And Then She Was 1

Didn't I just have Hailey? I mean, like the other week? Or at most like 6 months ago? Are you sure it's been a year?! I remember vividly my pregnancy and the waiting and the 8 days past due that I was when I went into labor the night after Mile's 3rd birthday party. We didn't know what to expect and were sure I'd have another c-section. You were full of surprises! My labor was very different and you came right through and then you were you! Oh remember that moment! I am having a real hard time grasping that my littlest baby girl is a year old. I remember Miles turning 1. It really didn't hit me until after his birthday and after his party. That following day, I had a tough time-some tears and some sadness. All bittersweet. I feel very similarly with Hailey, but it's not yet the day after. This year has gone so very fast though, and yet I feel like I remember it so well; there are so many details that I am treasuring-snapshots of our life as a family of 4. Snapshots of Hailey smiling and laughing or snuggling into my shoulder. Her first smile and first giggle. Snapshots of her hugging me tight when I pick her up from daycare. Snapshots of the weeks of tears leaving her on my way to work. Snapshots of Miles' loving smile, touch, and helpfulness with Hailey. His "sweet baby girl" phrases and wanting to make sure she's ok, always wanting to touch her cheeks and give her hugs and kisses. Snapshots of her searching for Dada in the other room. Her first steps, her first (and hopefully last!) trip to the ER. Her colds and coughs and lab tests for all her diarrhea. My baby girl is so so sweet. She has a heart of gold and a fire about her that is going to take her far. She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to ask (i.e. looking me straight in the eye and incessantly signing "milk" right in my face!) . She is determined and loving at the same time. She's got spunk and light in her eyes. She's beautiful and has so much potential. Ever inch of her is perfect. I always wanted children and I always imagined having a daughter. My first born son is irreplaceable. My daughter, just as much. There are so many mother daughter things I'm looking forward to doing with her. Her first birthday is a beginning and an end all at the same time. So many thoughts are going through my head! The dreams and aspirations I have for her and the feelings of being a mom of two wonderful children. The wonder of if our family is complete and the longing of my babies being babies. Oh my little Love Bug, Hailey Girl. You are a light in our life and a sweetness in our hearts. I love you so much, words cannot express!

Lost In Time

Today is Miles' 4th birthday. I just can't believe that my little baby is 4. He's not a baby anymore. 3 was still a baby, a toddler. But 4! 4 is almost 5 which means kindergarten and on to many years of school. 4 means he's a little boy and he's learning and he's smart. 4 is a whole new ballgame. I remember being pregnant with him and how wonderfully exhilarating it was. Was I having a boy or a girl? When would baby arrive? It was so exciting to be pregnant and imagine our little one and how our lives would change forever. And I have to say I have not been disappointed! Oh how he's changed our lives in the most amazing ways! I remember the night I went into labor and every seemingly detail of that event. The vomiting, the pain of labor and after 15 hours, deciding he wasn't coming the way we had planned and having a c-section instead. At 4:38pm, he was born. I remember that he used to fall asleep on us for hours. I remember his paci's and how he would have 3 or 4 of them at a time. I remember how he would dance to any beat there was. I remember how he would smile and laugh and yell. I remember how he would run back to his room when it was time for bed. I remember that he was always a good napper and a decent sleeper at night. I do however remember sleeping with him in a chair in the living room when he was teeny tiny because he did not want to lay down without me. I remember crying in the middle of the night because I didn't know how to soothe him. I remember his wild curly hair and his first hair cut-it made him look like such a little boy instead of a baby. I remember how I cried when I first left him at daycare. I remember his first steps at Nana and Grampie's house at Christmas time. I remember that Miles never made me mad until he was 2. I remember the first time he told me he loved me. I remember when he started wanting bug-bugs. I remember how he was always running and jumping and just hasn't stopped since! I remember the giggles, the smiles, the special moments and I treasure them dearly. Miles made me a mommy. He's made me worry like I never thought I would and laugh like I never thought I could. He's made me love more than I thought was possible and cry over reasons I never imagined. He's made my life transform in more ways than I can even count or acknowledge and I can't thank him enough. He's a special special son with a huge heart and eyes that glisten. He has a love of life and a gentleness about him that makes my heart melt. Yes, he can be challenging too, but that's ok. We'll get there together. We'll learn together, and we'll always be there for him. I love him forever and ever with my whole heart no matter what. It's been a wonderful 4 years and I'm excited about the future for him and with him!

Ouch!

Every day I think, "I have to include this in my blog!", but whenever I sit down to write, I can't remember! A few things....

• Hailey still likes to take off her socks and stick them in her mouth. She now finds it hilarious for me to put one in my mouth too.
• Hailey is walking! I know I've said that before, but now she's walking more often than not. And if she stumbles, she gets back up and keeps on going. She's still got a little Sanford and Son walk going, but she's getting pretty fast!
• Hailey's into her books lately. She loves to walk back to her room and pull all her books off the shelf and look through them.
• Hailey slept better as a newborn than she does now! We need to work on that...

