snow and the easter bunny

Well, we went from 70 degrees and sunny down to 30 degrees and snow in a couple of days - how awful!

Hailey on the other hand loves the snow. Even on the 70 degree day when we went for a walk Hailey would point out the piles of snow and yell - SNOW! So she was more than happy yesterday afternoon when we got home from work and went out in the snow!



For a week we have planned to go see the Easter Bunny at the mall. Hailey is not afraid of anything and loved Santa so we figured she would love the Easter Bunny. Last week when we were at the mall we saw the Easter Bunny was arriving Saturday at 10am. Hailey loves bunnies and was walking around the little garden area they had set up for the bunny, yelling "bunny". Since I am still afraid of germs I decided if we were the first visitors to the bunny there was less chance she would catch something. So we trudged out in the snow this morning and arrived at 10:05am. Sadly, the bunny was digging out and running late. We walked around a little and had to stop at Gymboree so mommy could look around and Hailey could watch the tv. As we were their the bunny walked by - Hailey was sooo excited! Since we were pretty much the only ones at the mall because of the snow the bunny paid special attention to Hailey. Hailey danced with the bunny, hugged the bunny and even asked the bunny to pick her up. Once we made it to the garden where the bunny is seated they were taking a pix and actually gave it to us for free since we were the first customers. They also asked if Hailey could be the easter bunny baby model. So if you live in the area and go to the Fox Run Mall you will see Hailey's picture framed on the desk! Then as we were leaving the bunny motioned for Tim, it ended up being an older grandmother who said her granddaugter is scared of her in the costume and asked if it would be o.k. for her to keep a copy of Hailey's picture! Too funny! After all was said and done it was worth the trip. As you can see below Hailey was quite tired out ...



Because they took the picture I don't have it on the computer to share, but if I can get it scanned I will post it on the blog.

60 degrees and loving it!

Well, its been around 60 degrees for a couple of days so we took full advantage while it was here. Daddy works 3rd shift Tuesday and Wednesday nights so he was able to enjoy the weather with us.

Notice the spoon in her hand from her tea set,
she always has something out of the ordinary
with her when we go out.


Do take notice we had to stop and watch a train go by while on our walk!






Isn't this the cutest? She wanted to hold my hand
while we were walking!


Sadly, wet snow and rain are in the forecast for the weekend. Come quickly spring, come quickly!

bath time

Hailey will be exactly 20 months old in 3 days and still took baths in the sink - until last week! I finally was tired of cleaning up the water all over my kitchen because of her splashing and prepared for a new bathing experience.

For some reason she has been quite frightened of the bath tub up until this point and every time we have tried to transition over to the tub we started a tantrum like you have never seen so to keep it simple we use the sink. I asked for advice in my MOP's group and someone suggested filling the tub with lots of bubbles and toys and just let her play with everything from outside the tub. We tried that and she loved it. Then we transitioned to inside the tub, there were tears, but it was controllable. The next night she whined a little before going it, but once in had a blast. Last night she had conquered the bath ...

Take a look at the picture below. That is not a temper tantrum, that is pure joy from being able to splash without reserve.


Her friend Elijah was visiting and was as soaked as I was when all was said and done!


Things at work have picked up since I started working in accounts payable and because of this I haven't had much time to post. Yes, I used to post my blogs at work ... bad mommy! Because of this my post may be fewer in number and more in volume :-) I have a ton of pictures that I have wanted to share so enjoy!

Last week my friend Candace came over to visit with Bradyn who is 6 weeks old. Hailey wanted to hold and feed the baby. She couldn't understand why we wouldn't let her.

Mommy, why won't he play with me?


I just loved this picture! Daddy works crazy hours, but when he is home Hailey enjoys every minute with him. They are two peas in a pod.



My brother's girlfriend came to visit for the weekend and while Matt was at work last night she came to visit. At one point we were playing dress up and we all had funny headbands on. She was the birthday princess and Hailey was a bunny. Good thing I had the camera - you will never know what I was dressed up like :-)



she won't keep the ears on for long!


Here is Hailey playing with her friend Elijah


Tim and I was in a wedding in June, yesterday was the bridal shower. This week has been CRAZY with last minute planning, but it came together beautifully! I remembered everything - except the camera! Oh boy! That is why Hailey was dressed up in the pictures above.

This last picture is from this morning. Daddy and his group leads worship Sunday morning in church. Before church starts they practice a little bit and as soon as Hailey arrives she marches up front to be with them. So here she is singing with daddy.

party girl

The video you all have been waiting for is in a separate post below! O.k. you may not have been waiting for it, but I promised a video of her playing the drums so its posted below.



We had a fun weekend. On Saturday Hailey went to a birthday party for Amber who just turned 3!



