Fast Week

The week flew by without Joey. We had plenty of visitors and lots of travels. Our week consisted of shopping at Williamsburg with Mom, visiting the new hospice house with my Mom and old friends, visiting cemeteries in Ackley and Belmond. Visiting family on my Dad's side in Belmond, and lots of driving. Hayden did very well with all of the travels. Grandma spoiled him with some new clothes, sandals, and toys. He was also spoiled with a lot of attention from Grandma and Grandpa! Grandpa and Hayden even established their own secret language!
He has been crawling now like crazy! I can barely leave the room for a minute anymore without him getting into some kind of mischief. He has also been eating table food like a champ! He does not eat baby food out of a jar anymore except the occasional fruit. He also loves to clap and started waving. He prefers to "wave" with both hands. He has also mastered transitioning from the laying position to the sitting position. That has eliminated a lot of frustration for Hayden. He used to get sooo mad when he went from siting to laying and couldn't sit again.
So he learned a lot in the week daddy was gong (of course) but was happy to show it all to him once he returned home.
Joey had a great time in Canada and caught a lot of fish! They arrived in Cedar Falls Friday evening about the same time we arrived there from Belmond so it was perfect timing and we are glad to have him back!
No pics to share of the week because Joey had the camera.

Weekend

Joey has the camera so unfortunately I won't have any pics this week.
We had a great weekend. Hayden and I sent Joey off on Friday and then we went over to Sara and Phil's farm. Hayden loved looking at all of the animals and was intently listening to all of the new sounds. Hayden also was introduced to all sorts of new foods. Briar has a baby food buffet and Hayden tried a lot of them. His new favorite it Zwieback toast. He devoured it. It was hilarious he was growling while he was eating it.
Saturday we went to the parade. It was absolutely perfect weather. Hayden and Briar didn't make a peep the whole time. There was a lot of candy thrown in the parade. The older kids sitting in front of us shared their toootsie rolls and popsicles with Hayden and Briar when the parade was over. Grace and Phil walked the parade and Grace loved being in the parade. Hayden and I hung around for a bit and then headed to Grandma and Grandpa Magee's house.
We went with my parents to a graduation open house for a kid I used to babysit. It was great seeing their family and reminiscing with the boys about the fun times we had when I babysat. Hayden loved dipping his feet in their pool.
We came home yesterday. I am looking forward to Joey getting home. I am getting worn out already!
My mom is coming down tomorrow and we are going to Williamsburg to take my sisters siutcase in to Samsonite. I am sure we will do a little shopping also! Then Friday Hayden and I are headed back up to Cedar Falls and then heading to Belmond to visit family and put flowers on my Dad's grave. Joey should be home Saturday or Sunday.
have a great week!

Tooth #7

Hayden likes to take a rest after moving around the living room



Hayden just got tooth number 7 in. It is on his lower left side next to the front two.
He has been sleeping well lately despite the teething thing. He has been crawling a lot on his belly like an army guy! He gets around pretty fast. Monday he crawled just a bit but quickly reverted to his army crawl. He has been doing great pulling himself up. He uses his new table a lot! Even though it is pretty light and he has pulled it over on himself a few times. We just help Hayden brush it off and get back at it! I guess with learning new things come falls and bumps! It breaks my heart when he gets hurt.
We have been getting Joey ready for his trip to Canada. He is excited to go on vacation and relax. It just hit me last night that this year when he goes it will be different because we have Hayden now but I am sure I can handle it and we will have lots of friend and family around while Joey is gone. Hmmmm I better start planing my week away! Anyone interested in vacation?
I talked to my sister toady and we are planing out things we can do while she is here. She will be here in about a month and I am so excited!
We received exciting news this week. Our friends Matt and Stacy are expecting their 2nd child in December. We are sooo excited and happy for them!
Friday Hayden and I are dropping Joey off in Waterloo and then heading to my friend Sara's house to spend the night. Saturday her husband and daughter are going to be in a parade so we are going to go watch that. Saturday afternoon I am headed up to my parents house to hang out. We are spending the night there and will either come home Sunday or Monday.
Have a great weekend everyone.

