extra food or making silly faces. Hailey was doted on for the weekend and couldn't get enough of being pampered and held.

Christmas

These two pictures are my favorite pictures from Christmas this year. The first is of Hailey and one of her gifts. She fell asleep while we were opening gifts on Christmas Day so she opened some of her gifts after church on Sunday. I like how this gift was a big as she is. She was very interested in the colorful wrapping paper, but as of yet has not played with the gift inside!

The second picture is of Drew opening his first gift of Christmas. He had his eye on this gift under the tree for several weeks. Each day he would tear a little at the present hoping to get a peek inside. When it finally came time to open it, he couldn't contain his excitement. He tore it opened, throwing the wrapping paper all around him. Even the wrapping paper on the couch behind him came off of this gift.

Christmas was very special for us this year even though we were away from our families. We had Christmas Eve with a senior missionary couple who is serving in our ward. The evening was very special for sll of us. We are grateful they were able to share the evening with our little family.

Christmas Day was full of memorable moments, from Drew's excitement with every gift he opened to brunch with friends from Rob's work to Skyping with family to open gifts to each other to Hailey crying because, while playing with her new baby book, she would drop it and not know where it would go. With how busy Rob has been, I sure appreciated his efforts to try to surprise me with a sewing machine. (However, I stumbled across the wrapped gift hidden in a closet a few days before Christmas. I didn't know what it was but I was sure hoping it was a sewing machine by the size of the present.) But my favorite Christmas moment this year was putting Drew to bed on Christmas Day night. Even after a full day of excitement, new toys to play with and candy to eat, the last thing he said to me that night was "Happy Birthday Jesus." Christmas is a time to not only celebrate with family, but a time to remember the greatest gift we'll ever be given and the givers of that gift, our Savior Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.

Day with Dad

These last two months Rob has been very busy with work. He hasn't had much free time to spend with the family. So we were excited that he had the day off yesterday, and we took advantage of it. We met Aunt Ashley and Uncle Matt at an amusement park that was decked out in holiday decor. The weather was a little chilly, but we bundled the kids up in their winter coats and sipped hot chocolate while we walked around the park. We enjoyed a musical with classic Christmas carols, a music-timed Christmas lights display, a few thrill rides and a bread bowl with hot potato soup. Drew braved a few of the kiddie rides at the park: He rode on four trains, a helicopter and a speed car. He really liked the carousel with horses, but we ran out of time to ride on it. We all had so much fun the time got away from us and we didn't leave until the park closed at 10. Drew and Hailey were real troopers and were still smiling when we left.

The only down side to yesterday is it has put both Rob and me in the Christmas mood today, yet we haven't celebrated Thanksgiving yet. I'm ready to pull out the Christmas music, but am willing myself to wait until next weekend.

catching zzzz's

Until recently, Drew has always been great with naps and bedtime. He didn't fight or complain about going to his room to sleep. Shortly after turning two, though, his love for sleep diminished. For him it is now all about delaying the inevitable for as long as possible. One of his tactics is avoiding lying down on his bed by lying down elsewhere such as the floor or even the glider. He'll sit down on the glider and ask to be "tucked in" with his blankets. He then wants his toys piled on top. It never looks very comfortable, and I'm amazed he actually falls asleep.

Little Stinker

I've heard many people comment on their children's differing personalities. So when I brought my second baby home, I was prepared for her to be different than Drew. The two of them are alike in many ways (calm, cuddly and quick to smile are just a few similar traits), but Hailey does have her distinctions: she is messier than Drew ever was both on top and bottom. Unlike Drew, Hailey goes through a few bibs and a couple of outfits each day. If I keep her outfit clean from spit up with bibs and burp cloths, she is bound to get it on the other end with a blow out. A few days ago, she had the biggest blow out I've ever had to change. It was half way across her back and up to her shoulder blades. Thank goodness for Shout and Simple Green.

Pictures

And here are Hailey's glamor shots. Which one do you see decorating a wall?

Pictures

We did a photo shoot at the house today. We used to do them often when Drew was younger. But because of Rob's busy schedule and the increased difficulty in catching two kids on camera instead of one, we haven't kept up on the pictures. These are some of the keepers and I'm hoping to get at least one of them printed for our wall. What's your favorite? (The last one is from a few months ago-if you were wondering why his hair is shorter.)

