Last Week

Once again the weekend and weeks are flying by!
My sister arrived from Germany. It is great to have her here. She was supposed to get here on Friday but her plane was delayed until Saturday.
Saturday we went to the Sturgis Falls parade. The rain let up just in time for the parade to start. I was happy to share it this year with Hayden. The parade is something I have attended yearly since I can remember. After the parade we grabbed a bite to eat in the park and headed home for a rest. Later in the evening we headed back down to meet up with some friends. We stopped by to chat with my friend Missy and her family. It was great to see them all. Then it was over to the jazz festival to hook up wit the Moreau/Knutson clan. We had a fun time. Sara and I sent the kids home with the guys and hung out for a bit on our own! We ran into some people from high school and did a lot of walking!
Sunday we went to church and headed home. We brought Ingrid back with us.
Monday we took Hayden to the splash pad at Tucker Park (where we will be having his birthday). Hayden LOVED crawling around getting sprayed with water.
Tuesday Ingrid and I took Hayden to family swim at Knolridge. They open the pool up on Tuesday and Thursdays from 9:30-11:30 for families to swim. It was soooo warm outside by 9:30 we had a great time cooling off in the pool. We met my friend Lisa and her girls there. Hayden loved floating around the BIG pool in his floaty and yes going under the waterfalls and getting splashed.
Tuesday night Ingrid went back to my moms because they were headed to KC to visit my step brother and his family and see their kids play sports.
Wednesday we went to my friend Kari's and swam. My friend Shawna came also. It was nice catching up with Shawna.
Yesterday we had Kindermusik. Last night we went to Brucemore for the Hot Air Balloon glow. It was a beautiful evening. We sat on our big blanket and danced to the live band. There were a lot of people there and Hayden had a great time watching people and the balloons.
Today my sister is coming back and I have to run some errands. We are looking forward to a fun weekend with Ingrid and being at home for once. Hopefully we will get something accomplished at the home front.
We bought Hayden his big boy carseat. He loves it! When I got it out of the box and set it out in the living room he was climbing in it instantly. I decided to buckle him in to try it out. He sat in it for a good 5 minutes and didn't want to come out of it right away.

Beautiful Day

Today is an absolutely PERFECT weather day! It is 76 out now with little humidity. It is so nice to have the air conditioner off and air out the house.
Hayden and I weeded outside for an hour this afternoon. He just hung out on the blanket and played with his tractor and watched the neighbor kids play. I got a lot done outside and inside today.
My cousin Dawn called last night and we talked about their upcoming trip back to Iowa in July. We are excited to see the Willems clan at my mom's house for the reunion. I am glad Dawn, Scott, and Ingrid can join us this summer!
I also talked to my sister today. She is all alone this week so she is looking forward to Friday when she comes. She is all packed and ready and we are ready for her.
Friday I am headed up to Cedar Falls to have a girls night with some high school friends. Joey and Hayden are picking up Ingrid and bringing her up to CF.
Saturday we are going to the Sturgis Falls parade and then going to eat our traditional meal in the park after.
We are excited to see everyone this weekend. Hopefully the weather holds out!
Have a great week everyone.

Happy 1st Father's Day

We celebrated Father's day with the Paricka's in Waterloo. We had a great time hanging out in the pool. Hayden LOVED his first time swimming.
We grilled out for lunch. It was soooo yummy! Jenny, Matt, Darliene, John, Uncle Dave and Aunt Barbara, and Faith & Noah were there as well. We had a great time relaxing by the pool and chatting with everyone.
Hayden and I are going to make dinner for Joey tonight. We have some errands to run today before the rain comes.
Ingrid is arriving Friday. We are so excited to have here here for the summer!

Magee Family Reunion

Hayden in his cowboy hat and Joey in his Raleigh blue

Hayden's first cowboy hat

Hayden's new tractor

Hayden was less than enthused about his first pony ride

Joey Skeet Shooting

Grandma and Hayden watching Daddy shoot. Hayden had to wear earplugs.

We had a wonderful time at the reunion. We arrived at 1 and helped Julie and Dennis get last minute things set up before everyone showed up. About 70 people arrived shortly after and the fun began. Activities included: bolo ball, monster volleyball, skeet shooting, fishing, metal detector hunt, swimming, slip n slide, eating, relaxing, pony rides, silent and live auctions, bean bag toss, fireworks, and many other tings to keep us occupied.
It was a HOT day but luckily the farm has some big trees to keep us all out of the sun.
Hayden fell in love with a Ertl John Deere Pedal tractor that belonged to Gavin. We ended up winning it in the auction so now Hayden is a proud owner of a John Deere.
We didn't leave until 10:30. The day flew by! We had a great time seeing everyone and catching up. The Magee clan sure knows how to have a good time.