Weekend Events

Saturday we were all up early and decided to hit some garage sales. We had a successful day! Hayden got a walker and a few toys. Joey noticed out tire was bulging so we headed over to the tire place by our house. Luckilly it was still under warranty and we got a new tire and all of our other tires rotated and balanced. By this time it was now only 9am so we headed to Culvers to pick out some Mother's day gifts.
Sunday we went to church with my parents and nephews Devin and Niall. My step-sister had to stay back with her youngest Quinn because he had the flu all weekend. We experienced a first for Hayden. We put him in the church nursery! I was a little nervous because he woke up on the wrong side of the bed but they said he did great. Our long time family friend Joan took a job at the church with the children's ministry so she peeked in on him a few times. There were 3 adults in there and only Hayden so he got a lot of attention. I was sitting in church fearing that Hayden's number would pop up on the screen during the service. But it didn't!
After church Mom went home to stay with Quinn and we all headed to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Magee family birthdays. We met my step brother Dennis and his family, Step sister Julie and her family, Step sister Becky and her family and Grandmother Augusta there. We had a fun time. It was not busy at all so it was nice. Hayden even got to enjoy one ride. Joey and I enjoyed the rest of the tokens! Pictures to come once I get some sent to me. We forgot our camera.
After that we met Joey's family at the Boat House. Faith and Noah wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and go for a swim. We chatted for a bit and then headed home. Hayden was exhausted and crabby by then. He slept from 5 to 7 am and took 2 2hour naps on Monday!
All and all it was a great weekend and a great family filled first Mother's Day for me. Looking forward to many many more!

Last Week Recap

Wow time flies! Can't believe it has been a week since I posted last. Here is a recap of the last week.
Tuesday Bev came down to visit. We had a great lunch at Mr. Beans and walked around the mall a little. She bought me a great pair of sparkely flip flops for Mother's Day.
Wednesday we sold the Jeep. We sold it to a family from Cedar Falls. We are sure happy it sold! Hayden had his 9 month appointment. He weighs20.7 pounds and is 29". He is now only in the 50% for weight. Dr. Nau gave Hayden the ok to start drinking whole milk and stop formula. We are trying to ease him into the milk thing. So far he is not the biggest fan. He now is getting a lot better all of the sudden at eating solids. We haven't had a gaging incident for a while. Cheerios are now a favorite. In the morning he is SOOOOOO excited when he sees the yellow box coming his way. I can only compare it to my reaction if someone called to say that I had won one million dollars. He also wants to try any food we are eating. So far he is willing to try everything and loves chicken, rice, chocolate (thanks to daddy), and ice cream. Oh and he also begs to drink water out of my cup during the day.
Thursday My parents came down for the day. We waited around all morning for the air conditioner guy to come for a tuneup. Once he arrived Raleigh set off to visit some old friends and Mom, Hayden, and I set off to do some shopping and driving around town. We drove past a few spots I was thinking of having Hayden's birthday and drove around our old neighborhood. We had a great time reminiscing. Come to find out we live about a mile away from the house that my Mom and Dad met in. Pretty cool. After exploring the town we hit Kohl's and Target. Mom got Hayden got a new toy and some new clothes. She got me some formula and diapers from Sams for Mother's Day! Hey I was happy to get them!
Thursday night I had bunko and Joey and Hayden went to the police pig out to get Hayden fingerprinted and mingle with the police officers. Hayden had a great time and got a new soft spongy book that he loves! Oh and Joey had a great time also! Even though the fingerprint thing didn't work out with his tiny fingers. It looks more like black streaks all over the paper.
Friday Joey stayed home from work because he was sick! Which is a rare thing here. He NEVER uses his sick days. Hayden and I were sick on Monday so Joey stayed home to take care of us both. He is the best.

Weekend in Des Moines/Ames

We had a fun weekend. We got to see a lot of people and accomplished a lot. Friday Hayden and Joey dropped me off in Tama to meed Sara. Sara and I ate a quick sandwich at Maidrite and we were on our way to Waukee. The drive went quickly as we chatted the whole way. We arrived at Beth's and chatted a bit before we headed out for the evening. We had a great time meeting new people and it was a treat to be out without the kids.
Saturday Sara and I were up at 6:30 chatted for a bit and decided we needed to try to go back to sleep since we could! We then got ready for the day and helped Beth get ready for her purse party. It was an experience. Her whole living room and family room were full of purses. It took us a while to get all of the boxes unloaded. It was amusing to watch people come in and go nuts over these knock off bags. People came to Beth's house that she didn't even know. Beth also had a friend there selling Pampered Chef. My friend Kelli came to the party but she was the star of the show because she came bearing 30% off coupons for Gymboree.
After the party Sara, Kelli, and I went to Jordan Creek. We walked around for a bit and then Sara and I headed up to Ames. Sara chatted for a bit and then headed home.
By the time I arrived in Ames they had Lomen moved in. We ran to get a bite to eat. When we arrived home I was all ready to get boxes unpacked but the guys had a different plan. They decided they needed to fish. Our friends Sara and Jeremie came over and the guys took of to the lake and Sara and the girls hung out with Hayden and me. We had a good time chatting and the girls had a fun time running around in the unfinished basement. We were hoping to go to the park but it was very windy and getting cold.
Sunday we helped Lomen get his kitchen unpacked and headed home. Hayden and I came home with spring colds. He has a nasty cough. He was soooo pooped and was in bed by 6:00. I followed soon after!
This week we have Hayden's 9 month appointment and are expecting a visit from my mom.