• Miles is so smart! He's in the pre-reading stage and I want to work with him more on reading.
• Miles' coloring is getting pretty good!
• Miles is getting good at pretending and imagining scenes or stories. He also thinks it's funny to tell me one thing, and then say that he's just being so silly and that wasn't true.
• Miles had a really rough week at school last week, but a great week so far this week. We did do one new thing (always looking for new ideas!) with school. Last week, he was up front for something or other and tore one of the administrator's binders. So, I told him to pick out his favorite book at home. He did (not really his favorite, but one he does like) and I told him we were giving it to her. He was actually sad and thought she was going to rip his book since he ripped hers. It was a good exchange.

• Ahmad is in the process of interviewing for a new job. (not with the candidates picture below!)
  

• I'm still training for the mini-I've survived 2 weeks so far! It actually feels really good to do the workouts. If my knee holds up, I'll have a better shot! But...I still can't imagine running 13 miles...

We also had an interesting day on Sunday. We were up early (go figure!) and in the living room. Ahmad had used a tray table earlier that morning before Hailey and I were up and it was still up. Long story short (and after I knew I should've put it away), Hailey pulled the table down on her and wound up with it on top of her. She wailed. I pulled it off her expecting a bump, but was greeted with a bloody gash on her forehead. I screamed for Ahmad who was in the back, and we got ready in a flash to go to the ER. Miles and I were still in our jammies. 3 stitches and an hour later (record time in an ER!), we were on our way home. She was a champ. She didn't like being held down, rather strapped down, for the stitches, but other than that, she did great. It's healing well too. We have an appointment on Friday to get them out, so hopefully it will be much better by then. Miles was processing what happened later on that day and described it as Hailey getting a crack on her head and the doctor putting strings in it to make it better. Pretty accurate! We talked about it and I also related it back to him throwing things when he was at school and telling him that the things he throws can crack other people. I think it might have made a better impression on him than previous talks. He's also tried to draw her cut a few times. It's interesting. I have to say that I always feared going to the ER and cannot believe we made it almost 4 years with Miles' crazy antics and then didn't even make it a year for Hailey! But, we made it through.

I cannot believe that my babies' birthdays are next week! Miles will be 4 on the 29th and Hailey will be 1 on the 31st. Wow. What a wonderful, although fast, year. I cannot believe they are this old already. I'm sure I'll have more to say on that next week as although I've been thinking about it for awhile, it really isn't sinking in yet. We are planning some fun stuff though! We're hosting a party for some friends at a local bounce place. They supposedly have several different inflatable structures for the kids (and adults!) to bounce around on. They also have a party room for food and gifts and such. I'm excited about it! We haven't told Miles yet-are waiting until it's a bit closer. But I did ask him tonight what he wanted to take to school for a party. He said cupcakes, cookies, pizza, and crushed red pepper so he could see if his friends liked it. Ha! We'll check in again about that next week. He says the cutest things!

My mind is just filled with things I could write about, but I find that they're not really all that interesting! lol! Life has been busy lately, but good. I'm excited about the future and anxious to see how things are going to work out. Lots of things brewing...asking for God's direction and hopefully we'll follow his lead.

Peek-a-Boo 2011!

Hailey being silly!

So I'm a week late on wishing everyone a happy new year...sorry about that! It's been a busy time since Christmas, but wonderful nonetheless. I was off work from 2 days before Christmas until the 4th, so I had a very nice holiday! I kept the kids home almost that whole time and we got to just hang out and have fun, it was so nice. My very dear friend, Shannon (aka Bubba!) also was able to stop in on her trip back to Iowa from visiting her parents in WV. I look forward to her visits every year! We had a nice time playing with the kids, going to the Children's Museum, and just talking. I still forgot to get a picture of us together...maybe in April when she's back in town! Oh, and it was very fun to beat her in Phase 10! :)



Hailey did have a bump in the road that week though. She began having diarrhea on Monday of that week and kept it up, getting worse and worse. Then on Thursday, she spiked a 102-103 fever and it stayed for 24 hours. We were supposed to go to my parents on Friday and spend the weekend, but called the doc in the morning when one reading said 105! We took her in and they wanted to take samples of her stool and take it to a lab. So...we didn't go to my parents, but instead were on poop watch. We had to collect enough for 4 different samples, so we weren't done until the middle of the night on Friday (of course when you want her to go, she didn't!). What a fabulous New Year's Eve! lol! It was fine though, the kids were in bed and Ahmad and I made it til midnight. Then I hit the sack. Since Hailey's fever was gone on Sat and our samples were taken to the lab, we decided to go ahead and head to my parents for a short visit. We had a great time of course! It was great to see them and spend some time. It turned out as well that Hailey didn't have anything odd and they think it was just a virus. She's still having some diarrhea here and there, but her appetite is back and no fever, so hopefully she'll be all better soon!

