I'm Finished!

Daddy put Hayden in the sink for some reason. Hayden loved it!

Daddy let Hayden feed himself spaghetti

Ahhhhh. I finally finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! It was a great book. Unfortunately I forgot most of what happened in the last book so Friday on our ride to Minneapolis I read/skimmed the Half Blood Prince and on our way home I read/skimmed the other half before I started the Deathly Hallows. So in every waking minute (sleeping minute for Hayden) I have been reading since Sunday. I am pretty proud of myself considering I haven't finished a book since Hayden was born. Now I proved to myself I can still read even though he is around! So now I need to get at it.
Hayden and Joey had a busy weekend together. They did a lot of driving around and exploring.
I had a great weekend with my Mom and sister. Friday we drove to Albertville. We checked into the hotel, grabbed a bite to eat, shopped a little, and then went back to the hotel to relax. We had a nice quiet evening and it was great to spend a little alone time with them.
Saturday we got up, grabbed some breakfast, and hit the huge outlet mall. Then at noon we met Andrew's mom and niece for lunch. It was so nice for me to meet some of Andrew's family. His mom is great! After lunch Ingrid left with Andrew's mom and niece and mom and I hit another store and then we headed home.
Yesterday we went with our neighbor to a house down the street that the country club bought and is going to tear down. Someone she knows let us in to look and see if we wanted anything for our home before they tore it down. They knew I am looking for old doors to replace the few hollow 70's doors they they put in our house. We did find one door that worked. I can put it on our front closet. It is a start anyway. They removed 4 original doors for some reason and left the rest! So one down and 3 to go. Joey and our neighbor had to go back to get the door and the stuff she wanted after dark! I am glad that no one called the police. I bet they looked suspicious climbing around there in the dark taking things out. We really wanted the tops of the steps but they didn't have enough time to take them out.
We have a busy rest of the week. Kindermusik, playgroup, and getting ready for Hayden's party! We are excited to have our friends and family around to help celebrate! I can't believe my baby is going to be one! SOB SOB!

One of Those Moments

We had "one of those moments" last night. Joey and I gave Hayden a bath. We then read some books and played in his room. When it was bedtime we laid him in his crib and he snuggled right in with his blankies and animals. I said "nite nite" and Hayden stuck his hand up and waved and Joey and me. Joey and I both looked at each other with a huge smile and shook out heads. It was one of those moments that brings tears to your eyes and you just sit in awe at the way this little person can bring so much joy to your life! Hayden has forever changed us and our family! How blessed we are~

New Milestones

Hayden sticks his tongue out when he concentrates

In the past couple of weeks, Hayden has been impressing us with one new thing after another. I don't know whether I should credit it to him showing off before his 1st birthday or all of the undivided attention he is getting from his Aunt.
He has now mastered Pat-a -Cake. Both grandmas have been working on that with him for a while now and he has always clapped. Last week, I was singing it to him and when I got to the roll it part he stopped clapping and rolled his arms.
He has also started carefully walking and pushing his push toy. He doesn't like to do it for long, but he does try.
Hayden is also now sharing his food and his sippy cups.
The newest thing is using the remote as a phone. He just started doing that 2 nights ago. Joey and I laughed so hard. He holds it up to his ear and talks out loud and then moves his mouth quietly. He says ma ma ma ma and da da da da da very loud in the phone. He then passes it over to Joey or I to finish the conversation and gets so excited! I have yet to capture it on film, but will share pictures once I do.
Tomorrow, my mom and I are taking my sister to Minneapolis. Her in-laws are picking her up there and she is going to spend the weekend and part of next week with Andrews family.

Willems Reunion

Hayden is trying his hardest to get near Claire.
Dawn and Hayden cuddling with his new blanket.

