Ahhhhhh

Grandpa Paricka, Hayden and Joey

Hayden and Daddy wrestling. Daddy never lets Hayden win!

Our new truck

What beautiful weather. This morning we woke up to crisp fresh air and to the sound of birds singing. Oh and Hayden singing also. Some people call it screaming and yelling but I like to refer to it as singing! Once he wakes up for the day he is instantly at full speed ahead and FULL volume.
Thursday Joey's dad Joe came down to check out the new truck. Joey is still getting used to parking the truck. Going from the short Jeep to the long truck is a big jump! We hung out and Hayden loved playing with Grandpas watch and jumping on his lap.
Yesterday Hayden and I went to our neighbors. Kathleen and I swapped some recipes and the kids had fun playing. I came home with some great new recipes and am eager to try them. Sometimes I feel like I am in a recipe rut and cook the same few things over and over.
This morning Joey made us pancakes for breakfast. They were yummy! Today we are going to run some errands and clean out the garage. Joey is desperately getting a pile ready to take to the dump since we have a vehicle now that can transport our junk. He is also eager to take Hayden to the dump for his first time. Must be a guy thing.
Looking forward to a weekend at home getting some things taken care of. Also looking forward to enjoying the great weather. 74 degrees today and 84 tomorrow. Have a great weekend everyone.

2 New Teeth and Noodles

The official tooth count is now 6! The top tooth on the left next to the two top ons poked through on Saturday and last night I felt a new one on the bottom left next to the bottom two. I can also see the whites of a couple more on the top. No wonder he has been soooo whiny!
Sunday during Mom and Raleigh's birthday lunch Hayden actually ate a few puffs without incident. I think he just needed Grandma there to encourage him.
Last night Hayden ate his first noodle. How much he got down I am not sure but he had a great time playing with them and putting them in his mouth.
Just last night he started another new trick. Clicking his teeth! Than sound is soooo awful. joey and I couldn't figure out what it was for a few minutes. We thought he was chewing on a dry noodle somehow. But he continued to click and grind all last night and I heard it a few times this morning. That is a disturbing sound. Worse for me than fingers on a chalkboard.

Busy Fun Filled Week-Weekend

Grandma M and Hayden


Becky and Hayden



JP and Hayden

Wow! This past week and weekend flew by! We had a great week and weekend with friends and family.
Friday I hung out at our neighbors for the afternoon. Then Bean family has 4 children so Hayden loves all the attention and action over there. Sometimes I think Hayden gets bored with me..... sniff sniff... so I learned if I go over to the Beans or invite some of the kids over Hayden gets really excited. He has been extremely whiny lately and after a few hours it is enough to drive me insane. So the kids are a great distraction for him! Later that evening Kari, a friend of Kari's, and I went to a wine tasting. It was fun and we all were excited to get out without the kids. We all have little ones so the guys took care of the kids while we enjoyed the evening. Lomen came for the weekend and was at our house by the time we arived back. So was our friend Robby.

Joey was inspecting Robby's truck one last time before he agreed to buy it. Yes you heard me right! Joey is selling the Jeep. A big step for him. So we are now the proud owners of a Dodge Ram huge truck. It has a extended cab with fold out doors so amazingly enough we have a lot more room in the truck then the Jeep. It was a struggle to get Hayden in and out of the Jeep and once Hayden was in we had no room for the stroller. So much to Joey's dismay he agreed to sell the Jeep. We picked up the truck yesterday and have the Wrangler on the market as of today. Hopefully it goes quickly!

Saturday we hung out. Joey and Lomen went fishing. Bev came down to visit. We de-winterized the back porch while Hayden was sleeping. Once Hayden got up we met Joey and Johnny at Cranky Hanks Pizza. Then Bev, Hayden, and I went to TJ MAXX and then home. Joey worked on his Jeep the rest of the night. He put new bumpers on and changed the oil.
Saturday we grilled out with our Neighbor Nancy. She got wind that Lomen was coming for the weekend and made strawberry pie. She always makes a pie when he is in town. We had a great dinner and the 3 of us enjoyed pie while Hayden slept and Joey did his final. After pie Lomen and I got in an intense battle of bowling on the wii and stayed up way later than we planed to. I won just for the record!

