Zoo with friends

We went with our friends the Curby's to the zoo yesterday because Hayden has been begging to go back.  She was sad Michelle and Owen couldn't join us, but was so excited to see Britney, Mason and Maddie join us!  They loved the petting zoo!

Mother's Day

Paul and Hayden made my mother's day extra special this year.  They cooked my favorite breakfast, ebelskivers, and Hayden made me the cutest picture full of stickers.  Paul got me a cute scarf (that I wore to church since it was a little chilly that day) and some t-shirts which I have been in great need of :)  p.s.  you can also see our pretty flower beds....

I bought myself artichokes from Costco and we had a delicious dinner and then Paul baked this amazing thing for me:  Pretzel Bottomed Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Pie!  Yes, it was amazing as it sounds!
(Here is the recipe:  http://akmdesignsandelights.blogspot.com/2012/02/bake-me-happy-pretzel-bottomed-reeses.html)

The Oldham's Visit Georgia!

I have had so much anticipation for the visit of my sister Michelle and her 10 month old Owen!  The last time I saw them both was about a month after he was born, so it has been way too long.  They got to stay for almost 2 weeks.  You'd think that would have been long enough of a time for me to get my fix, but it wasn't.  The time seemed to go by so quickly and then normal life unfortunately had to return.

The first few days were freezing cold here in Georgia and it was actually warmer in Colorado where Michelle lives!  So we spent the first few days preparing my flower beds and planting flowers!  Michelle is such a natural outside, she always has been.  She is definitely in her element and I am definitely not!  She just enjoys it all so much, and I think I am slowly gaining an appreciation.  My flower beds went from pitiful to beautiful in about 2 days time (while juggling 2 little ones and working during their naps).  I have thoroughly enjoyed going outside to water my flowers and watch them grow.  Hayden also loves to water the flowers and takes her little watering bucket outside each day to water the flowers.

We also went on some walks and even one run the first few days they were here.  Sadly it took Hayden and Owen awhile to warm up to one another.  Hayden was super jealous every time I held Own and has officially hit the "it's mine" phase of development.  She didn't want to share anything with him and took anything he tried to touch!  Owen was not used to Hayden's loud crazy noises and was pretty cautious around her.  Slowly but surely they warmed up to one another :)

We got to go to the Zoo and Hayden was just in heaven.  2 1/2 is such a good age for going to the zoo, she really gets it and loves to watch the animals.  We even got a season pass and went just yesterday and Hayden was asking if Michelle and Owen were coming too, it was so cute!

Sometimes I think Hayden liked these statues more than the real animals!  Owen was much more interested in trying to chew on the wooden railings and Michelle pointed out all kinds of plants that I never would have given a second glance.

We also took a trip to Marietta Square to stroll around and look in the shops and try out Miss Mamie's Cupcakes (which recently won the Food Network's Cupcake Wars).  There were lots of flavors to try but we finally narrowed it down to 6.  Owen was pretty excited to look at them but sadly can't have one yet :(  Hayden was a little overwhelmed this whole outing and was a bit of a stinker due to missing her nap!

Michelle's favorite part of the trip was probably the Botanical Gardens.  I have heard good things, but probably would have never bothered to go without her.  You know how you enjoy things so much more when you are doing something with someone who is enthusiastic about it?  The gardens were amazing to me because of Michelle's glee :)  Even Owen seemed much more animated and alive at the gardens than the zoo.  He would excitedly kick his legs every time he saw a bird hopping by and was so excited to be there.

  

 It was so fun to hold a baby, Owen and I did finally bond!

 Hayden had such a fun time with the frogs!  They made crazy sounds that Hayden loved.

They had a cute children's garden with sandboxes, a miniature spray park, animal statues and much more.  Hayden loved sitting on all the animals of course, but did not want her picture taken as you can see!

We also took Owen and Michelle to our favorite open play gymnastics place.  Hayden was so much more adventerous this time around.  She held onto a rope and let go into a foam pit, jumped way higher on all the trampolines, and climbed up the big jumpy slides all by herself.  But this little house was her favorite I think, she brought in all sorts of odd things and seemed to have a great time imagining.

Michelle really motivated us and we even burned a good chunk of the rest of our tree branches in our backyard.  It was the last day to burn of the season so Paul was outside until about 11 pm burning.  It was also the hottest night we've had in a long time too poor guy.  So we've taken down about 40 trees and have most of the trees cleared out now.  See those two big ones in the middle?  We still want to take those down too, but they are pretty close to our house so we may just have to suck it up and pay for it!

