birthday's

Can anyone say cake?! Hailey attended 3 - yes 3 birthday's in two days. Saturday at noon we celebrated Elijah's 2nd birthday with a Thomas the Tank Engine theme birthday. I don't know who enjoyed it more daddy or Hailey.

The at 2pm we celebrated Sarah's 1st birthday with an Elmo themed party. After having cake and pizza I expected Hailey to take a nap, right ... What was I thinking?!

So she decided to call her cousins at Meme's house to see if they wanted to come over to play.

Sure enough Meme brought them over and the kids had a blast playing!

Then today we celebrated Michelle's 18th birthday! Her brother and a friend put together a murder mystery party which was really cool and loads of fun. Sure enough party=cake and then mommy again expects a nap. NOT! She laid in her bed for 1.5 hours talking and never slept and this now puts us at 2 days without a nap. Good luck tomorrow Nana!

So Happy Birthday to Elijah, Sarah and Michelle! We love you all!

did I shave my legs for this?

A couple of days ago I was giving Hailey a bath and I gave her the pouf to was herself. I name body parts and she washes them. When we got to the leg she stops, looks up at me and says, "mommy, shave legs?"

I laughed so hard I almost fell over .... I think in her whole life she has only watched me shave once and it was quite awhile ago. Its amazing what they remember!

go, go, go BRADY!

She wouldn't cooperate to take the picture, but I had to post what I could get. She has definitely changed in the last year! This year she now chants - "BRADY, BRADY, BRADY." Mom might have a little to do with this :-) Thank you Alyssa for the Patriots outfit since I grew out of last years!

Meme's Halloween Party

On Halloween Meme had her grandchildren (minus Taylor who had soccer practice) over for a Halloween party. They all dressed in their costumes and received loads of goodies.

Aren't they so cute?!

trick-or-treating

Tonight was Hailey's first time trick-or-treating and she had a blast. Luke and Alyssa joined us and they showed her how to do it right, by next year she should be a pro!



Hailey's favorite candy by far is smarties and so she was quite happy when she went through her "loot" and found some. Of course, daddy enjoyed the loot equally as much!

go, go, go Red SOX and what about those PATS!

You can't read her shirt very well, but Hailey's shirt says Boston Red Sox. She was trying to show her team spirit the best she could! And don't forgot those Patriots!

Hailey is still under the weather, but we are headed in the right direction. She is mostly draining now - yuck! Yesterday, daddy had to go to work and so we just stayed home, watched the games and relaxed. At one point Hailey decided it was time to take me on playing Monopoly ...

I let her win :-)

let winter begin

On Thursday night Hailey started acting like she was getting a cold. Since she is over 2 and my RSV fears are subsiding we are fully enjoying all the fall activities and not letting a little cold scare us. So I was prepared for a "little" cold. Well, leave it to Hailey not to get a little cold, but full-blown croup. It came on fast and hard. She woke up Thursday early morning (around 3am) breathing really hard (it sounded like she was hyperventilating), probably scared herself. You can hear rattling in her chest/throat with every breathe she takes. I am learning not to overreact myself and thankfully Tim was home that night so we just got her to calm down and she slept with us until we could go to the doctors the next day. They ended up giving her a shot of steriods since she was breathing so hard and told us the croup should last 3-4 days and then turn into a regular cold. Doctors solution for coughing fits or breathing difficulties, take her in the cold air even at 2am. So yesterday we took her outside a couple of times and opened all the windows to let that cold air in.

Today she seems to be the same, though thankfully her breathing seems to have improved a little. So we are off to a good start this winter and really "winter" hasn't even arrived yet :-)

leaf jumping and harvest party

While mommy was at work on Tuesday, daddy took Hailey to Papa and Meme's house and the went leaf jumping! Hailey loved it!

Tonight we had a Harvest Party at our church for the kids. It was loads of fun! The kids group is mainly for 6-12 year olds, but we invited a few younger ones as well. I think Hailey was a little overwhelmed by all the kids, costumes and SUGAR!