Messy mashed potatoes and mac & cheese!

I forgot to tell this story in my last post...on Christmas Eve, we were at mass and we always give Miles a $1 to put in the collection. That night, he looked at it and asked me if that was baby Jesus! I told him no, it was George Washington and he replied, Oh, I learned about him at school! It was quite comical!

I also wanted to post this story on my last post, but didn't want my mom to read it here first. But now that she has her gift, here it is: I wanted to get her a necklace I'd seen online and was looking for it in a store since it was going to take a month to come in. I had Miles with me and he was going here and there exclaiming "Oh mom! Look! Get this one!" or "This one is so pretty!". I was trying decide on what I was getting because they didn't have the exact one I wanted when Miles said "Oh Mommy, you have to get this one. It's Nana's heart when I'm not there." How sweet! I melted, but continued to look around. He came back to it again later and said "Mommy, get this one, it's Nana's heart!" What could I do? I had to get it (it was a red heart coral necklace). Such a sweetie!



Hailey has been into writing lately, trying to copy what she sees us doing I guess. She loves to have a pen or pencil in her hand and will attempt to write on some paper! It's cute! She imitates so much we do, even speech. It really seems she tries to say words, so I won't be surprised if she gets one soon! She also loves to play with her shoes. She has for a long time now and I think I keep forgetting to post about it. We keep her shoes in a basket in the living room (we try not to wear shoes in the house, so it's easier if they are out there) and she constantly plays with them and chews on the straps or carries them around. She sometimes leaves the house with 3 shoes (2 on and 1 in hand!) because she insists on having one in her hand! She's also funny in that she always takes at least one sock off (and usually puts it in her mouth and crawls around) and often takes off her shoes too. If she's in the car, she does the same thing. Today when I went to get her out of the car, she didn't have any socks of shoes on. Funny girl!


Hailey also loves her bath time! She loves to take a bath and gets so excited when I ask her if she wants to take one. If she hears me running the water first, she takes off for the bathroom. If we are in the bathroom, she wanders in and tries to play with the toys in the tub. She splashes and splashes and tries to eat the bubbles and just has so much fun! Miles also still loves his bath and now loves to take one with Hailey. If I don't do theirs together, which I usually do, they are both sad!

Being silly!

Miles has begun coloring and drawing pretty good. He's close to staying the lines when he tries hard and his drawings have turned from scribbles to real pictures! It's so amazing to watch this transformation. He makes mostly faces or monsters. He'll call one a "lemon face" or a "moon face" or something comparable if the shape of the head reminds him of something.


If Hailey is awake when either I wake up Miles from the night or from a nap or when I am putting him down for a nap, she usually comes with me to do whatever needs to be done. She loves to play on his bed! It's so cute! She will crawl around and try to bounce on the bed. She'll throw herself onto a pillow or just fall backwards and laugh. It's terrible cute and a good reason why she doesn't have a big girl bed yet!

Miles and Hailey have really begun to try and play together lately too. Hailey is initiating play and affection to Miles and Miles eats it up. If he does something and she laughs, he just eats it up and continues to do whatever it was and she just cracks up! Lately it's been peek-a-boo, either in the bath with Miles putting his head in the water and then coming up and roaring at her, or running from around the corner at her. She just squeals and laughs! It's delightful!

Hailey's first time using a spoon!

We had a slight change of events this week too. Ahmad's job was a temporary job, but we thought he had 2 more months and he was pretty confident they were going to hire him on after the temp position was up. Well, he got a call Wednesday night that Thursday was going to be his last day! Luckily and fortunately, he'd been in touch with the temp agency who hired him throughout his employment there as they had expressed interest in him being a recruiter. He had an interview for it Thursday evening and was hired! So blessed! I told him he was getting really good at finding jobs and I wasn't sure if that was good or bad! But we really are very blessed at this quick turnaround. Thank you Lord!

I don't think I posted about this before, but something in my mind made me want to sign up to run the Indianapolis Mini Marathon in May. I had thought about it, but didn't think I would actually do it, but I did. I signed up the end of November. I've never ever ever been a runner, so I'm not sure why I wanted to do it. It just seemed that as I lost weight this summer, I began to feel good! When I was playing with Miles, we would run around or run the last leg of walk and for once, I didn't feel like I was going to die! That's what got the wheels turning. So anyway, I started training today. And I survived day 1. :) I'm glad I have a long time til the race though because I am horribly out of shape!

Up up and away!!! Here's to a blessed 2011 for everyone!