Sneak Peek

Stephanie shot some more photos of Hayden while we were in Odessa. Hayden didn't take an afternoon nap that day and was still getting over her ear infection so the session was brief...with few smiles. Glad Stephanie got a few keepers.

http://stephsimpsonphotography.blogspot.com/

We've all been sick...

...even the computer.

Hayden and I have been on antibiotics for a few days--her first ear infection and my annual Spring sinus thing. Made all the more adventurous by two trips in an airplane...never fun with sore ears and a stuffy head. Thankfully while we were in Odessa my mom was around to take good care of us (as only a Mom and Grammy can do.) We got back from O-town on Wednesday morning to find that the computer was also feeling yucky. Some crazy Trojan virus that would do insane things while we were on the Internet. Needless to say, Bryan spent a great deal of time yesterday (usually while Hayden and I were napping) diagnosing and "fixin" things. I'm so glad he is computer literate.

We are all back up and running FINALLY, though admittedly not quite at full power.

Thank you Lord for antibiotics, caregivers and computer savvy husbands.

Have Your People Call My People

10 months of Hayden!

Again...we can hardly believe how quickly the time is flying! I know that the first year goes so fast because of all the new milestones and such, but man! we can hardly keep up!

Pumpkin pot is doing fabulous (except for the fever and crankies she has had this week...perhaps a cold or something? No other symptoms so we are waiting it out :)

We tried this great experiment with time change...instead of doing anything to her schedule we would just leave her with her old one and it would change from 6:30-6:30 to 7:30-7:30 magically (also known as daylight savings time). This would make our lives so much easier...Bryan could spend more time with her in the evenings, we could eat dinner together, etc., etc. Unfortunately it hasn't worked out very well. She has gradually scooched everything back. The mornings of sleeping til 7:00 are over again. Apparently DST doesn't fool her.

She has become a more finicky eater. Gobbling down something one day and refusing it the next. I'm hoping this is just a phase! (inside I'm a little scared that she could be a tad bit willfull...surely not, right?) Our most recent food tries have been beets, brown rice, chicken, toast, cottage cheese and sprinkle cheese. Likes and dislikes depend on the day...she definitely has a woman's perogative. (except for banana...that is a yes food anytime! Just like her Gramps and her daddy.)

Hayden is cruising all over the place and standing "free" for extended periods of time. She hasn't really taken steps yet. She likes to lunge which can look a little scary but seems to work for her. One of her favorite activities is to cruise around the sectional and lunge between the two sides. (the lunging is usually interspresed with lots of tumbling, rolling and laughing...perhaps a video is needed...)

She is finally saying ma, ma, ma. Not tons and not usually aimed at me, but I'll take it :) Bryan on the other hand gets a very clear and specific "DA" whenever he comes around. Sometimes it is even "dad." The signing seems to be going well. I thought she would get the more frequent signs first like "more" but she hasn't ever done that one. She has done sleepy, bye bye, hi, eat, milk, please and finished. The signs aren't real regular but do seem to help confirm needs when we ask her. (the cutest one is sleepy where she puts her hand by her ear and leans her head over...so cute! ...perhaps a video is needed...)

There are things she recognizes and knows...ball, George (the curious monkey doll she sleeps with), Lenny (stuffed leopard), Dad, Lucy (stuffed sheep that hangs out with her in the car), and book. We can say, "Hayden, where's your ball?" She usually looks around and then will crawl over to her ball and pick it up. In the morning after she has nursed she will hear Bryan in the other room...she says, "da" and then crawls to the door. All this fun, new communicating is wonderful. I have to admit that the mind reading/guessing game gets so old!

Her baby dedication is coming up at church on the 29th. This is such a special time for us as we covenant together as a family and church to pray for and teach Hayden about Jesus. I think Bryan would agree that the greatest "pressure" we feel as parents is to share God's love with Hayden and see her come to know Jesus personally. This would be the greatest blessing for us. Being kingdom minded takes on a whole new depth of meaning once you have a child.

A neat part about the dedication is that we are doing it with three other couples from our church small group. So the four couples who had babies in 2008 will all be dedicating them together in the same service. This just makes it that much more special! (we will also be needing new outfits...another great aspect of dedication!)

Our next doctor's visit is the "birthday" visit at 12 mos. I'm pretty sure that Hayden is growing up though not out. Her six month pants are definitely too short (finally), though she can still sport the cute dresses and the 9 mos. pants are fitting without dragging though they are all a little room-y in the waste area. We should all be this lucky :)

Bryan and I continue to savor every minute with our sweet baby girl. She brings us so much joy!

Thank you Lord for our sweet baby Hayden!

My First Crocs

Are these pink baby Crocs the cutest things you've ever seen or what?

Thanks to Amber & Jon for having such great taste.

Can't wait to wear em' outside to play!
Thank you Lord for friends...and cute shoes!

Perhaps I should play...

Volleyball more often. After a three month holiday hiatus I've apparently grown a little soft. Or at least that is what the bruising on my right hand is telling me. Honestly I thought it was blueberry stain I couldn't scrub off, but then the pain from the continued scrubbing forced me to reevaluate. I must be getting old if I bruise like such a delicate peach :)

From the bruising you would probably think I'm an amazing power hitter or something...unfortunatley at 5'3" (rounding up allowed...it's my blog), with a less than 3 foot verticle jump and playing on a men's regulation height net, I do more passing, setting and serving. I'm pretty sure the bruise is from the serving...or perhaps it's from all the clapping I did as we won all three sets. Volleyball=Fun, Winning=Bonus Fun, Bruising=Almost worth it.