Sunday Mom and Raleigh came down for a birthday lunch. Lomen Headed home after lunch and soon after Becky and JP arrived for a visit. Joey finished the rest of the bumper work and Raleigh and JP sat outside to make sure he was doing it right. Mom brought 2 big boxes of my old books she saved so I went through them and sorted out the ones we can read to Hayden now.


JP and Raleigh making sure Joey is doing it right

I love how when you have nothing planned your week and weekends can fill up in a flash with good quality family and friend time! One good bonus about being back in Iowa. We can enjoy family and old/new friends more. Not that we didn't have great friends in Colorado and we MISS them.

Ohhhh the memories. Hate to see it go but this time Joey can blame Hayden instead of me. He blames me for the sale of his first Jeep. Hmmmm marry me or sell the Jeep? The choice seems pretty easy to me!!!!

Beautiful Weather

We have had great weather here last few days. Nice and sunny, calm, and warm. Today we went over to Kari's house to visit. Will and Hayden had a great time playing. Kari and I had a great time visiting.
This week my cousin Nathan, Hayden, and I are hoping to make it to Marshalltown to visit our aunt. My parents are coming for dinner on Sunday to celebrate their birthdays.
Joey took the form off the front steps and they look great! Pics to come.
Have a great rest of the week!

Wow it's been a week!?

Can't believe I haven't posted in a week! Last week seemed to fly by.

Monday Melissa and I took the kids to Kindermusik. We had a fun time. After Kindermusik we met Joey and Mike at Red Robin. They guys were fishing all day at Lake McBride. Even though they didn't catch anything they had a great time. Melissa surprised Mike with an early birthday present. A Wii!!!! She found one at Kmart! Mike was sooooooo surprised and happy to have one. I talked to her today and she said that he has been playing it a ton! They left Tuesday morning and Hayden and I relaxed and rested.

Thursday we drove up to CF to visit with Mom and Raleigh. It is great to have them back. We met them at Village Inn for breakfast and Joan joined us as well. We had a great time and Hayden did very well hanging out there for 1 1/2 hours! After that we went to Hy-Vee to get some things. Then over to Augusta's apartment for a visit. Then back to the house for a nap and dinner. We had a great time and Hayden was even showing off his new trick. He has figured out how to lean forward from the sitting position and get on his belly. Sometimes one of his legs get caught in the transition but he manages. Now if he just stayed up on those knees instead of laying right on his belly he would be in prime position for crawling. He is managing to become very mobile on his back and belly! Now I don't feel comfortable leaving the room like I used to. He will be on the other side of the room in a flash. Especially if there is some sort of paper on the floor to motivate him.

Friday our friend Kyle came down to visit. We have been friends since drivers ed in 10th grade. He was in Cedar Falls visiting his parents and decided to come down and check out our house and visit Hayden. We met Joey for lunch and just hung out for the afternoon.

We moved Hayden's crib down this week! I figured it won't be long until he dives over the edge. When he sleeps in his crib now he is all over. He is rarely in the same position that we laid him in when we peek in on him. It is very strange having his crib lower!

Saturday Joey decided to tackle our front step problem himself. He built a form and mixed and poured concrete. We are hoping that this will mend the problem until we can save up enough money to replace the whole front step. I am very proud of him! It was a huge task and he pulled it off.

Today Joey finished his homework and we picked up around the house and yard. We are definitely enjoying the warmer weather!

Easter

I suggested Joey wear the helmet since we
haven't upgraded our disability insurance yet!!!


