Busy

I feel like we have been on the go the past 2 weeks!  On May 18th we flew to Las Vegas, Nevada with the generous donations from my mom and Grandpa Cowan.  My cousin Sam Hanks was getting married and we wanted to be apart of the celebration, but after Hayden's costly surgery, we did not think we would be able to go.  So thanks again Mom and Grandpa!!! 

We woke up at 4am to make our flight and didn't go to bed until 3 am (Easter time) that night.  Needless to say, we were exhausted.  Hayden did great flying and people kept asking us if she traveled a lot because they were so impressed with what a good traveler she was.  She slept most of the flight which was fabulous! We spent Wednesday through Friday with Paul's brother Trent and his family in St. George.  Grandma Anne also drove from Tooele to see us for a few days.  We had so much fun going to volleyball practice, gymnastics, Creative Minds, swimming, out to eat, shopping, and just hanging out.  Hayden loved being surrounded by her cousins and grandma. 

 Hayden had so much fun grocery shopping at Creative Minds.  I couldn't even get her to look at me the entire time we were there.  She was simply too busy!

 Pushing her cart, she is really into baby dolls lately

 Marly playing dress up

 Morgan playing dress up 

 Hayden loved talking on the phone, although she didn't know why a cord was attached!

These two cute little girls were so great with Hayden and are so great with their baby brother Brooks

 

Friday afternoon we headed out to Cedar City and stayed with my grandpa who is 93 years old!  The past year he has aged a lot and I am even more grateful for the chance I got to visit with him.  Here is our little family at Sam and Heather's wedding.  Sadly, I was too busy with Hayden and failed to take pictures of the beautiful bride and groom.  My cousin was pretty nervous and hilarious to watch as he took deep breaths in and out throughout the ceremony.

 Hayden had a melt down after the wedding.  She does not do well in new situations with tons of people that want to hold her and play with her.  Paul took her away from the wedding and let her melt down and then she was fine!  She was upset to leave because she wanted to stay at that point.  

We debated one of us not going to the luncheon after her little tantrum, but she did great!  They held the luncheon at Rusty's which is a great restaurant located up Cedar canyon.  Paul had never been.  I got the salmon, Paul got ribs, and Hayden had chicken fingers.

 Hayden playing with my cousin Morgan's kids

The reception was held at the same location as the wedding and because it was familiar, Hayden was totally fine and loved eating the desserts offered to her by family members.  One of her current favorite songs to dance to is "Put a ring on it" and during the dancing the song came on.  She was busy picking up rocks and at the first beat, she dropped the rocks and starting jamming.  It was hilarious!  We need to get this on video and soon...

We had such a great time visiting with so many of my family members in Cedar City.  I felt like we got a lot more quality one-on-one time with people.   Hayden loved playing with my cousin Morgan's children and we even got to go to a fun swimming pool with them. 

 Hayden loved swinging from my grandpa's treadmill.  She is so strong and can hold on for quite awhile without touching her feet to the ground! 

 My dear friend Marci Olsen (we've been friends since we were about 12 years old!) drove to Cedar from St. George to spend Monday evening with me and my family.  We went out to Applebee's with my grandpa and had a great time.  Although she did get in trouble with my grandpa for not letting him pay for her dinner!

 I did manage to get a picture of the grooms older brother and his sweet girlfriend.  I even got to talk to him more than I ever have!  

 

 Paul with my grandpa

 Hayden and I with grandpa, she was really warming up to him near the end of our trip.

Me and Grandpa!  I love this man so much and am continually grateful for the key role he played in my life.  He always makes me feel loved, special and important...

We drove to St. George late Monday night and then drove to Las Vegas Tuesday morning to head home.  Again, Hayden slept like a champ on the flight and was happy the rest of the way.  I will never understand why she does great flying and terrible in the grocery store...We got home around midnight and we were wide awake from our travels and the time change.  It's taken some time to get back on track!  We had two days of normalcy and then we had special visitors arrive.  More on this later...

Mother's Day Weekend

Mother's day was a bit different this year.  Paul and the rest of the men in our stake were asked to go help clear the wreckage from the tornados that ripped through the south.  At first they were assigned to Chattanooga, GA but because they are still finding body parts, they reassigned them to somewhere in Alabama.  It is insane the destruction these tornados caused and it hit closer to home for me living in the south this year. 

At first I was admittedly a little sad that Paul was missing the whole weekend, let alone it being mother's day.  He is gone so much and we like to savor what little time he has at home.  But after thinking for a bit I would hope that if our home was destroyed people would be willing to come help us out no matter what holiday it was. 

Here are a few pictures Paul took with his phone:

 Paul with our friend Chris Curby

 The number marks where their houses were



Paul was bruised head to toe when he returned Sunday night and exhausted.  Glad he was able to help these families that were affected by the tornadoes. 

Hayden did make me my first mother's day treat ever in nursery (granted she ate it...)

And you can't really tell in this picture, but Hayden had her first pedicure this past week!  She was pretty amazed that her toe nails turned pink!



Sweetest Thing

Hayden is so affectionate lately and I LOVE it!  Every time she says "up" I pick her up and she wraps her arms around my neck and holds me tight.  How I love this little girl!  She loves giving Eskimo kisses and plain old regular ones too!

Bye-Bye Binky

Saturday we decided (well mainly Paul) that it was time to take Hayden's pacifier away.  She will turn 20 months on May 16th and she was starting to want it all the time again.  We read that if you wait past 2 years old they get really attached and it also creates a cross-bite with their teeth. 


I wanted to do it on a weekend so Paul could also suffer during nap-time, but she did a lot better than we both thought.  That morning I cut a whole in it and when she asked for it I gave it to her.  Much to her shock and dismay, her pacifier no longer provided the same comfort she has become accustomed to and she spit it out.  Now she carries it around with her from time to time and she still goes to sleep holding it.  She has cried a little bit when going to bed but nothing like I thought she would.


I know it's silly, but I feel more sad about it than she seems to.  Especially when she is looking at the whole and pointing to it.  It was such a comfort to her for her entire life and we just snipped a whole in it!  Anyway, hopefully she'll be ready to be done with it altogether here in a few more days. 

 Carrying around her broken binky

Deceptively Delicious

Hayden continues to be a somewhat picky eater!  I most especially worry about whether she is getting enough vegetables.  She likes green beans, baby food pees and carrots, but that's about it.  So I pulled out my cook book Deceptively Delicious (thanks Grandma Anne) and am trying out some recipes.  Well I totally fooled her!  She ate a whole-wheat quesadilla with navy beans, butternut squash, and then the usual cheese and chicken.  She LOVED them and I loved that she got whole grains, protein, and a vegetable serving! 

Her toe must have also tasted good because she couldn't get enough of that either!

Here is the recipe link if anyone is interested:  http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=154087