9 Months

Hayden is now 9 months. Seems like each month is flying by faster than the previous.
Here are some of the things he learned last month.

• moves from sitting to belly (beginning of month)
• moves from sitting to knees (end of month)
• 4/20 top tooth next to top two on left
• 4/23 bottom tooth next to bottom two on left
• eats yo baby yogurt for breakfast and oatmeal
• hates rice cereal but will eat oatmeal
• pilled up on knees to see what I was doing on laptop
• rolls around to get where he needs to
• schooches on belly
• pivots on bottom
• we moved his crib down
• eats 2 size 2 baby foods for dinner
• claps

Fishing With Dad

Hayden went on his first official fishing expedition with Joey last night. They had great success and caught a lot of fish. Joey said that Hayden LOVED to touch the fish on the tail and head. It took him a while to get used to the first fish but Joey said every time he caught one after that Hayden immediately would stretch his arms up to reach the fish and get all excited!

Hayden and I have been enjoying the beautiful weather. We have been eating lunch all week on our back porch. Monday we met some friends at Cherry Hill Park. We had a huge blanket under a tree in the shade. Hayden and Will had a great time playing together on the blanket. We put the boys in the infant swings and they loved it. Will even took a little snooze. We even ran into our neighbor kids there so Hayden we very happy to see them. They provide Hayden with entertainment daily at home. He LOVES it when they are around. Hmmm maybe Hayden needs some more company here. Well good thing Aunt Ingrid is coming this summer.

Ingrid bought her ticket yesterday. We are going to enjoy her company from June 22-Aug 15. Yippee! We have been planing things to do all summer. Which include visits to the pool. Yes you heard me right! I am going to hop into a bathing suit this summer and go with Ingrid and Hayden to the pool. I figured I shouldn't deprive Hayden of fun things just because of my insecurities. I have had this talk a lot this week with may people that feel the same way so we are all going to gang up and frequent the pool this summer!

More travel news. We are going to Germany to visit Andrew and Ingrid over Christmas. We are so excited. We have been busy planing things to do while we are there. Ingrid and Andrew have been nice enough to offer to watch Hayden if we don't want to drag him around Europe. We all (including Hayden) are hoping to take a trip to London and Paris over New Years.

Hayden is almost crawling. He gets onto his knees from a sitting position but doesn't quite know what to do from there. Last week he crawled a little but quickly dropped onto his belly and rolled to where he needed to be. He is getting more interested in trying to pull himself up. We don't have a lot of things for him to practice on so we are trying to figure out things to put in the living room to assist him. If I am sitting on the floor with the laptop we is over by me in a flash and pulls himself up very quickly to see what I am doing. The only other option is the exersaucer but that is so unstable that when he gets up he quickly falls and clunks his head.

We have also been working more on table food. He is now eating the puffs better. Yesterday we worked on shredded cheese and apples. He still makes the funniest face when he gets something in his mouth but is getting better at chewing. Unless it is a mouthful of paper. He can handle that for some reason but a teeny tiny piece of food throws him off. I am going to start feeding him solids at lunch now because he is barely interested in his bottle at all. He also finally figured out his sippy cup. I put water in it and he is not that enthused. I think he is still getting a hang of it. He does however enjoy drinking water out of my glass.

My friend Sara and I are headed to Waukee Friday and Saturday for a girls weekend. We are visiting my friend Beth and hanging out on Friday and Beth is having a purse party on Saturday. Then Saturday afternoon Sara is dropping me off in Ames. Joey and Hayden are headed to Ames Friday to help Johnny finish packing (much to Joey's dismay) and getting ready for the big move to the new condo on Saturday.

I am also including a picture of Hayden's new sleeping position. He now likes to sleep on his knees with his toosh in the air. Too cute!