Wednesday, October 31, 2012

FALL leaves, 2012

well, with hurricane sandy, most of the fall leaves are off the trees. LUCKILY, we were able to take some pics at a great spot near the houes with beautiful red & yellow trees/leaves on the bright green grass.  it was after haley's daycare halloween parade, so she's wearing her costume and her white tights, which got FILTHY by the time we finished.  but we had a blast!  oh, and daddy showed her how to roll down the hill so i posted a short video clip of  her practicing.





rolling down the hill




yes, she sat in the ONE dirt pile she could find, while wearing her white tights!

end results of her tights! 

 

Sunday, October 21, 2012

ticonderoga farms fall festival

we found an AWESOME fall festival/farm today!  it was 30 mins from our house and had all these amazing activities -- cool slides down the hill that were fun even for trey & i, a huge air pocket that was like a moon bounce, farm animals, jungle jims, pumpkins, hay rides...etc, etc, etc.  there were a ton of people there, but it was so big that it didn't feel crowed at all and we barely had to wait in line for the air bounce or slides.  haley had so much fun!  here are a few pics and video clips.  

going down the slide all by herself!

mommy right behind

this was a huge air buble we could jump on!

haley about to do a seat jump on the right side


looking at the peacocks from a distance (she ran away when the came to say hi!)

trying out the see saw

posing with a baby pumpkin

pumpkin carving

haley carved her first pumpkin!  she had fun making the face on the pumpkin and scooping out some seeds but didn't really want to touch them.  to slimy i guess.  she was really excited to see the end results when we put a candle inside!








jack's race

brian & tamara organized a 5k race for SIDS in honor of Jack.  it was the coldest morning of the year (so far) at a brisk 37 degrees when we got there at 7:30.  trey & i participated in the 5k (trey running, me pushing haley in the stroller) but haley also participated in a 'little angels 1k fun run & got a medal for finishing.  it was a fantastic day!  in addition to the running they had 2 moon bounces & face painting.  they had 250 registered racers, which was great for their first race!
brrrrr!!!

katie, tamara & becky

running the little angels 1k!

haley finished strong, granola bar and all !

tamara & will running the 1k

brian, tamara & will finishing the 1k


haley got a balloon animal- mouse

becky kissing the mouse

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

haley at age 2

so i'm a little late at writing this, but it's been on my mind for weeks if that counts for anything! 
haley has her 2 year "well visit" with dr. baugh on oct 15, so more info on her stats coming soon...

she moved to the 'training room' at daycare on oct 2.  it's where they teach potty training, so is an exciting time.  the first several weeks will just be getting acclimated to the new room without focusing too much on the potty.  her teacher said she's doing very well and wants to sit on the potty several times a day (when she sees her friends doing it!) but has not yet peed in it.  same as home.  she's been a little clingy during drop off the first 6 days and is waking up a little at night, so the usual 'adjustment' phase. 

