Plate Painting

So today after my OB appointment (still 2 cm and cervix thinned) Hayden and I went to the pottery painting store for our 3rd annual Christmas plate painting. I took him when he was just a few weeks old and did his first plate using his hands and feet. Last year we made a Santa with his hand print and this year his hand print is a Christmas tree.He had a great time painting an ornament (a football helmet) while I decorated the plate. He is really into football and yells at the TV just like his daddy. When he saw the football helmet he chose to decorate that and kept telling me he wore Connor's helmet. Apparently a few weeks ago at Connor's football game Hayden wore his cousins helmet and remembered this. I offered him a reindeer and a Christmas tree to paint but the decision was made and a helmet it was.

Afterwards, we met Daddy at beef o'bradys for burgers then picked up Linus from the groomers. Hayden is now napping. We got up all the inside Christmas decorations this weekend and are about halfway done with the outside lights. I have been trying to get things in order before Hayden's baby brother (or sister) arrives. I am 37 weeks and counting. Will post a photo of my large belly soon.

First Wordless Wednesday

I know this is technically suppose to be wordless but just wanted to clarify that they both do have pants on.... it was topless spaghetti eating for the boys of the house.

A Day at the Farm

Last Saturday Hayden and I went to Springfield to visit Grandma H. He loved playing outside and seeing the animals. We saw Craig herd all the calves into the barn and then lots of mooing. Grandma said they were getting dewormed but this city girl is not so sure as to what was going on in there and exactly how a calf is dewormed. The calves came out one by one and would run right by us at the fence. Hayden was amused by this and would giggle and sign more. One had blood running down his cream colored coat so not sure what happened there. That was all it took and we were on to see other animals. Hayden liked to pet Grandma's dog shorty but kept calling him goody which is our neighbors dog. He really likes cats and kept meowing and chasing grandma's cat. Pew paw found a woolly worm and put it on Hayden's leg. Hayden refused to touch it but was definitely fascinated by it. Later that night we were reading a book about animals and on the page with the pigs is some worms. Hayden would take all the covers off and point to his leg and say "worm right dare". Come to find out the next day Paw pay took him to the park and found a similar worm and Hayden kept trying to tell paw paw about pee paw putting the worm "right dare" on his "weg". Jeff didn't come with us since he was busy at home working on Hayden's new room. It's almost finished and pictures of the finished product will be coming soon.

Power Tools and Sliding Boards

This past weekend Paw paw, Jeff and Hayden spent Sunday putting together the wooden swing set that Connor and Carson passed down to us. Hayden was so excited that he wanted to be out there helping rebuild the play set. He drilled, nailed and hammered with the real tools despite me bringing out some play ones thinking they would suffice. Oh no, Hayden new the real thing versus the plastic tools and wanted the ones with the real power. He knew what he was doing and was actually more helpful than I would have been. He did manage to hit himself in the nose with the hammer and in the forehead with a piece of wood but other than that he came away feeling a big sense of accomplishment when he was able to slide down his new slide. Thanks Connor and Carson for sharing your swing set with Hayden. You will have to be sure to come by and play on it with Hayden before you leave. When I ask him who gave him the swing set he tells me "Connor and Carson... paw paw build it. So thanks to Daddy and Paw paw for taking it apart and then rebuilding it piece by piece.

Happy Halloween

This was Hayden's first real trick or treat experience. Last year he was really too little to participate so this year he was eager to jump right in there with his older cousins and their friends. Hayden has perfected saying "trick or treat" well before the actual day. He knew exactly what to do and marched up to the doors and said the magic words and then candy filled his pumpkin bucket. He has wanted to wear his costume ever since I tried it on him a few weeks before Halloween and would throw a fit when I would take it off him. His poor little giraffe head kept falling off him and yet he didn't seem to mind. He kept up with the older kids and then discovered that he was actually able to eat the candy that was inside his bucket. His favorite was kit kat and m&m's. In fact, earlier that day I found a small bag of plain m&m's in the kitchen drawer and opened them to only eat a few pieces at a time. Later in the day Hayden came down the hall with the bag of m&ms asking for help as there was 2 lonely little candies left stuck inside the bag. He had eaten the rest. He kept calling them tim tims instead of m&m's. Unfortunately, he only got one bag of these while trick or treating but has discovered his love of dum dums and kit kats. It's funny because he knows where I have hidden his pumpkin bucket and at dinner he will say "eat first, then candy". Every night I will let him pick out one (sometimes two) treats and he will say "daddy's favorite" and then he eats it. I am not a big fan of Halloween but Hayden has made this the most enjoyable one yet. He really is so much fun and it's amazing what he says and does. Unfortunately this is the last Halloween with Connor and Carson for a while but next year we will have Addison, Audrey, Kayla, Blake and Avery to share in the festivities.

Hayden's Second Birthday Party

On Saturday about 30 of our friends and family gathered to celebrate Hayden's second birthday. He had a great day and was so excited that his friends and cousins were coming over to play. The kids had a good time decorating their pumpkins and most of the little ones were actually able to participate this year. Amazing how much they all grow in a years time. Hayden had fun ripping into his gifts and blowing out the candles on his cake. The cake was the hit of the party which was quite different than last years cake. Hayden loved his monkey cake as did I. I actually hated to cut into it since it looked so good. This year we decided to have the kids dress in their Halloween costumes and we couldn't get Hayden to take his off. He loves dressing up in his giraffe costume and we could only convince him to take it off by letting him eat his cake. He has been practicing blowing out the candles for weeks now and loves to have the birthday song sang to him and a week before and even now days after he still requests candles and so we sing and he blows. This year Hayden helped me fill up pumpkin buckets for all his younger guests and he handed them out as he guests went home. We hope to have many more years of birthday celebrations and hope they all are as much of a success as this one was.

Two Years

Hayden's Birth Day

One Year Old

Two Years Old

Wow I can hardly believe that Hayden is already two! On one hand it feels like he has been a part of our life much longer than that but yet on the other it feels like we were just bringing him home from the hospital. It has been such a gift to watch him grow so much in the past two years. He went from this tiny little baby that couldn't do anything on his own to this blond haired little toddler who is walking and talking and making us laugh with what he says and does. He is this smart, beautiful, entertaining little boy that can melt your heart when he says "hold you" and calls out for his mommy and daddy. He is sweet and sensitive, loves music and dancing and for the most part wants to please. He likes to be right there helping out and doing what we are doing. Whether this is playing football with his dad or helping his Dede and Grammy cook to helping me unload the dishwasher to eating pretzels with his pee paw to watching choo choo trains with his paw paw. He certainly knows his likes and dislikes and isn't afraid to let everyone know. The last two years have gone by so fast and yet so many memories have been created. I know that Hayden won't remember any of this but these are certainly the years that neither his Dad nor I will forget. I can only look forward to the next two years to see how much more he will change and grow.

Hayden,

Your daddy and I, as well as the rest of your family, love you very much and thank God for bringing you into our lives. Happy second birthday.

Love mom and dad