Growing Up Too Fast

Today I gave Hayden a bath and after I put her in the crib to put lotion on. The next thing I knew, she has her hands on the side of the crib and she is pulling herself to her feet! On Monday, she did the same thing while holding on to Paul's shins, but I thought Paul helped her out a bit. Well today she did it all on her own. The only problem is that after she gets done pulling herself up, she thinks she can let go of the rail and stay standing! She had a couple of crashes, oooops.

Blue Eyes

I wanted to post this picture because it really does capture how blue her eyes really are! I never in my life thought I'd have a blue eyed girl! But I do love them. This also shows her poor nose. She has been really congested this last week and I have made good use of the aspirator! Hayden definitely views this as a torture device and I feel awful using it on her, but it has to be done. When I finish clearing her out she cries, "ba, ba, ba...." it's like she is telling me how much she hated the whole experience. Paul usually begs me to stop because he cannot stand to hear Hayden screaming, he thinks I like to torture Hayden with the aspirator just like I like to torture him by clearing away his unibrow!

1st Bike Ride of the Year

Dad and Hayden at the end of our ride

Doesn't she look cozy!


Paul and I went on our first bike ride of the year last Monday. I did not get to go at all last year due to being pregnant, so it was so refreshing to be able to go again. We stayed on the base because we currently do not have extra tubes for our tires and wanted to be closer to home if something did happen. Hayden thought it was pretty funny when I would ride along side her. She fell asleep pretty quickly though. It was also great having Paul pull Hayden because I actually got to lead! I even got way ahead of him :) That has never happened!

Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree

Today my sister Michelle and I decided to meet half way in Denver since her husband is still in training in Alabama and Paul went fly fishing for the day. Hayden and I left about 10 am and shopped most of the day. She is such a little trooper. She loved looking around at everyone and of course all the cool lights. Everyone commented on what a cute happy baby she was. Michelle and I were successful and found shoes for our bridesmaid dress for Shannon's upcoming wedding! We are also going to be daring and bought leggins to wear. Hayden did not sleep much at all today and so I figured she would sleep the whole drive home. Well she slept about an hour and when she woke up, she really was not happy. She was done with sitting. Some of you may know that her favorite song is Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree. As usual, right when I started to sing it she calmed right down. The only problem was that I couldn't stop singing it! I sang that song for 25 minutes straight! So funny, I tried switching songs but she wouldn't have it, all she wanted to hear was the familiar tune.

What the.....

So apparently Hayden is going to have many more fun poop stories. This morning I was giving her a bath in her tummy tub and I am looking at the water and thinking to myself, "what the heck, why is the water turning yellow?" Seriously, how slow am I?!?!? It took me about 10 seconds to figure out that she just pooped in her tub. SO GROSS! She thought my reaction was hilarious as I frantically dumped out the poop and scrubbed out the tub. I knew this was going to happen sooner or later!

Easter

Hayden's 1st Easter Dress

Playing with her Easter toys. She was so excited to grab them out of her basket.

Hayden in her Easter Basket. She thought it was some type of lounge chair at first because she kept leaning back and did tip over a couple of times! She also wanted to eat it!

Paul's Easter basket filled with birthday gifts and Michelle's basket in the middle. Paul got me a subscription to Food Network magazine which I am very excited about and smart wool socks!

Michelle, Paul, Hayden and I dyed Easter Eggs the night before. As can be expected, Hayden wasn't into it too much!

Paul's Birthday

This year Paul got to celebrate his 28th Birthday on Easter! I put his presents in his Easter basket which was kind of fun. My sister Michelle was also here for the weekend so she got to help us celebrate. We made him Swedi Hot Cakes for breakfast and enjoyed all the yummy candy in our Easter baskets. Can I just say that the Reese's Eggs are the best! I don't even want to say how many I ate yesterday. That night I made Almond Encrusted Chicken, butternut squash, spinach salad, and mashed potatoes. Paul requested a zucchini cake for his birthday this year, although I tried to persuade him to get an ice cream cake! Paul said it was his favorite birthday this year because he got to stay at home and relax all day with his family.

Hayden at 6 months

Hayden is a couple weeks over 6 months now and I thought I would write a little update on all her progress. Hayden has now tried the following foods: rice cereal, peas, carrots, sweat potato, green beans, and butternut squash. Of all these foods, butternut squash has definitely been her favorite. She yums it down every time and always wants more when it's gone. I have not yet tried any fruit, but plan on trying pears sometime next week. She usually sleeps about 10 1/2 to 11 hours a night and takes 2-3 naps a day. She loves taking baths in her tummy tub and splashing in the water. She likes to suck on her wash cloth and stand up straight in the tub all on her own. She is grabbing at EVERYTHING now. The other day I was at Pier One and I had her in a Baby Bjorn carrier and I looked down at her and she had two kinds of decorative branches in each hand! She also loves playing with my white watch. When she is sitting and falls back she usually cries, but when she is holding my watch, the fall back doesn't even phase her. She is laughing a lot now and loves to play peek-a-boo and make funny faces with dad. She will roll from her tummy to her back, but only if she has to. She still does not like rolling much. This is such a fun age, and Paul and I are really enjoying watching her.

From 1982 to 2010

At my baby shower in Utah, my mom gave me one of my dresses that I wore as a little girl. Hayden is now old enough to fit in it, so I dressed her up for a few pictures. It is crazy to think I was once that small. I wish I had a picture of me at this age to compare, oh well!