Hailey had a blast. She loves playing with other kids. Actually she loves people in general. She is the most social child I have ever met. No matter where we go she yells out "HI" to everyone. Thursday night we were at the Gap and there was a little girl almost exactly Hailey's size. Being the shy little girl she is (not) she walks up to her and starts rubbing the girls coat and talking to her. It was soooo funny!

She is also the only 1 year old I know who walks around with a little purse. This winter I bought her a little purse at the GAP that had a little doggie in it because she LOVES dogs. Well, now she has a new love - purses. The dog is in the toy bin, but the purse goes everywhere with her. She calls it her bubby ... not sure where that name came from, but if she can't find it she will run around the house yelling "bubby", "where's the bubby"?

You can see it in her hand in the pix below ...


Last night Hailey counted to 3! I was counting and then would tickle her on 3, well all of the sudden she starts counting ... She also is starting to really recognize animals. It always makes me laugh because the animals she knows are not your average ones. She knows the zebra, monkey, giraffe ... I think its because she has a video where they take a trip to the zoo and she LOVES this video! Sadly as of last night I could not get it to play, but we won't tell her just yet :-)

little drummer girl

america's next top model

Last week Hailey was the next American Idol, this week she is America's Next Top Model. Do we have high expectations or what? Ha, ha!

Since summer clothes and bathing suits have already hit the shelves I went shopping last weekend and got Hailey a really cute bathing suit at Gymboree. I know I should wait and debut it this summer, but I couldn't help trying it on and taking some pictures.



If she doesn't look happy in this picture, its because she isn't. She has decided to sprout all her teeth at once and that makes for one cranky baby! She has been a late teether, her first tooth didn't pop up until after her first birthday so now they all decided it was a great time to grow. Poor baby!

Her eating is also getting worse. Many of you know I have struggled with Hailey's eating. Many preemies have these issues and they can go either way, where it is a struggle to get them to eat or they are never satisfied. It is defintely some kind of sensory issue. I also believe her reflux plays a part in it. Of course when she was little it was a struggle to get her to eat then she hit a certain age and was never satisfied, but when I fed her it would aggrevate her reflux and she would spit up and be in pain. She almost never seems satisfied. The ped said she will eventually grow out of it, but it is quite frustrating especially when we are out in public! She did seem to be improving and wouldn't scream after meals, but I think the teeth have aggrevated it because after any kind of meal or if she even sees food she screams and cries ... big crocodile tears! I just try to keep healthly snacks on hand for when she asks for "num, num". This week its strawberries (umm)! Its funny because for all she eats she is really tiny for being almost 2 years old. I will bring it up to the ped next time we go in, but I know they will say what they always say ... she will grow out of it!

And to end this post ... yesterday Hailey started singing her ABC's! We have been singing them to her for awhile and she tries to sing them back, but you couldn't really tell what she was singing until now. It sounds like A, B, B, D ... she can't really say C yet then she skips over to P ... Its definitely a start and oh so cute!

pigtails

Where did my baby go and who replaced her with a toddler? Last night daddy was at work and we had a quiet night at home. While playing I had the great idea of trying to see if Hailey had enough hair for pigtails. Surprisingly she did and it looked so cute!

I think it makes her look more like a toddler and less like my little baby! The good thing about them is she feels the top of her head for barettes etc so she can pull them out, but since these are in the back she feels the top of her head, doesn't feel anything and leaves them alone!!! I think I have won the hair war for now until she discovers the back of her head ...

Happy Birthday Uncle Jeff!

Last night we celebrated Uncle Jeff's 30th birthday! Today is his actual birthday - Happy Birthday Uncle Jeff!

Uncle Jeff & Auntie Jessie


Uncle Jeff and Alyssa doing a puppet show


Derek, Rex, mommy and me


umm ... good cupcakes Auntie Jessie!

future american idol finalist

Tim has music practice with his group Newsong every Wednesday night. They lead worship at our church on Sunday mornings. Once in awhile I will take Hailey so she can watch daddy because she LOVES music.

Last night was one of those nights. Usually before and after practice daddy will sit Hailey in his lap and let her play the "real drums" and she loves it. She also is pretty good at it! Once practice begins she wants to play along so we have extra drum sticks for her and she runs around banging whatever she can! Below you will see a picture of daddy with the band. My brother is actually on the drums. Tim also has 3 girls who sing with him, but they couldn't make practice last night.



And here is Hailey jamming with the group we found a makeshift drum for her to bang on ....



I will have to get a video of her playing the actual drums. It is sooo cute!

I really think she is following in her daddy's footsteps. At 19 months old she already sings with us and loves to play her little keyboard, guitar and of course the drums!

