life marches on

Its hard to fathom how life can go on when you lose someone you love so much and yet life marches on whether you are ready or not. I stand back, my heart aching for my family. Each of us hurts in a different way, but yet the loss is felt by all. I guess we go on reaching for the hope of heaven that lies ahead when we will all be reunited again ...



This week went over and visited Robin, Luke and Alyssa. All the cousins were together and had fun eating "lockilos" ... not really sure how to spell that one :-) Hailey has a new found love of popsicles, but it is sure a hard word to say!





I love these two pix. Above is Alyssa and Hailey sharing a hug and below is Luke playing ball with Uncle Jeff ...



Once every two weeks Tim, Hailey and I get one full day together. With his job Tim works 2nd and 3rd shifts and his days off are Thursday and Friday's and of course mine are Saturday and Sunday's. This can make family time tough. To remedy this my job has allowed me to have every other Friday off so to make the most of our one day together we try to plan something fun. This Friday we went to the beach and then celebrated Taylor's 10th birthday! Happy Birthday Taylor - we love you!





This last picture Auntie Robin took and I just thought it was so cute!

shoes, songs and names

First let me say, it is strep throat - argghh! We took her to the ER Wednesday with a high fever and they sent us home telling us to let it run its course because it was a virus. Not until last night did we get a call saying it was strep and she needed antibiotics. I kind of had a hunch since her fever wasn't going away, but overall she has been acting like herself. I actually thought she was getting better. Oh well - at least we are finally on the road to recovery and hopefully now we can get this out of our house! It went through all three of us over a month period.

These pictures were taken Tuesday night BEFORE her fever started. Sadly she was probably contagious, but lets hope and pray Jordyn does't get it. Auntie Tracey and Taylor were the first ones in the family to get it so they are all set!



Now the reason for my title. Hailey LOVES shoes, when we go to a store and she sees the shoe section she heads straight there, sits down and tries on shoes no matter what size they are. She also does a great job of matching up pairs of shoes. I have a basket in her closet with all her shoes mixed together. When it is time to go out I tell her to go get her shoes and she actually will go and get a matching pair. Also, when I am picking out shoes I have to give her a choice because sometimes she doesn't like what I pick out.

She also loves to pick out our shoes. She knows which are daddy's, which are mine and she matches them up. So when we say we are going out, she picks out her shoes and then looks at our feet to see if we need shoes and proceeds to get them .... I think I am in trouble as she gets older :-)



She also loves to sing just like her daddy. She started this at quite a young age and now can sing quite a few songs. She remembers most of the words and is even better at remembering tunes. In her repertoire is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Rock-A-Bye-Baby, ABC, Jesus Loves Me, E-I-E-I-O and from the Wiggles - the Monkey Song and Rock-A-Bye-A-Bear. She is not a fan of the car and so many times we will ask her to sing to distract her and off she will go. Her numbers though we are still working on. She REFUSES to say two and proceeds to count 1-3-5-6-7-10. I think I see a pattern?

As most kids her age, I think you will find their memory is amazing. She is will hear something once and later repeat it. It surprises me what she comes out with. One of the things she repeats and is great at remembering is names. She is will see someone once or twice and later repeat their name to me. She is better at this than some adults I know :-)

poor baby

I thought during the summer you were supposed to get a break from sickness? Ha, ha! Well, I don't think I posted during all of this because it wasn't that important, but about 3 weeks ago I came down with strep, was put on antibiotics etc ... Sadly, on top of all he was dealing with Tim came down with it the day after his brothers accident.

Well, last night Hailey decided it was her turn. She has been cranky and drooling the last couple of days, and she really does have 4 teeth coming in so I passed it off, but when she came down with 103.5 fever I decided it was time to get her checked out. The strange thing is she doesn't really have other symptoms. We took her to the ER and they did a strep test, looked at her ears etc ... nothing other than her throat does look red ... they think its the coxsackie virus (a form of hand, foot, mouth) that is going around. The symptoms can be so wide ranged so they have no way to positively diagnose it. So we wait it out.

