4th of July

Paul and I headed out to Colorado Springs to spend the 4th with my sister Michelle and her husband Jared. We actually celebrated on the 3rd since we had to drive back on the 4th so Paul could go on alert on Monday. To start the morning off we went to the farmer's market and the swimming in the afternoon. Hayden loved holding onto the side of the pool and jumping up and down. You will also notice that she finally has enough hair to spike up a bit!

After swimming and while Paul and Jared golfed at the Air Force Academy, Michelle and I began preparing dinner. We chopped for hours, but had lots of yummy food. We even tried kabobs for the first time and they turned out great.

The family in Michelle and Jared's beautiful home

Hayden in her adorable 4th of July outfit that I got on a great deal last summer. It really brought our her blue eyes and everyone that saw her commented on how stunning they were. Isn't she looking so grown up! Her bib has three snaps on the back and we usually had to put it on the biggest one to get it around her neck (or lack there of) but now we button it on the smallest one. She has really changed in the past couple of weeks. She is so much more mobile. She also started eating some foods with texture. Paul is very concerned because he talked to a guy at work who knew a baby that ate baby food until she was 1 1/2 years old. Hayden really loves baby food and it has been hard to get her to eat ANYTHING else. But we got her to eat a piece of cantaloupe as well as some cherries. She also said, "ma, ma" for the first time on the 3rd. She was actually chocking on a cracker and after Paul got it out, she reached for me and said, "ma, ma" what an neat coincidence! She is kind of going through a mom stage right now where she really wants me and if I'm not available another female. It has started to make Paul feel sad. She also likes to say, "up" with a strong "p" on the end.

All in all, it was a great weekend and we are so happy to see Michelle and Jared more often.