Sunday we got up and drove to Norwalk to spend Easter with Jen and family. Mike and Joey enjoyed riding the horses. Hayden and Jordan had fun playing with faith and Noah. After a great lunch we chatted for a bit and headed home. On our way home we stopped by a Wal-Mart and called several but couldn't locate a Wii for Mike and Melissa.
Once we got close to home Melissa was craving a shake from Steak and Shake since they were all closed by their house. The guys decided they wanted to eat. We had a blast. I think we were all soooo tired we couldn't stop laughing. Hayden and Jordan were being soooo funny. We decorated the boys with hats and bibs. Hayden enjoyed his hat so much he left it on the whole time we were there. We even pulled the waitress into the action.

Fun With The Schmidt Family

We had a fun weekend. Mike, Melissa, and Jordan arrived Saturday afternoon. They got settled into the hotel and came over. Jordan and Hayden had a fun time playing together. Jordan had to push Hayden over and lay on his lap to make sure Hayden knew he was the bigger boy. Once that was established they had a good time playing. Hayden enjoyed chewing on all of Jordan's toys and Jordan liked to play with the toys here. It was interesting to watch the battle of sharing though. Even Hayden has a few favorites and once Jordan got a hold of his favorite book Hayden steamrolled over Jordan to get it back.

We ordered pizza for supper and spent the rest of the evening playing the Wii. Mike and Melissa loved it and vowed not to leave Iowa without one. Melissa and I held our own with bowling and Joey and Mike played all of the other games. We had a blast! LOTS of laughs! Joey and Mike were so serious about playing they rearranged the living room for maximum advantage.

Happy Easter

Yesterday we went up to Waterloo to pick up the boat. We met Johnny P for lunch at Rudy's Taco. We hung out at Rudy's and talked for over an hour. We had a great time. Uncle Johnny even checked Hayden out for Autism and gave him a passing grade. He saw an episode on Oprah so he wanted to check Hayden out!
After that we went over to my Mom's to check out the house and see if we needed to do any cleaning before they got back. It was in good shape. I vacuumed and Hayden and Joey played and napped.
Then we went over to Stacy's dad's retirement party. We got to visit with the whole Bellows clan and stayed for a few hours. We thought we were just going to pop in and out on our way home. It was a good time and great to catch up with everyone and see Matt, Stacy, and Emma.
Today we spent the morning hanging out and relaxing. I am thrown off since Joey had yesterday off. I keep thinking that today is Sunday. Joey's cousin just called and they are almost to town. We are looking forward to spending time with them.
Then we are headed over to Norwalk for Easter dinner with Jen and family. Our friend Lomen is going to join us as well. Should be a good time.
Have a great Easter everyone!!!!!

Ever Have one of Those Nights?

I had a heck of a time getting any sleep the other night. I was wide awake at 11 and started getting sleepy after an hour of laying in the dark and staring. Finally I start to doze off and then woke up to a raccoon battle going on outside our window. Talk about being startled awake to one of the most disturbing noises I have heard. Then as my heart settles down and I drift off to sleep again Hayden decides he is hungry. Once I get him settled back in and drift off to sleep again the whole family was awakened by VERY LOUD thunder. Joey brought Hayden in with us (in case Hayden got scared) for a bit to ride out the storm. After the storm passed we got Hayden steeled back in his crib and yes you guessed it I once again was drifting off to sleep and then the love of my life decides to show off his snoring skills so it was impossible to fall asleep! I think I got a couple hours of sleep in there somehow!

We stayed in today because it was freezing out and we had snow flurries most of the day. After supper this evening Hayden and Joey went to the grocery store to get eggs because Joey had to make blueberry muffins. We didn't have eggs because today I got a wild hair and hard boiled every egg we had. The picture above is of Hayden getting ready for the journey with daddy! He was happy to get out of the house. Even though he doesn't really look it in the picture.

Joey has Friday off so I am excited for the long weekend! We are heading up to Waterloo Friday to get the boat. We may be able to see Matt and Stacy because they will be in Waterloo for her dad's retirement party. They just got back from Germany. I talked to Stacy tonight and it sounds like the got to see a lot!