Hog Wild Days

Hayden has a binky mark on his face from sleeping on it

Kari and Charlie

Hayden is soooo excited to see the rides.
He sticks his arms and legs out straight when he gets excited.

Hayden and Will cooling off

Hayden giving the officer a pat on the back

Last night we braved the heat and went to Hiawatha Hog Wild Days. We met Kari, Will, and Charlie there. Todd left today for work. We had a fun time. We ate and walked around and watched Charlie on the rides.
The Hiawatha police officers gave Hayden a badge. Hayden loved "talking" to the officer.
Today I am cleaning and packing for our day up at the farm! We are excited to see all of my step-siblings and my extended Magee family! They have activities planned all day. I am sure it will be a fun time.

Busy Busy!

This is the first time Joey walked in on Hayden standing in his crib

Our neighbor girls Mary Claire and Monica

Hayden and Caroline trying out Hayden's new chairs

It has been a while. Let's see what has happened?
Hayden is getting tooth #8. This one is a bear! The last few days he has been soooo whiney and cranky.
We had a successful garage sale. It was a lot of fun to have one with our neighbors. Mom came down to help with the sale and with Hayden. She was tons of help! It feels so nice to get rid of a lot of stuff and to make some money doing it! We are saving a few things for a sale Nancy is having in August and the rest went to Goodwill.
Wednesday Hayden and I went to Dunkerton to help my Step-sister clean her house for this weekend's festivities! We got a lot accomplished. They have been working so hard getting the farm ready for the Magee reunion! It sure isn't a small task hosting 90 people! Dennis took off 2 weeks from work to get ready, Julie took off one, and Raleigh has been helping all week! The festivities kick off today in Cedar Falls and go through Sunday! We are just joining them at the farm Saturday for the afternoon and evening.
Yesterday we ran errands and had music class. We have been hanging out with the neighbors a lot lately and are looking forward to going to the pool together. I finally found a swimsuit.
Tonight we are going to hang out with Kari and her boys. Tomorrow we have the reunion all day and Sunday we are headed up to Waterloo to celebrate Father's day. Looking forward to a fun family weekend.
Hayden had taken off and has now mastered the super fast crawl. You can not turn your back for a second without him getting into something. He is now pulling up on everything and starting to take a few steps if we hang on to him. He is just a ball of fun and I am enjoying watching him learn new things and explore his surroundings! It is simply amazing all he has learned in 10 months! People always told me the first year flys by and it sure has. I can not believe his first birthday will be here in 2 short months! As time progresses I am certainly appreciating the role of mother more and more. The endless love you can feel for such a tiny being. I am amazed how much you give and sacrifice for your children without a second thought! I am truly grateful I have the opportunity to be a mother and am so blessed to have such a wonderful family!

It is official.....we have a mobile baby!

I am sooooo proud of myself!

Busted


Who Me?


Now how do I get out of here?

I swear all of the sudden he was content sitting in one place playing with his toys but now I can't turn my back without him getting into something. The little stinker can get into something so fast it is unbelievable. Once he figured out he can move faster on his hands and knees he is unstoppable. Now I have to strategize on how I am going to get anything done during the day. Joey and I were talking and now we really feel that our little boy is growing up! He is becoming less and less dependent on us as the days go by. Once he learns how to feed himself he will have no use for us anymore. :( Well that is an exaggeration but you get the jist!
We had a great weekend in CF/Waterloo. We went to the parade Saturday morning with Stacy and Emma. We met uncle Johnny and Aunt Darliene there as well. Hayden and Emma loved the parade. It was absolutely PERFECT weather.
Saturday we helped my mom organize some things that she wants to put in our garage sale. Saturday night Bev watched Hayden and we had an evening out all to ourselves. We hung out with Johnny for a bit and then hooked up with Stacy and Matt. We had a fun time.
Sunday we came home early and started the monumental task of getting the garage sale stuff ready! We haven't had one since we have been married so we have a lot to get rid of!
Today Hayden and I got our passport photos taken. We have to go back because they have to touch up Haydn's photo because the towel they used for the background isn't white enough and they need to make it whiter. Hayden did good for the picture and LOVED the HUGE balloon they used to make him smile! He literally crawled out of the buckle in his stroller to get it when I took it away! Did I mention that the bigger and older he gets the louder and more vocal he gets! Yes his screams were echoing through the store!

10 Months

Wow hard to believe our little guy is now 10 months old! Last month he:

• Mastered the sippy cup (the straw sippy cups)
• Goes from laying to sitting
• Crawls army style (beginning of month)
• Got tooth #7
• Loves solid food now and "freaks" out if anyone is eating and not sharing with him
• Likes cheerios, chicken, yogurt, puffs, meat of any kind, and most vegies diced
• Crawling on all fours (end of month)
• Pulls up on everything and loves to stand (especially in his crib when he should be sleeping)
• Less interest in baby food (rarely eats it)
• Waves bye bye