Finding fall

Rob and I have always enjoyed the beauty of nature. When we were dating, we often would find an elevated spot and together watch the sun set. While we were living in Missouri, we looked forward to the early morning country scenery we would drive through enroute to the temple. On these trips, we would often point out to each other objects that you could find in a photograph, for instance an old silo with a tree growing out the top or a rusted crane broken and sitting in a field next to a ditch. Together we have seen some beautiful landscapes, but many that we have seen don't compare to what we've experienced here this fall. Because of the multitude of trees on the surrounding hills, the changing leaves created a patchwork effect of different colors. Everything was so beautiful. We had to share some of it with you. Rob took some of these pictures at a nearby nature preserve, one in upstate New York, and one at a covered bridge near a neighboring town.

An unexpected compliment

Earlier last week while doing my hair (it was one of the rare weekdays where I fix it instead of putting it in a pony tail) my flat iron stopped working. I didn't think too much of it and went about the day. However, yesterday being a Sunday (a day I almost always do my hair) I plugged in the flat iron and it still didn't work. I looked in the mirror and my hair was sticking out all over the place. Aside from putting it up in a pony, I didn't know what to do. I grabbed out my curling iron that I've had since high school and probably haven't even used since then. (I'm amazed I still had it and better yet, knew where to find it!) With the curling iron I tried to fix the sticking out portions of my hair, then used hairspray to keep them in place. It helped a little, but I was starting to feel self conscious about to go to church. Now out of time, I figured I wouldn't look in a mirror while at church and I'd just forget about my hair.

Having two kids to manage during church helped me accomplish my morning resolve. I completely forgot about the broken flat iron and the terrible hair day until a visitor gave me a very unexpected compliment. In the middle of our conversation she said, "you have beautiful hair." Her remark gave me a big boost and reminded me that often we are too hard on ourselves. What we see as flaws or weaknesses can actually be beautiful and beneficial to others. The challenge is looking beyond ourselves and seeing where our strengths and weaknesses can actually be useful.

At age 3 months

Some friends from med school visited us a few weeks ago. Their first response to seeing Hailey for the first time was she looked just like Drew. As the mom I've always seen a difference, however for kicks I looked at some of Drew's pictures at age 3 months. What do you think? Can you tell they are siblings?

Recommitted

Those who know me know that I'm terrible in keeping up with emails, pictures and as you can tell my blog. I selfishly follow other blogs, but don't take the time to update my own. As of now, I'm recommitting myself to blogging. It's about time I give back by sharing our family happenings, although they aren't always the most interesting things to read about. If (or I might have to say when) I fall short of my commitment, don't feel bad about reminding me to post. Hopefully I can do better than the current 6 months or so posts.

So this morning I really wanted pancakes for breakfast. However, I don't like to go to the effort of making them unless Drew will eat them as well and when I asked him if he wanted pancakes, he said "no pancakes." As you may know Drew is an awful eater, and breakfast seems to be when he eats the worst. I went ahead and started making them anyways, and he wanted to help. So while he was on the stool helping mix the pancake batter, I thought to do chocolate chip pancakes. He got so excited when I pulled out the chocolate chips at breakfast time. Then when I served the pancakes up with chocolate in them, he acted as if I just gave him some of the candy from the Halloween stash. It was the best he has eaten at breakfast for a long time.

I wonder how other breakfast foods would taste with chocolate chips; perhaps chocolate chip oatmeal.

So after six months (Rob) and 16 months (Drew and Britney) we all decided we needed haircuts. Well, we knew we needed haircuts before now, but hair grows slow, so procrastination is easy. Anyways, we were long overdue, and we knew a great person to do the job - my (Rob) friend Spencer's wife Lisa, who is finishing her piano performance masters at the UofU, and who also happens to do a pro job cutting hair.


Drew was awesome - calm and collected during the hair amputation (his first haircut ever).

Looking about 1 year older after the curly locks fell to the floor. Comb in hand, ready to impress the ladies.


Britney had been planning this for a while - donating her hair to Locks of Love. It had to be at least ten inches to donate, so she had to wait a long time for it to be long enough, but now someone else can use it for good.
No pictures of Rob, but hey - we know what he looks like with short hair, depending on how long you've known him.

I had to include pictures of the cake. Megan, who did the volcano cake at my birthday, made this cute plane cake for Drew's party.

Drew got his own plane cake, of course, and we took beginning, middle and end pictures. I think he did a good job eating the cake, and he didn't get too messy doing it. It's probably because he gave up using his hands and went for it face first.