Joey's cousin Melissa, husband Mike, and their son Jordan are coming Saturday. We are excited to spend some time with them. Joey and Mike are hoping the weather cooperates so they can get some fishing in. Sunday we are heading over to Norwalk to Joey's sister's to celebrate Easter. Monday I am sure we will hit the mall and then Melissa and Jordan are coming to Kindermusik with Hayden and me. It should be a fun time.

8 Months Old

Hayden turned 8 months old today. Wow! Hard to believe. I thought I would do a recap of what he has been doing during month 7. I should of started this a long time ago. Plus it will help me when I go back to fill in his baby book since I don't always get to it right away.

• got 2 top teeth
• sits up and plays
  
• flips to belly if laid on back to play
• dances when we say "danca danca dance"
• shakes head "no no no"
  
• loves to laugh and likes for everyone around him to laugh also
• started Kindermusik and he loves it
• gives smooches
• says ma and muuuum
  
• tries to say bzzzz to his bee on his mobile above his changing table which includes lots of slobber
• says ba for bottle
• jabbers a lot
• holds arms up and opens and closes his hands when he wants to be picked up
• we play peek a boo in his crib, he sits and pulls his bumper down in his crib so he can peek at me sitting on the floor and I pop up sometimes and peek at him over the railing. We can play that forever and we both get a good laugh out of it. We don't say peek a boo we say PEEK!!!
  
• eats cereal mid morning
  
• eats fruits and vegies for supper ususally a stage 1 container of both
  
• loves sweet potatoes and pears - likes most everything else
  
• gets rash from bananas on his face
• gags on solid foods
• still drools a lot
• now wakes up 1-2 times a night to eat
  

Productive Weekend..........Really!

Saturday we decided we needed to clean the upstairs out. We need to get ready for a garage sale and we need to get rid of some of our junk. We also needed to put away some baby things. Many boxes upstairs have not been really looked at since we moved in (almost 3 years already). We started going through and got a good start by the time Bev and Joe showed up. Joey had to fix the plumbing upstairs in our pedestal sink. So he called in reinforcements. It took Joe and Joey almost all afternoon to get it fixed but it saved us $200 so we definitely appreciate the help!!!
Bev and Hayden came up to help me. Hayden played well in his exersaucer all afternoon. We got through all of the boxes and then Bev and I decided that we should go through my clothes and shoes upstairs. BIG TASK!!!!! I know when we moved in I had at least 10 wardrobe boxes full of clothes and many boxes of shoes. Finally I am in the mood to let go and let go I did! First off most of the clothes I never wear and a lot don't fit and some were from 12 years ago! Same goes for the shoes. So we dumped tons!!!!!! I now have a plethora of plastic hangers! I decided to skip my evening out with the girls because Bev and I were on a roll. We got a lot accomplished. Bev was a big help. I don't think I would of tackled the clothes thing without help. Then we all crashed in the living room, ate supper, and rested. Joey and Bev played Nintendo Wii. They played bowling and tennis. It was fun to watch!

Sunday Joey and I finished organizing upstairs and I kept the momentum going and cleaned out some cupboards and closets downstairs. I did a lot of laundry and Joey did a lot of homework. Oh and we also went through the garbage and pulled out a few things that Bev convinced me to throw away. For a full recap of Saturdays festivities with my mother-in-law please go to my other blog...the one she doesn't know about. ;) JUST KIDDING. I teased her about that all day Saturday!



Today Hayden and I got groceries and went to visit our friend TeresaAnn. I now say our friend because they seem to ignore me when all three of us are together.
Hayden will now let me help him get up on all fours. He just kind of hangs out like that and isn't quite sure what to do. He is definitely strong enough to get moving but I think he just needs to get it figured out. He is also getting more adventurous from the sitting position. He will stretch and reach to get a toy and then get stuck in the reaching/leaning position. He is also starting to pull up on me when we play on the floor. I almost wonder if he is even going to crawl? Oh and one more new development. He is now officially a side sleeper. It is sooooo cute. He cuddles up with his blankie. He preferred his belly for a while but I think gave up on it because daddy would get worried and constantly flip him over on his back.