While we were at the ER Hailey of course was not happy. She even screamed about the bracelet they put on you with your hospital id. This is the first real sickness she has had since she has really blossomed in her vocabulary so it was interesting to see what she thinks about everything. Well, the nurse came in and out taking throat cultures, giving her tylenol, taking her temp. After the throat culture Hailey lost it crying hysterically, once composed (the nurse had left), she looks at the door with tears in her eyes and in her meanest voice she says "I GET YOU" - "I GET YOU". I nearly fell over laughing! Does this child take after Tim or is it just me?

And drumroll please, finally a weight update ... (I don't know how accurate this is as she was moving around and screaming over the scale), but her weight at 25 months is 24.5lbs! Not bad for starting out at 2lbs!

rememberance ride

Joe on his bike getting ready for Jordyn's ride (http://www.jordynsride.com/)

On Sunday - what would have been Joe and Robin's 7th wedding anniversary - they had a ride to honor Joe and what an honor it was ...












This has been the hardest week of my life. I miss Joe and I ache for Robin and the kids. Still I fall short for words. Please keep praying for our family and especially his wife and kids.


Jordyn, Alyssa and Hailey on Sunday

Here is a link to the article about the ride:
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070730/FOSTERS01/107300247

we love you Joe ...

There are no words for the pain you feel when you lose someone so close to you. Joe you lit up our lives - you took a piece of us with you and we love you more than we could ever express ...











article link below ...
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070727/FOSTERS01/107270408/0/NEWS24

take me out to the ballgame

Yesterday Hailey watched her Dooda, Uncle Matt and Laura play ball. She was the cheerleader and did a great job. She kept yelling ... go, go, go Dooda! It was so cute!





Since the weather has not been cooperating this summer we decided to make the best of the rainy, cooler weather and Hailey and two of her friends went puddle jumping. Hailey loves to "jump", but to her jumping is bouncing so it was quite funny. She has also learned to twirl and will go in circles with her arms out if you ask her.

week in review

Well, I have been without my camera and laptop for a week (long story), hence no pictures or update, but I am now back in action.



First of all, I want to say Happy Birthday to Luke! He turned 6 on Thursday. On Tuesday we celebrated his birthday with an ice cream bash! As always the kids had a great time playing with each other. Since Hailey is talking more and more now they kids had her go around the table and say each of their names. She did a great job and said every single one! One of the main reasons we moved back from Maryland was so Hailey could grow up close to her family/cousins and each time we get together I am reminded of what a great decision that was :-)



Well, Hailey is now officially a 2 year old and lives up to that well :-) She LOVES the word no and says it passionately. No, no, no momma is heard loud and clear around our house. She also loves to pick out her own clothes and shoes. At least as she gets smarter I do too, so I have learned to pick out what I want her to wear and have it within her reach so when she goes in her closet she picks what is within her reach and we are both happy! I am well aware that before I know it she will be on to my game, but in the meantime I am still a step ahead!



This past week I unexpectantly came down with strep in the middle of summer! Go figure! Thankfully, I have now been on antibiotics for 3 days and both Hailey and Tim are still feeling well so lets hope and pray they stay that way.

Hailey is also trying to break through her last few teeth, I think she has about 4 left. These ones seem to be giving her some trouble and her binky has become her teething toy. So far she has poked a hole in one. She is also waking up crying at night so I sure hope they come through soon!

On the reflux front, I think we may be ahead of the game. She has been on her new medicine I believe for about 2 weeks and we have nothing to complain about. Actually, I think my mom's theory has been proven correct because since she has been on the new medicine her appetite has decreased. Which to some may seem like a bad thing, but with Hailey all this means is maybe pushing away a bite or two when she used to cry after eating a full meal like she was still starving. To us this is an accomplishment. I think maybe some of the eating may have been due to reflux/medicine.

This Thursday she goes in for her 2 year check-up so I will soon have an updated weight/height. I am sure it will be a far cry from the 2lbs, 15.5 oz she was 2 years ago. She may even hit the 25lb mark. We shall see!

Happy 2nd Birthday to Hailey!

