Tummy Time

Avery is almost 8 weeks, and is starting to get pretty good at holding her head up. I put her on her play mat for some tummy time for the first time today, and she loved it. Of course, Hayden had to come "help" her play with all the hanging animals. Whatever she is doing, he has to be right there doing it with her. It's cute to watch him try to play with her.

Almost has her head up all the way.

Closest thing to a smile I have been able to catch on camera so far. She smiles all the time in person.

Playing with his sister.

Apparently someone is needing a little attention. Either that or he is trying to reclaim the play mat that used to be his.

"Officer" Hayden

This picture just makes me want to laugh my face off every time I look at it. I was changing Avery on my bed, when "Officer" Hayden wandered into my room. He looked so hilarious I couldn't stop laughing, and the more I laughed the more he hammed it up and acted even sillier. It was so funny I had to grab my camera and snap a quick picture of him. He is such a silly boy, and totally cracks me up!

A Boy And His Sister

I think it is adorable how much Hayden loves Avery. He always wants to kiss her or pet her. He is so sweet with her, and has to kiss her almost every time he walks by her. He always wants to be touching her, petting her, attempting to pick her up, etc. I'm sure it won't last once she's big enough to get around and want to "share" all his fun toys, but I am going to enjoy his sweetness while it lasts.

Even though it's a little blurry, I just love this picture. It's like she did something that just totally cracked him up. He was laughing like crazy when I took this.

This is what he looks like when he is thinking about picking her up, but he can't really figure out how he would do that. Thank goodness!

Lots of kisses!

Even more kisses.

Cousins

Jacob called me around noon and said that he was heading over to PV mall with Natalie and Preston, to let Preston run around at their inside play area, and to see if I wanted to meet them. Of course I did! Since they were only here for a week, I wanted to get every minute with them that I could. I hurried Amelia and Hayden through lunch, nursed Avery, and we were on our way. Even though we only got to hang out for an hour or so it was worth it, because after they go back to Idaho I don't know when I'm going to get to see them next. I didn't get any pictures of them playing in the little play area because I was too busy talking to Natalie, but here are some cute pictures of them "driving" the ride on ice cream truck. I just happened to have 75 cents on me (what happened to those things being a quarter?!), so they got to ride it one time. They thought it was so fun. It was really cute. It was nice getting to spend time with them. One of the things I miss about being in Utah is that I was only a few hours away from Jacob and Natalie and I felt like I got to see them pretty often. Now that I am like 16 hours away, they have only been down here twice in the almost year that we have lived here. I miss seeing them all the time!

Happy 2nd Birthday Hayden!

I can't believe my baby boy is 2! Where has all the time gone? He is just getting cuter by the hour, and although it makes me sad that he's not a little baby anymore, I still just can't get enough of him. I just love him so much I just can't take it! The little boy I never thought I would have. Sometimes I think I love him a little too much, if that's possible. I just want to hug and kiss him and squeeze his guts every chance I get.

It was fun to get to have my parents here for his birthday, but I was enjoying Hayden so much I forgot to take any pictures of him with them like I had planned. Lame, I know. I had planned on taking a picture of him with John and I too, but having a new baby and NOT having had a shower very recently, I smartly opted to just let John be in the pics.

He had a ton of fun playing with everything he got and eating "CAKE!". It has to be all caps, with an exclamation point, because that's how he says it every single time. Hilarious! I'm glad he liked it, because once again I tried my lame hand at cake making. I don't know that I am getting any better, but the kids like it so I guess that's good enough for me.

The birthday cake. He was super excited because it had a car on it. :)

Hmmm, and which one should be first?

Hello? Is anyone there?

Way excited, because the puzzle makes sounds when you play with it.

"Helping" dad because he wasn't getting it together fast enough!

Playing with his cool new track that's almost as big as he is.

A firehouse and truck. Fire trucks are his favorite thing ever.

Cute dinosaur puzzle. Hayden calls them "Roar's". hehe

He sang to himself while he was getting sung to. He loves singing the birthday song.

Finally! CAKE!

Standing

Somebody thinks he's a big boy and has started standing . . . .

Hayden has been slow to stand or walk, but if I had 6 kids to carry me around all day and do whatever I wanted, I don't think I would be in such a hurry either. He still doesn't stand a whole bunch, and won't walk unless you hold his hand, but he is making progress and I can tell that it won't be long. It's ok, I already have 6 kids walking/running around the house. I am perfectly fine to wait as long as he wants.

"Helping" unpack.

Hanging out in the backyard.

Gratuitous Hayden Pic

So it's getting late (or early), and I'm actually getting a little tired, but I couldn't leave without posting a picture of the cutest baby alive. His hair is starting to curl now. It is so adorable I can't bear to cut it. I told John maybe when he turns one I will cut it. I'm not going to be one of those moms that let's their little boy look like a girl, but he still has a while before I have to worry about that. And oh those cute, chubby little cheeks! I swear I could eat those cheeks all day long! I can't believe he is going to be 10 months old on Sunday! Boy has the time flown by. I wish I could keep him little forever!

I will post some of the other kids later on today when I come back to do some more updating.

Cutest Boy Ever

I have the cutest baby boy alive. I swear I am not being biased. Every day when I snuggle and kiss him to death I think about how I have never seen a cuter boy in my entire life. Now, maybe this is partially due to the fact that he is my first (biological) boy, but I just can't get enough of him. I could hold, snuggle, kiss, squeeze him all day long and never get tired of it. John made fun of me when Hayden was a couple months old because I never put him down. Seriously. Unless I was in the shower or the bathroom, I held him probably every second of the first couple months of his life. I am getting better now. I have put him down long enough that he has learned to roll all over the place like a little tumbleweed. It is fun to watch, because he gets all the way across the room and then grins because he is so proud of himself. I love to hear him laugh, and coo, and babble, and I am working on brainwashing him to say "mama" instead of "dada" for his first word. Haha! My family and friends thought I was crazy when they found out that I was pregnant again, but little do they know he was planned. He was definitely no surprise. I just love this cute little monkey and I can't imagine my life without him!

California Trip - John's Family

We were actually able to make it up to Santa Rosa a couple times while we were in California. The first time we just went up for the evening and hung out with his sisters at his mom's house. We didn't get to see Crissy's kids, because they were home in bed, but we did get some time with Anastazja. The second time we went up, we went to the most awesome park in Santa Rosa. It is called Howarth Park. If you are ever in that area, you HAVE to go there. It is our favorite place to go, and when John and I lived there we lived a couple blocks away and used to walk there with all the kids. That was back with we had *only* five kids. Haha! We had a great time at the park playing with John's family. Sarah, Crissy, and Carol (John's mom) and all of us had a picnic and spent the whole afternoon/evening there. It was fun for the kids to get to play with their cousins; Breanna, Brandon, and Anastazja. It was fun for all the grown ups to get to spend time together and visit. I wish we all lived closer to each other so we could do it more often!

California Trip - My family

Here are the pics I took of Hayden (and the other kids) with my family and a couple of my friends. People thought I was crazy for driving all the way to California with a week old baby, but honestly other than having to stop all the time to nurse him, it was no big deal. He was better behaved than the rest of the kids!

Even if John doesn't get the job, it was worth driving out there to get to see my family and for everyone to meet Hayden. It was the first time I had been back to California since moving to Utah 2 years ago. I don't miss living there, but I do miss living close to my family. I wish my parents lived here so I could see them every day!