at age 2, she can do so many things! she is drinking very well from a real cup and eating well with a spoon and fork.  she loves almost any kind of food with the exception of baked fish...not too crazy about it yet.  she only eats cold oatmeal with milk, not cooked warm oatmeal.  she loves toast with jelly.  she is a very good eater and never sits still so the only chubbiness on her body is in her cheeks. she knows how to take off her socks and shoes and can put some pairs of socks on (loose ones) and can put her pants and shorts on by herself.  she HATES it when i wash her hair, try to comb it, and try to put it in poney-tails.  it's a daily struggle to get it out of her eyes in the morning.  she insists on crawling in and out of her carseat when we get in/out of the car.   she's still too little to jump down outside, but is good at getting in and out of the seat itself.  she loves singing and knows the words to quite a few songs -- ABCs, happy birthday, twinkle little star, itsy bitsy spider, barney song, elmo song, and some words to jesus loves me, wheels on the bus, and probably some others that i am forgetting.  she is getting better with sentences.   she surprised us yesterday with saying a 5 or 6 word sentence.  she annunciates most things ok for age 2, except her F's.  they sound like Ps for all words except FOOD.  lol, she is sure to get that one right!  is really neat to be able to communicate.  of course we still have the daily temper tantrums where she flings herself on the floor at the drop of a dime, but we are trying to work thru it and convince her that she can ask for something before assuming she won't get it and throwing a fit....haley loves to run.  and she loves to run away from us.  sometimes it's not so fun when we're in the store or outside near the road.  she goes up and down stairs like a normal adult.  she LOVES baby dolls and can spend an hour taking off and putting on a baby doll's blanket, rocking it and giving it a bottle.  she loves to skype but does not get the concept that the person on the other end of the computer can't see her when she runs off to show them toys.  she constantly talks about calling grandma. she likes to draw and knows her animals, can say her ABCs and can count to 10 !!  she's starting to use her imagination when she draws, and can draw puppies, kitties, babies, and has dreams about kitties.  haley wants to help with everything and is constantly asking us to pull a chair to the kitchen counter top so she can mix things.  she takes it as a personal insult when we don't let her help with something.  her favorite phrase is 'haley do it' (but she pronounces her name like "hay-wee") she is a social butterfly and tells strangers "HI" with a smile and wave when we are out in public.  she is very strong willed and can be stubborn when she wants something, just like her daddy.  she is also like her daddy in that she wants to LICK salt and tony cacherie seasoning off of her hand!  she loves eating m&m's, thanks to pawpaw. she loves the neighbor boy henry and asks to see him NEARLY every day when we drive home from school.  (and of course gets mad when i say he's busy).  elmo has replaced veggie tales for the last 2 months and she loves watching elmo videos in the car.  she no longer wants to sit in shopping carts, so is a handful when we're out. she has been sitting on the potty every day for several months but has only gone successfully one or two times. but at least she's interested.  she accidentally dropped her passie in the potty recently, so it had to go by-by.  so, now she's down to only ONE passie, unless she drops that one in the potty too!  she still sleeps in a crib.  our night time routine involves a bath, then reading with mommy & daddy in our bed, then rocking before putting her in her crib.  bedtime is between 7:30 and 8pm, and she typically sleeps until 7:00 am.  she is a FANTASTIC sleeper, praise God.  she takes 1 nap a day at noon and it  usually is 2-3 hours long.  she plays hard so still seems to need a lot of sleep.  she' wearing shoe size 6.5 wide.  she is really into 'boo boo's" and wants ice for every minor graze or if she sees an old ouchie.  she is very compassionate to us and her friends at school when she sees other ouchies.  she wants to kiss it and put ice on it.  it's very sweet.  she's starting to play independently more and wants to 'go first' up and down the stairs.  she says 'i'm going to get something. mommy wait here' and will go off and bring something back.  

i'm sure there are so many other things i can say about her at this age, but that's all i can think of at the moment. 

a few other birthday pics

it seemed like we celebrated haley's birthday all month!  starting from the weekend before we flew to tx in August when we gave her baby kaycee, then labor day weekend in texas, then she got a few packages in the mail the next week, then she had a party at daycare, then we went to butler's orchard, then she had her actual birthday, then she got another present from brian & tamara the day after!  needless to say, she is now an expert at opening presents.  :-)

here are some other pics related to her b-day. 

excited about her new baby doll bed from brian & tamara

using the dry erase flash cards

apple picking at butler's orchard - sept 22, 2012

we went to butler's orhard haley's birthday weekend with our neighbors.  it's in maryland, about a 45 minute drive from our house with normal traffic. the weather was fantastic & we had such a good time picking apples and raspberries and digging up potatoes.  haley loved picking the little raspberries, but i think she ate more than she put in her bucket!  they were delicious! 

hiding under the apple tree

filling up her apple bag

trying to hold henry's hand....but he wasn't going for it!

picking raspberries


at the potatoe field

more interested in dirt than potatoes!






more outfits from kerrie & russell

here are some more pics of the adorable outfits from k&r.  the pumpkin shirt says 'pick of the patch'.  she is the best dressed in her school!