We had a great gathering at Mom's this past weekend! It took quite a bit of preparation, but we had a good time. It was nice spending time with my mom and sister! Hayden had a good time as well. Friday, we went to the Amish and got a lot of baked goods. Hayden was a trooper and hung in there while we went in and out of the many stores.
Saturday, we spent the whole day getting things ready and shopping for the rest. We baked and cooked and prepared. It was a fun time. Joey came to join us Saturday evening and we had a great dinner. We were able to test out some of the goodies we purchased from the Amish.
Sunday, we finished making everything and the family started arriving at 1. It was great seeing everyone and catching up. My cousin Dawn made Hayden a "Dawn" blanket and he loves it already! He has been sleeping with it every night. My cousin Rachel hadn't seen Hayden so it was nice for them to meet. It was also nice to see her boys and daughter. They are growing so fast! We had tons of food and desserts so that made it even better!
After the festivities Joey and Hayden headed back home and I stuck around to help clean up.

Hot and Humid

Ingrid let Hayden ride the car
He takes any toy with a steering wheel very seriously
Crazy hair after a nap
Giving Aunt Ingrid the "look"
He loves his new farm
Hayden gets this excited every time our neighbor kids come over
Hayden loves knocking down his block tower

It has been sooooo hot and humid this week. We have had some bad storms as well. One night Joey, Ingrid, and I were up most of the night because the lightning was so intense and the thunder was so loud it literally shook the house. Miraculously Hayden didn't wake up.
We have been getting packed up and ready to head up to Cedar Falls this weekend. Ingrid, Hayden, and I leave tomorrow to help mom get ready for the reunion this weekend. I am really excited to see the Willems clan. I haven't seen a lot of my cousins since Hayden has been born so it will be nice to see them!
Tomorrow, we are going to the Amish to get some baked goods for the party. Then, Saturday we will be baking and getting everything set up for Sunday.
Hayden has been getting more daring at letting go of things and standing for a few seconds. He is also cruising the furniture and loves crawling over us to get what he wants. We installed a few gates to help keep Hayden out of trouble. He is eating about 3-4 bottles now and is getting a lot better with the sippy cup. He is liking real milk, more and more.
Hayden and Ingrid enjoy sitting out on the front steps to get fresh air. The neighbor kids love to come and chat when they see Hayden and Ingrid.
Have a great weekend.

Good News

Ummmm are you guys sure you know what you are doing?



Keeping entertained shaking the cheerios container

Hayden making music

We had a long day in Iowa City getting tests done for Hayden. He did very well. He didn't even flinch when they were giving him the IV because they had numbed his hand and they kept him very distracted. They had his favorite toy from Kindermusik there so he was very happy! Plus he didn't mind all of the attention all of the nurses were giving him. The nurses wanted us to take pictures because they said Hayden was the perfect patient!
Hayden fell asleep during the renal scan thank goodness! We were a little worried how we were going to keep him still for 45 minutes! He had a hard time laying still during the ultrasound earlier in the morning and let everyone know exactly how much he disliked laying on that table. It took a bottle, warm blanket, and me singing "You Are My Sunshine"about 20 time for his eyes to close. He woke up right when the test was ending and let everyone know he was done laying down!
Dr. Austin said that his kidneys stayed the same so we have to continue to monitor it every 6 months until he is 2 and can communicate verbally if he is in pain at all. So promising news! Preferably his left kidney would drain as fast as the other. If that was the case this post would be titled great news! But we will take good news!
This past week Joey has been very busy with homework. He had about 20 hours to do this weekend. Ingrid is back with us. She watched Hayden most of the day Sunday so I got a lot of organizing done. We hit some garage sales and consignment stores on Saturday. We had some good finds at Stuff etc. I have never been in there and I can't believe I haven't. On Saturday they were having 1/2 off the lowest price and I found Hayden some cute name brand good quality shirts for 90 cents. Stuff etc. is our new addiction!
Friday Hayden and I walked to the house of an old coworker of mine. They were having happy hour after work so it was good to see a lot of people I used to work with.
This week we have playgroup, and lots of planing and organizing for Hayden's 1st birthday coming up. It will be here before I know it! First goal is to get the invites out finally!
Have a great week.