FYI ... I am supposed to be a cat - LOL!

Oh and as I am typing this I am watching the game - as Hailey would say, "GO, GO, GO RED SOX"!!!

learning to share

Hailey had a great weekend. On Friday she was able to play with her cousins Luke and Alyssa. On the way over she was talking to herself in the backseat.

"I want to share Lyssa's room" (meaning she wants to share when playing in Alyssa's room)
Then a pause and she would shout "NO"

It was so funny! We are trying to teach her how to share and so when I tell her we are going somewhere to play with friends she always looks at me and tells me she wants to share. This time I think she was fighting with herself over whether she really wanted to or not!
When playing with another child, if she wants what they have she looks at me and asks nicely "I want to share" - meaning can you make then give that to me?

On Saturday Seacoast Christian School had a Harvest Day to raise funds for the school. They did a great job putting it together, Hailey had fun riding the pony and playing games. This girl LOVES to ride horses. I know from her cousins Taylor and Jordyn this is quite an expensive sport so I better try to veer her interests quickly or start saving my pennies :-)

Also, in the past week Hailey has learned how to play hide n' seek. She loves it! At this point when you are looking for her she will jump out at you and then after you hide and its her turn she will hide in the same spot you were just in! Too cute!

does she have to grow up?

There are a few things Hailey says and does right now that I just have to write down because I never want to forget them ...

When referring to a pillow she calls it a "peep, peep"(even though she knows how to say pillow), why, I do not know, but it has stuck and we find ourselves calling it that now.

Her favorite phrase - "whose that"? She asks me this all the time! It could be someone she knows well or a total stranger, but the question is always the same.

When referring to herself she always says "you" - "mommy, help you," "mommy, hold you". No matter how often we correct her the "you" just sticks.

She loves animals and can name most of them by their correct names, but when it comes to animals that are pets, if she knows one with a "name" she refers to all others by that name. For example, we have a kitty, Zoe and my mom has a bird, Emma. She knows how to say kitty and birdy, but yet refers to ALL kitty's as Zoe and ALL birdy's as Emma.

She also hears us call each other by name once in awhile, I have brought this up before where she yells "Tim or Timmy", well, Tim calls me honey all of the time so Hailey has now taken to call me honey on occasion. It kills me! "Honey come here" - "Honey, whose that?"

Lastly, Hailey LOVES to sing and HATES car rides so we have found when we are doing something she hates mix in something she loves - singing. This has now taken on a mind of its own. Once we start singing we cannot stop the rest of the way home or we deal with screams. Then when singing we all have to join in, if not you hear from the back seat - "sing, mommy" - "sing daddy" and when we sing she joins in wholeheartedly. I wish you could hear it, it melts my heart every time I hear our voices together. She is growing up WAY to fast!

On Monday Hailey and I went out shopping with friends I grew up with. They both have babies, Sarah is almost a year old and Bradyn is almost 9 months. Hailey loved the babies and we had lots of fun. We have to get together more often, life just seems to run away from us!

You Know You're The Parent of a Preemie When...

I thought this was good and had to share! Thankfully those days are behind us, but I remember it all to well!

You Know You're The Parent of a Preemie When ...