Hey, keep an eye on this girl as she may be the next American Idol!

back in full force

We had a low-key 3 day weekend and throughly enjoyed it! Hailey is doing fabulously other than being annoyed by a couple of teeth trying to come in which makes her a bit more cranky. Her language skills are taking off and she is now repeating almost everything we say. Its funny to hear what comes out next. Another funny thing she does is yell MEME anytime she sees a phone. She doesn't get to see Meme as often as Nana, but she talks to Meme on the phone quite often so of course "phone=meme". Its quite cute! I was talking to a friend last night and the whole time Hailey is yelling "MEME, MEME" and trying to take the phone from me.

Also, the days of putting her hair in a barette or ponytail are over. Now matter what I do to distract her she pulls it out as fast as I can put it up. Any suggestions?! I found the cutest headbands at GAP kids and couldn't even think of buying them because off they go before I pull my hand away!

She also likes to tease me now and when she is doing something she knows she shouldn't (like putting a barette in her mouth) she yells mommy, waits for me to see what she is doing, says no, no, no and then puts it in her mouth! I guess she wants to give me fair warning that she is doing something she shouldn't! She also has the art of shopping down. We went to the mall with my mom and a friend yesterday. Hailey saw an ELMO shirt. She yells ELMO so I give it to her to look at and she then hands it Nana and says, thank you!!!! I swear we didn't practice that :-)

So thankfully I have my baby back in full force and I am enjoying every minute!

and they lived happily ever after

Feeding her preemie doll.
This was actually taken before she got sick.

And they lived happily ever after (its over - yeah!) Can someone say healthy!

The last time Hailey vomited was late Monday night, Tuesday she went in for IV fluids and bloodwork, then Wednesday she was tired and run-down from fighting this nasty virus. Yesterday was her first day in a week of actually having some energy. Her appetite still isn't back, even this morning she didn't eat much for breakfast, but I am sure that will come, I am just so glad to have my baby back!

Her new word: monkey! It is so funny! Meme bought her a monkey that attaches around her waist with velcro. At first she didn't like it, but she has warmed up to it and now runs around the house yelling "monkey" - "monkey" until she finds it.

Looking forward to a fun filled weekend and lots of new stories to share now that she is back to her normal silly self!

to the hospital we go ...

Well, Hailey has been the same which means she is still very sick. Finally after day 5 of vomiting we decided the ped should take a look at her so Tuesday am she was seen first thing. After examining her he sent us to the hospital for bloodwork and fluids. Hailey was a champ! Of course she cried and hated every second of it, but she did settle down and when it was all over she watched them take the IV out and never cried! The ped said she should perk up last night, she never did, but thankfully she never vomited. Now that's an accomplishment! She is down in her weight as well, but that is to be expected. She was 21lbs back at the beginning of January and should have gained since then, yesterday she was 19lbs, 12oz.


You can see she doesn't look good, but do notice the snickers
in her hand. Dooda gave her a bear that held snickers so she
is toting them around the house.

Today she is VERY tired and cuddly (I am defintely enjoying the cuddles), but she hasn't been whining as much so I am hoping that means her tummy isn't hurting as bad, she is just worn out. She usually goes all day and then vomits between 7-10pm every night so we will see ... I will defintely believe we are doing better if we go tonight vomit free.

Also, valentines is bittersweet because daddy is not home to celebrate with us. We are getting a blizzard today - what fun - but because of this he is stuck at work. He worked 3rd shift last night and tonight so they put him up in a hotel because of the weather. We are hoping all will be well by Friday and we will celebrate then.

Happy Valentines Day and Happy SNOW day to those who live in the area!

when will it end?

She's still sick ... Saturday night and Sunday am she seemed like she was getting back to normal. I even saw a twinkle in her eye Sunday morning. She even got to play a little with her friend Sidney from Maryland because it had been 24 hours from her last "episode", then a few hours after they left she vomited again and again.



She has lost a noticeable amount of weight. Not sure how accurate my scale is, but it puts her around 19lbs - she was up to 21lbs in January. She is hydrated though. Today she is just whining and moaning. I feel so horrible and just want to take it away so badly.

Looking forward to HEALTHY days ahead!

still sick ...

Well, its not the flu - norovirus is going around. Everyone has been beyond sick ... We finally thought things were getting better yesterday and then last night Hailey started vomiting again. All over everything in her crib ... We got about 3 hours sleep last night and I am just tired, tired of vomit and changing diapers. Over the course of this week she has learned to say poo-poo when she has a dirty diaper. That, sadly, was learned because she has had one to many dirty diapers! Today she has been worse than she was Thursday (and trust me that is VERY bad) and she went from asking for food to refusing to even drink. OH BOY!

Hoping and praying for relief soon ...

Looks like we won't be able to spend time with our friends coming up tomorrrow. This spring they are moving to Mass (about an hour from us), so at least they will be closer than Maryland!