Great Weather

We can finally open the windows! It is an absolutely gorgeous day. It feels great to get the windows open and air out the house!
We had another great weekend. Friday Joey took Hayden to his parents to hang out and spend the night. Ingrid and I rented a movie and got pizza. We had a nice relaxing quiet evening.
Saturday Ingrid and I went to some garage sales. Then we came back and laid around for a bit before heading up to Waterloo. When we got there everyone was relaxing in and around the pool. I got Hayden washed up and we headed out to Traer to help celebrate Briar's first birthday. It was HOT but we all had a fun time. They had lots of water activities to keep the big kids busy.
Once it got dark Joey and Phil put on a fireworks show for us all. It was neat! Any chance they get to shoot or blow up stuff they are happy.
Sunday morning we got up and headed home. It was very hot so we just hung out at home. Joey started a class so he is busy programming away!
Yesterday we had Kindermusik and ran errands. Kari and her boys are came over for supper. Joey had homework to do.
Today we have playgroup at the park and I have Bunko in the evening. I haven't been to bunko in a while so I am excited to catch up with the group.
Have a great week!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a fun filled relaxing 4th! We hung around this morning and I got caught up with laundry and started preparing things for supper. My parents arrived after lunch and we hung out for a bit. Then Hayden and Ingrid went into the pool for the second time today and hung out for a bit. Our neighbor Nancy came over for a chat.
Then we headed over to Nancy's for some yummy strawberry daiquiris, homemade salsa, and chips! It was a great way to cool off. We had a great July 4th dinner. We had pork loin, wild rice, bowtie pasta salad, fruit, and garlic bread. We made everything here and took it over to Nancy's house to enjoy the meal outside on her patio. We topped the meal off with homemade ice cream that Nancy made for the occasion.
Hayden played on a blanket for a while and we all enjoyed chatting while he entertained himself.
We didn't make it to any fireworks this year but I managed to catch a few outside from the country club down the street and saw the city fireworks from the comfort of my couch on TV.

11 Months

Hayden is 11 months old today! I can't believe he will be one in only one more month. This past month Hayden:

• Discovered that there are more ways to play in the water and LOVES to splash and get splashed (splash pad and pool)
• Started slowly and cautiously cruising on furniture. He cruises a little faster if there is a motivator like the laptop or food or if we are drinking water
• Is getting a little more daring and will only hang on with one hand while standing
• Will walk a bit if we hold his hands
• Loves his new big boy car seat
• Freaks out if you dare drink something in front of him and do not offer him a drink
• Rarely eats baby food out of the jar
• Loves waffles, toast, yogurt granola bars, crackers, cheez-its, graham crackers, water from our cups, and basically anything we eat.
  

Our New Pool

Hayden LOVES splashing in his new pool


Hmmm I think we need to get him a pillow.

Ingrid arrived back to our house on Friday evening. Saturday we all got up early (except Hayden) to get ready to hit some garage sales. We were all up and ready to go and Hayden decided to sleep in until 9:00. It is a rare thing for us all to be up BEFORE Hayden.
We found a few things at the garage sales. Ingrid and Joey love garage sales and the hunt for the cheap perfect treasure! Then it was back home for lunch and a nap for Hayden. Joey went in to work for a few hours and Ingrid and Hayden went shopping. It was nice to have the house all to myself.
Sunday we went to church at an outdoor service. The weather was absolutely perfect for and outdoor service. After that we went to Kari's house to pick up Hayden's hat and beach towel we forgot there last week. We hung out for a bit and then grabbed a bite to eat.
Today we went to the splashpad with the neighbors. It was pretty chilly so we didn't let Hayden play around in the frigid water (much to his dismay). Then we met Ingrid's friend Liz and her son Avery at their favorite spot Maid Rite for supper. It was fun watching Hayden and Avery interact now that they are older.
It sure is nice having Ingrid here! She is such a take charge aunt. It is nice to have someone around to chat with all day and someone around that loves to play and help out with Hayden. I am definitely going to be spoiled this summer!!!!