Today Hailey turned 2! (Don't ask her though because she will tell you she is 3 :-) She had a monkey/zoo themed birthday party and it was loads of fun!


My sister-in-law Robin made the cake, isn't it cute!!











Thankfully she took a two hour nap before her party and did great the whole time. I think the presents were a little overwhelming, but she was able to get her energy back after a refreshing dip in the pool and became a wild one.





Thanks to everyone who came and made her 2nd birthday a day to remember!

vacation

Since Tim had to ask for time off for Hailey's birthday (he works weekends) we decided to add a few days and spend some quality time together. Tuesday we visited our friends in MA and Hailey played with Sidney.



Tim had to work Tuesday night and sleep a little on Wednesday, but after he woke up we headed to Coldstone Creamery (umm, umm good) and the Mall of NH. You will notice a theme throughout our vacation - trains! Those of you who know Tim know that Hailey never had a chance not to like trains. In the mall there is a little train for the kids to ride. I felt like my baby was going off to school She walked up, waited in line, handed the lady the money and hopped on the train all by herself grinning and waving at us the whole time.



Thursday we took her up to N. Conway, of course we had to stop by the Conway Scenic Railroad and then off we went to Storyland. She loved it and even rode the flume ride. When you get to the top it pauses and she looked at me and said all done! Then down we went - I think she didn't know what happened. After we were down the hill she looked at me and said - "mommy, I all wet"! It was so funny!




Friday we went to Weir's Beach and again a train was involved. They have a nice scenic railroad that goes along the water and the whole time we are at the beach Hailey is yelling "ride, mommy, ride"! She scares me in the water because she thinks she can swim. She just lifts her legs and starts kicking. I better sign her up for lessons soon.



It was great spending time together because with Tim's schedule we only get one full day together every other week. Hailey has really enjoyed the time and anytime either of us disappeared she would yell for us to come back. I want daddy ... I want mommy!



Today my little baby turns 2! She gets the idea that this is her birthday and tells me she wants cake. Her big "monkey" party is at 2pm, right now I waiting for her to wake up so we can get ready. I will update later!

beach days and fireworks

We have had a fun-filled week of beach days and fireworks. On the 4th we went to the beach with family and friends, but the fireworks were cancelled due to rain so we went back to see them the next night. Hailey did great the entire evening and loved the fireworks. It was nice to actually have her sit in my lap and enjoy them since the girl never sits down :-)



As I have said before Hailey is quite the little socialite. While at the beach she walks up to another little girl and starts playing with her. The mom asked Hailey's age and we realized the girls are only 10 days apart. My mom then commented on how small the other little girl was (her and Hailey were almost the exact same size), come to find out the other little girl was a 31 weeker! You don't usually run into other preemies like that so it was fun to talk with her and thankfully both our girls didn't have any long term issues.

Hailey and her "Unca Matt"






The night of the fireworks the brakes froze on our car so Hailey and I had to ride home with Deb and Elijah. This picture was taken around 11:30p ... the kids were wiped and so were we!!!!



Yesterday, we celebrated Kaylee's 6th birthday at Dean & Cookie's camp. The kids had a blast and Hailey went in her float for the first time. She loves the water, but hates the confinement of her float. Once she got used to it she loved it. She also had her first boat ride and did wonderful. Actually, the only hassle was getting her to actually sit down! She wanted to walk around, but that wasn't going to happen :-)

Sadly, I have no pictures from yesterday because forgot the camera!

Next week, I work Monday then I am off and we are on vacation - yeah! We are taking Hailey to Storyland and traveling to North Conway, NH. Then Saturday my baby will be 2! We are planning a big monkey bash! Lots of pix to follow ...

camp

Yesterday we took Hailey to Cookie and Dean's camp. This will be the first of many trips during the summer. She had so much and is definitely a water baby! The scary thing is she has no fear of the water or depth perception so we had to veer her back to the shore many times because she would have just kept walking out into the water!






She was able to see her cousins (actually 3rd cousins - can you believe that?) Kaylee and Amber. Yesterday was actually Kaylee's 6th birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY - but we are celebrating Saturday back at the lake. Hailey LOVES them and had loads of fun.