Hopefully today will be a better day ...

flu-fest 2007

The title says it all! Since last week we have been celebrating flu-fest 2007. It actually started with friends of ours, went through their household, then my parents household, then my brother got it and now we are celebrating full force.

Thankfully I am feeling better today because someone has to keep the washing machine running :-) Hailey had her 6th costume change by 11:30am. Busy girl!

I think for the second half of flu-fest she might celebrate in her birthday suit. I have missed 2 (going on 3 tomorrow if Hailey isn't better) days of work, but again, thankfully Tim got it just in time for his weekend (Thursday/Friday).

Anyway ... please pray that flu-fest passes by soon because I don't know how much more the washing machine (and mommy) can take! Also we have friends coming to visit from Maryland on Sunday and we haven't seen them since October 2005. Their daughter Sidney will be turning 1 next month and Hailey and her have never officially met (unless you count when they were in the womb). Ha, ha!

Anyway ... please send us some germ free vibes and prayers that this passes fast!

talking (video)

look whose talking ...

Hailey has been loads of fun lately! She has been saying more and more words and putting phrases together. Instead of just saying bye, she will put words together, such as, bye nana! Also she has started saying "uh, oh" "no, no, no" and "ewww". Its hard not to laugh when she says these things. She say uh, oh whenever anything drops or her shoe falls off ect ... and ewww is usually when I am changing her diaper or she sticks her hand in the cat food :-) And before she does things she shouldn't comes the no, no, no!
She also said Jordy (her cousins name) ... Yesterday she was talking to Papa on the phone and he was saying how he saw Jordy and she repeated ... Jordy! I can't believe how much she picks up!
Mommy is sick with the flu (it is going around like wildfire), so far daddy and Hailey haven't caught it and I hope it stays that way. It was nice being home with her though. She is such a riot and so much fun!



Hailey also met Bradyn on Sunday when he came to visit ...

Notice the bottle in her hand - she was prepared to feed the baby!

Happy Birthday Auntie Robin!

Yesterday was Auntie Robin's birthday and today there was a party planned for her. Hailey and I were all ready to go (daddy had to work), but last minute we had car trouble and couldn't make it, but we wanted Auntie Robin to know were thinking of her and wish her the best birthday ever!

Happy Birthday Auntie Robin!

IKEA

So yesterday we made our trek to Ikea. It actually only took about 1 hour and 15 minutes. We are glad to know its not that far as we plan to make more trips in the future. This particular trip was about Hailey. We wanted to get her a small table and chair set and a bookcase. Mission accomplished ...

Notice the mini cookware set ... she loved it and has
played with it all day.


Cute, huh?! The bookcase was made so it can lay
down or go upright when she is older. I love the way it
is made with little cubbies so she can put her toys in it too ...


On her bureau notice the cute new lamp that matches her room ...

sledding

We got a fresh coat of about 3 inches of snow so this morning we took Hailey to Target to buy a new sled and off we went.

Notice the tiny hill behind her that she went
down (she loved it!)


isn't it pretty?!


She's screaming because the sled stopped and
she wanted to keep going ...

much ado about nothing

Not much to report, we have had a great week so far and mommy has tomorrow off from work YEAH! We are taking a trip to IKEA. When we lived in Maryland we were only 5 minutes from the closest IKEA and we would shop their all the time. Actually IKEA was the first store Hailey ever went into. She had been home from the NICU for about a month and I was going stir crazy so we went to IKEA right before close to avoid the "awful" germs. It was funny, I remember being so paranoid, keeping her bundled up and not really enjoying myself because of worry. Of course, she didn't get sick, but because of my incessant worry she never entered a store till the next spring. Anyway...when we moved we went through withdrawals (ha, ha), but thankfully they built one somewhat close to where we live. I say somewhat because we are going to have to make a day of it (I believe its about 2 hours away), but it will be fun and we are on a mission to get some new furniture for Hailey's room. I think she will really love IKEA like we do!!!

Also, NAP STRIKE is over! It took a couple of days, but we are back to our regularly scheduled naptimes!!!! YEAH!

And time for one cute story, my mom taught Hailey to say "num, num" (I am guessing it is supposed to be yum, yum) when she wants food. Well, Hailey wants food ALL the time, so this can be a problem, but it is so cute! At the place that I grocery shop they have cookies for the kids and Hailey is now figuring out where they are. Since she had just finished dinner before we left last night to go grocery shopping I figured I would by-pass the cookies. Think again! Just as I was passing them, she bursts out ... num, num, num - please!!!! How can I resist?!


Notice the cute boots that Alyssa let me borrow!


Mom, why are you trying to put things on my head again? You know I can't stand it!