1.You use strange initials (C-PAP, CCs, NICU, NG) when discussing your child.
2.You actually remember how many CCs make up an ounce.
3.You count her weight in grams.
4. The skin on your hands is peeling from washing so often!
5.You hesitate when someone asks her age, but you know exactly how much she weighs!
6. The answer to "How old is your baby?" is a story 30 minutes long!
7. When someone asks her birthday, you reply, "Which one?" or "she's not supposed to be born yet."
8. You start to understand some of the things they say on ER!
9. You turn into Kung-Fu Mom when someone tries to touch your baby.
10. You cry at Maternity Ward and get mad at Baby Story.
11. You see a 7lb newborn and say "Wow! She's so BIG!"
12. Your baby is months old before she can even come home.
13. When someone says how tiny your baby is, you argue that she is huge -- and to demonstrate, you whip out pictures of him in NICU.
14. You do a health check on people when they come to visit .
15. You make people wash their hands before going near your child.
16. You want to scream when someone says that she just wants to have this baby now - at week 28, 32, or 34.
17. You never take your child for granted.
18. You worry about RSV season and it is still weeks away . . .
19. You know what "RSV" stands for.
20. You pick up 2 pounds of ground beef and think that your baby was born smaller than it.
21. You buy "Purell" in bulk
22. You can stare at your baby for hours when he sleeps
23. NICU nurses are your best friends.24. You no longer blink when an alarm goes off....

pumpkin carving, birthdays and hiking

Believe it or not Tim nor I have ever carved a pumpkin before! Below is Tim's first attempt. He was pretty proud of himself :-)

Last night was Hailey's friend Wyatt's 2nd birthday. Between Hailey's cousins and my family Hailey has celebrated alot of birthday's this summer and knows how a party is done! She kept prompting Wyatt to "open it" and she was even behind him showing him how to blow out the candles! Happy 2nd birthday Wyatt!!!

A few weeks ago Tim and I decided to start walking, both for exercise and its time well spent together. The walking turned into hiking and most trails are not stroller friendly so we went out and bought a backpack to hold Hailey - or as she calls it a "pack, pack". She prefers her stroller, but puts up with our hiking trips. Usually Saturday mornings we try to get a nice hike in before Tim goes to work. This morning was the perfect fall morning.

friends

I love the picture above - classic Hailey facial expression! She is silly ...

This is what happens when Nana and Dooda buy Hailey a "Cookie Monster" cookie and Papa splits it with her at 9pm ... We go from happy to meltdown in a matter of seconds :-)

Yes, she was crying because she wanted her hand washed! Oh, how horrible it is to have to make it 30 seconds with dirty hands ...

Today we had friends visit us from Las Vegas, NV. We met when we lived in MD and were all childless. Us, them and some friends who now live in PA, the Paradis' were a close bunch. Since we all moved our separate ways we have all had kids. We haven't seen the Spencer's since June of 2004! The were up visiting Scott's parents and stopped by - it was so great seeing them and it was like we never were apart. We miss them and the Paradis' alot!

Hailey had loads of fun playing with Baby Katie who is 7 months old. Near the end of our time together Katie fell asleep and Hailey was rubbing her back. It was sooo sweet! She would look at me, "mommy, baby sleeping" then rub again very gently.

weekend fun

On Friday we went to fair with Nana and Dooda. Hailey had a great time, but was quite disappointed that the height restriction was 36 inches on all the rides! Thanks mom and dad for the "short" genes! Nana also bought her, her first bracelet. She LOVES bracelets and is always asking for one so she was quite proud to finally have her own.

On Saturday we went to visit Auntie Robin, Luke and Alyssa. Uncle Jeff was visiting, as well as Rex! Everyone had fun making big messes and acting silly :-) I love the picture above, Hailey is trying to pull Alyssa in the stroller. Can you believe its October in Maine and Hailey is in a tank top and shorts?!

Later in the evening they had a halloween dress rehearsal. Rex thought they were quite entertaining!

By the end of Saturday Hailey was quite exhausted, she went two, let me repeat two days without a nap. Friday it was because we were out and about (about 2 hours north) and hoping she would nap in the car (no such luck). Saturday I put her down and she laid in her crib for 1.5 hours talking and singing to herself. Thankfully today she finally napped, but only for about 1.5 hours when normally at my mom's she will nap 2-3 hours! Why does she nap better at Nana's house, I have no idea!

Hailey as of this week can officially say her A, B, C's and count 1-10! We recently bought a kelty kids backpack and have been doing some hiking. This gives us lots of time to practice and she loves to yell them out while we are out in the middle of nowhere!