Our last morning together right before leaving for the airport.  We didn't do such a great job of getting pictures of the 4 of us together.  It was truly an amazing 2 weeks and I am so grateful my sister sacrificed the time and money to come and visit.  Aren't sisters the best?

Mendenhalls

Sunday night Paul, Hayden, London and I went to London's house to meet her 3 big brothers.  We stayed at the Mendenhalls house from Sunday night until Wednesday night and we had so much fun!  So here are some confessions 1) I have not woken up 3 days in a row at 6:30 am since Hayden was a new little baby and was a little worried about making sure Porter got to the bus each morning, but I did it!  I was exhausted by the end of the 3 days but I did it :) 2) By about 8:30 am I had one child at school, I had worked out and showered and was shocked at all one can accomplish when waking up at such an hour 2)  I have a huge problem with messes when I'm in charge and 5 kids make huge messes and 3) Hayden was so much easier to be around because she was constantly entertained by all the kids.  She slept in a twin bed in Kimball's room (he is about 6 months older) and they were so cute together.  We could hear them giggling and playing but slept great together!  They are great kids and it was so fun to be able to spend one on one time with them all.

So despite the extra clean up and meal prep time, we had so much fun.  Hayden talks about Kimball's house all the time and begs to go play.  Hayden would thrive in a big family I think.  She loves the craziness of it all.

Ever wonder what a little girl does after playing with boys all week:

Becomes Batman of course.  She came upstairs fully decked out and was so proud of herself!

Hayden and Kimball taking a bath 

Easter Fun

Hayden got to enjoy Easter with her friend London this year!  London's parents were away celebrating their 10 year anniversary.  Hayden was pretty jealous of this cutie when she first arrived, but then became a little mother to her.  She always wanted her wearing a bib and shoes.  I could hear her calling, "London, where are you" all day long!  She still calls her old crib, "London's bed."

We enjoyed dying eggs much more this year.  She was so excited to see the eggs change color and gasped each time an egg came out colored.  She loved labeling which color they were too.

 checking out the stickers from our egg dying packet

 "Say cheese" 

Easter morning was also much better than last year.  For those of you who don't remember, last year Hayden tipped over her Easter basket and wanted nothing to do with it.  This year she was gasping at everything and so excited to find her Easter eggs.  Hayden still had to be guided to find some of the eggs despite being in plain sight and she found one more egg over a week later in her Barbie car!

 Hayden's basket

 London's basket

 Hayden playing with the markers from her basket

Hayden in her Easter dress.  She loves it so much and begs to wear it everyday.  She has become such a girly girl!  I am upset with myself for not getting a picture of the 2 girls together and a family one!  I had an early meeting that day and was rushing around so it didn't happen :(  Happy Easter!

Happy 30th Birthday Paul!

I'm so glad I'm not the only 30 year old in my house anymore!  We started celebrating Paul's birthday April 3rd, even though his birthday isn't until the 4th because he got a little antsy.  So I let him open a small gift: a 26.2 sticker for his car.  

 Paul got to work from home on his actual birthday so we started the morning off by opening a few gifts.  Hayden was such a good helper!

After breakfast, Hayden and I got ready for her very first princess birthday party for her friend Sydney Mount.  Hayden loved wearing my tiara from my wedding and princess dress. 

Hayden got to decorate a crown

Got her face painted, she was so still and perfect, she didn't want to mess it up!

After dad finished up work we headed out to one of our favorite restaurants out here: Papa Citas.  It was amazing as always and we had a great time celebrating Paul's birthday.  

I got Paul a red velvet slice of cake from the Marietta Diner which we enjoyed a few days after because we were too full from dinner!  HAPPY 30TH PAUL!

"Pink Milk"

It is crazy to me how many preferences my 2 1/2 year old has.  I am pretty sure pink is one of her favorite colors because she always wants to wear pink bows, shoes, jewelry, even if they don't match.  It's hard for me to let her dress herself and pick out accessories when I know her outfit could be so much cuter!

Anyway, Hayden always enjoys a glass of milk with her breakfast and this morning she didn't want anything to do with it.  She kept saying, "No, pink milk!"  I had no idea with this meant and she finally told me to open the fridge and she pointed to the lid color!  Apparently the 2% blue lid is not as cute as the 0% pink lid!  How funny is she.  So I've switched the milk carton lids so she can drink "pink milk" from now on :)