Happy First Birthday Hayden

With a crowd of about 40 people Hayden was wished a Happy First birthday. The birthday boy was sang to and then with the help of his cousins Connor and Carson his cake adorned with a single candle was blown out. It seemed as if everyone had a great time. The day started with a great lunch that Grammy and I prepared. Then all the kids were lead outside to pick a pumpkin off the front porch to decorate. The kids seemed to really enjoy this and we may have to make this a tradition. Then the presents were opened and finally the part that Hayden enjoyed the most..... the first meeting of cake and Hayden. It took him just a few seconds to put his fingers in the icing and then from there it was love at first taste. Red icing was everywhere. I am glad Hayden enjoyed his cake as it was not what I had envisioned nor ordered. After much stress and negotiating with the bakery only then having Grammy remake the caboose, add Oreo wheels, scrape off the black icing that was all over a big blue blob that was suppose to be a coal car and add some whoppers we had a cake that was passable. The original cake that we brought home from the bakery was an embarrassment even to a one year old. The day was not about a cake that went wrong or the pumpkins that were decorated, the food that was eaten or the presents that were unwrapped; the day was about celebrating the first year of life of a beautiful boy that is already growing up and continues to bring joy to our lives. Thanks to all our friends and family that helped us celebrate Hayden's first year of life.

One Year Ago This Day October 27, 2007

It's hard to believe that it has been a year since Hayden was born. On Monday, October 27th, I kept looking at the clock reflecting on what we were doing at this time last year. At just a few minutes before 10am on a Saturday morning I got up to empty my bladder which I had been doing a lot of and thought that I was leaking. I was scheduled for induction in 2 days but found that Hayden wasn't going to wait for the doctors. I called Jeff and said "I get to say it, I get to say it!" His response, since he was at work, was "what are you talking about?" I said I thought my water had broken and he should come home. I was so excited because I thought that since I was going to be induced I wouldn't get to say "Honey, my water broke". Twenty minutes later Jeff comes running through the door and looks at me as I had just gotten out of the shower and was straightening my hair and applying makeup. "We don't have time for that! We need to go now! I was driving 90mph to get here!" was his response. I told him we had plenty of time as first babies are so sloooow to get here and I didn't want to spend hours in the hospital bed not able to eat or drink. I then started barking orders to go make the bed and fold the clothes so that everything would be tidy when we returned home. Never to argue with a pregnant woman, he rushed off to accomplish the tasks then took a quick shower himself. Around 11 we were packing up Linus to take to my brother and sister in law's house. On the way I was pleading for Jeff to please stop and get me a diet coke but he refused saying we really needed to get to the hospital. I think he secretly feared that something would happen and he would be stuck with his wife in labor and no doctor to deliver his son and he would be left on the side of the road delivering a baby. Well by the time we got to Mason and Kellie's I was starting to have contractions and was in mild discomfort. I told him to skip the coke and lets go to the hospital. As we pulled into a parking spot I hopped out of the truck to have my water really break and gush down my capri's. I started to laugh and cry and told Jeff I certainly could not walk into a hospital looking like I peed my pants. He assured me that people would realize my water had broken as I did look the very pregnant part. It was a few minutes after 12 when we got to labor and delivery and by the time I changed into a gown I was in quite a deal of pain. I requested my epidural only to be told it would be some time as labs needed to be drawn and and IV started. I had never experienced pain like this before and couldn't imagine delivering this baby without drugs. At 1:13 (yes, I remember it to the minute) the anesthesiologist told me I needed to get control of myself or he would not be able to place the epidural. That's all it took for me to calm down and lay still as a long catheter was placed in my back and delivered the best medication I could have ever asked for. Just a few hours later Hayden was painlessly brought into this world at 4:36 pm. He weighed 6 lbs 14 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. You can be assured with the next baby I will be at the hospital at the first sign of labor.

VROOM, VROOM says the favorite toy

Favorite Time of Day.... Morning

Favorite Book.....Any that have flaps

Favorite Food..... Real Fruit )not pureed

Favorite Snack.... Cheerio's
Favorite Activity ...... Bath time
Favorite Toy..... Trucks, Cars, Trains (anything that can be pushed)

No cars trucks or wheeled objects on hand ..... no problem. Remotes, flashlights, shoes, socks etc. can all be turned into imaginary vehicles and pushed around the house.