For the grandparents

One of my recent favorites!

Savory Success

My First Fried Chicken

(besides the quick stir fry kind...I mean the real kind...the whole vat of oil deep fry!)

I'm no domestic diva. I don't cook from a recipe much. At our house we appreciate creative license (read, throw whatever is available in the pan) and routine (read, usually the same meals on a regular basis b/c that is what is available.) My mom and Grandmother, the two best cooks I know, don't use recipes much so this should work for me too, right? I bought some chicken legs on sale and it never occured to me that I wouldn't know what to do with them (we are usually a breast and thigh family:). So when I thawed these out I was in a bit of a conundrum.

So what to do? Where to go for answers? The Internet, duh. (the Bible being the best resource for almost all questions of course, but a little vague on the chicken fry.) I found this great recipe that included hot sauce which I had just bought a bottle of. (which is of course different from salsa, though I'm sure I was in my twenties before I knew that.)

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Ready In: 45 Minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
8 chicken drumsticks
1/4 cup hot pepper sauce
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups vegetable oil for frying

Directions:
1.To Marinate: Remove skin from chicken (hardest part of the whole recipe) and place in a resealable plastic bag. Pour sauce over chicken, seal bag and refrigerate to marinate for at least 1 hour, up to 24 hours. The longer the chicken marinates, the spicier it will be.
2.In another resealable plastic bag combine the flour, cornmeal and salt. Add chicken, seal bag and shake to coat.
3.Heat oil in a large, deep skillet to medium high heat. Add chicken and fry, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes or until juices run clear. Turn occasionally to brown evenly.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2009 Allrecipes.com

Reviews?...positive. Chicken?...eaten. Fingers?...licked. Encore?...definitely!

Thank you Lord for yummy fried chicken! (does this cancel out my prayer for better health and weight loss?)

For my mom, who says "great post...where is the picture of Hayden?"

All Grownsed Up...Sorta

A few days ago I put Hayden in this cute red striped dress, white socks and white shoes...and suddenly she looked so much older. Not sure if it was the shoes and socks (which she will rarely keep on), how she looks like she has lost all her baby fat (which she never had) or how her little legs show beneath the dress...it was like I was glimpsing the toddler years.

Needless to say, after taking pictures I ripped off the bow, threw away the shoes and refused to let her do more than lay still on the floor (like that would work :) Whew. There's my baby girl again...for at least a little while longer.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

No pinchin' going on in this house!

After her first taste of green beer.

We don't need a t-shirt invitation
to smooch on this cute face!


Hope your day was full of drunken clog dancing leprechans atop heather filled pots of golden peat bogs.

Mommy's Little Laundry Helper

We've started the chore training early.
(warning: you may need a Dramamine due to the shaky camera work. :)

Next week we'll work on dusting, vacuuming, toilet scrubbing...

Beets

She likes them. Plain, in all their magenta goodness.

(post beets with a vanilla wafer chaser)

Hangin' Heavy

Either baby clothes are heavier than I thought or we just have too many crammed onto one hanging bar. This is what we discovered at about 2:30 am when the bar and all the clothing on it came crashing down in Hayden's closet. Bryan and I sat right up in bed since we heard the commotion through the monitor. It took us a few seconds to determine that the house wasn't caving in and to decide it came from the baby's room. (The baby would have slept through the whole thing if Bryan hadn't had to go in her room to make sure things were alright. Amazing how she will sleep through a giant crash, but if anyone dares to walk within 5 feet of her crib she will sit right up and be ready to go. Needless to say, there isn't much checking on her during naps :)

I take the blame for most of the disturbance because I much prefer to hang the clothes than fold them and also campaigned for the use of a tension rod rather than try to customize a bar for the correct size of the closet. (what I don't take credit for is the sheer number of outfits our poor, deprived girl has...please blame that on friends and grandparents.)

BEFORE (and again when I got things put back)

AFTER

BTW--I'm pretty sure I heard a few ma, ma, ma's today while Hayden and I were rocking before her nap time. I'll let you know if this was a breakthrough or just a random tease.

Helpful Hancheys!

So last night Bryan and I had a meeting at church. It was the parenting class you attend prior to participating in baby dedication (March 29th). The class was from 6:30 to 8:00 and since Hayden goes to bed at 7:15 (and doesn't do well if you put her down late) we asked our sweet friends Lindsi and Patrick to hold down the fort for us. (There were loud guffaws and gasps when some of our other friends heard we were letting Patrick watch the baby, but we assured them that Lindsi was there and would have everything under control. Whew.)

Of course things went splendidly. Bryan and I learned some good stuff, Lindsi and Hayden had a great time and Patrick didn't break anything, so overall a successful night. Thank You Hancheys!

Lindsi snapped some pictures while she was here...

Thank you Lord for great friends! (and the cute pirate baby)

Peek-A-Boo

I know, I know...another video. But she is doing so many cute, new things! I just can't help myself...

Now you have to admit...that wouldn't have been the same in still, silent snapshots. :)

Playin' some futbol.

This may be the first video of Hayden "playing" soccer, but I'm sure it won't be the last...