Here's some Hay, There's some Hay, Everywhere there's Hay

So after picking up our pumpkins and hay we set up our Halloween display only to realize our small front porch really isn't large enough to accommodate this much hay. Jeff has really gotten into the Halloween spirit. He wants to decorate our house inside and out for Hayden . . . who really could care less at this point in his life if we have pumpkins and ghosts and spiders weaving webs through out the house. So I decided it's great that he has so much enthusiasm for this holiday so why not go along with it and that's exactly what I did and I do think the pictures look great. Next year we might be able to do with a little less hay or straw or what ever that stuff it.

I Heart Watermelon and Kiwi

Two new foods that he loves is watermelon and kiwi. Seems like we can't get him to eat anything other than fruit and crackers. Hayden has definitely discovered his will. He lets us know that he doesn't want to eat anything else by throwing it off his tray for Linus to gobble up or good riddens we try to feed him baby food with a spoon. He turns his head forcefully and then pushes the spoon away flinging pureed food everywhere. Oh the joys!! At least he eats fruit for now anyways.

Off to Work We Go

Yesterday, due to scheduling conflicts, Jeff stayed home with Hayden. They went to the park and came to visit me at work before hitting the swings. Jeff also got his flu shot while there but no shots for Hayden until his 12 Month visit next week. I really enjoyed seeing Hayden but desperately wanted to go to the park with them. Hayden was playing quite shy while my coworkers were smiling and holding him. One of my coworkers, Anna, is a photographer on the side and she happened to have her camera with her so she took a few pictures and emailed them to me. Thanks Anna!

Pumpkin Picking

We had a great weekend picking pumpkins at the local farm here in town. It was a short 10 minute drive and we were there ready for hayride, petting zoo and pumpkin picking. I think we got carried away because we purchased 1 large pumpkin, 10 medium pumpkins and 15 decorative mini pumpkins and 1 jar of apple butter for daddy. Ty, Erika and 4 month old Audrey went with us and fun was had by all. It was a little chilly but a beautiful day. We intend to make this an annual tradition.

In addition to getting a pumpkin this weekend Hayden also got another tooth. Yeah! Now he has his bottom two teeth. A little fussier the last week we knew something was going on and suspected a new pearly white might be showing up sometime soon. His sleep has not been disturbed by this new budding tooth thankfully.

We also took a trip to the nearby Lowe's which Hayden seemed to enjoy. He kept pointing at everything and signing the "milk" sign which we have discovered actually means "want". He is pointing at everything these days and signing "want". He is following commands such as show me where the elephant (or bird, spider, baby, giraffe) is and if we tell him not to go into Linus' room he'll get right to the threshold and turn around. He also will hug and cuddle his baby doll (yes he has a baby doll) when you ask him to love his baby. It is so much fun knowing that he understands what we are saying. Another new development is that he has started standing alone for a few seconds at a time. I'm sure that shortly after his first birthday he'll be walking. I hope it's not until 15 or 16 months as a few more months of crawling would be nice. I'm not ready for my baby to be a toddler just yet.

Getting Dirty with Spaghetti

This is the second time Hayden has enjoyed the fine meal of spaghetti. He discovered slurping his noodles. we made sure he was dressed down to a diaper only knowing that a bath would be on the agenda after his meal.

Dance Dance Wherever You May Be

Hayden is so much FUN these days! It's amazing the new things he is learning. He is able to patty cake after much hard work. He is so proud of himself. His newest skill is dancing. Hopefully he has better talent than either his mom or dad. Although is dancing isn't very enthusastic on this video I was be to capture both skills before going to bed. Oh yeah, I almost forgot he is pointing now and if you ask where something is he will point to it such as the ceiling fan, clock and light.

Grammy & PePaw

Last weekend Jeff went to Dale Hollow for a guy's fishing trip so Hayden and I decided to pack up and go spend the weekend with Grammy and Peepaw. Hayden loved spending time with them and mommy loved that she was able to sleep in a little and spend some time with mom and dad. It really was an enjoyable weekend although pretty busy. We started out with Hayden, myself and mom yardsaling then we went to Connor's soccer game followed by a visit to Nana and Boogie's house. Nana used to babysit Mason, Jilly and myself. Hayden liked riding on his new Lion King ride along and enjoyed some yummy food. PeePaw fixed him an ice cream sherbert cone that he ate after Grammy made him some spaghetti. I really don't let him eat sugar and sweets but didn't have the heart to tell PeePaw that. I guess Hayden will come to know that at Grammy & Peepaw's house he gets special treats.