Hailey and Santa

I think Hailey is really getting into all the Christmas fun. She loves Santa and the snowmen and all the lights and trees. I think she really will be disappointed when all the decorations are taken down. We took her to see Santa last weekend and we thought she was going to do really well. As soon as she saw Santa she got really excited and started waving at him and throwing him kisses and she seemed anxious to cut in line to go and see him. When we got close to him however it was a different story. She didn't want anything to do with Santa, she didn't even want to sit next to him on her daddy's lap. But as soon as she got down she started waving and blowing kisses again. Needless to say we didn't get a good picture of her with Santa but there is always next year.






Then last week we had to stay at Grandmas house to help her after her surgery. Hailey had a lot of fun wearing the jingle headbands and kissing all the decorations. Grandma is doing much better and is back to work this week.

Back-2-Back-2-Back

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! GO ASU





We were very excited to get the opportunity to go to Chattanooga and watch Appalachian win their third straight National Championship game. We broke the record for Finley stadium with over 23000 fans. The game was exciting although it was never a close game. There were tons of App fans and we cheered and yelled the whole time. It got a little cold but we were so excited that it didn't even matter. For those of you that know me, you know that I am not a football fan but even I was pumped up and jumping up and down. You just couldn't help but get excited. Most of the fans were on the sidelines with 5 minutes still left in the 4th quarter. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone rush the field at the end of the game. We watched from our seats instead of joining in (Brian did it last year and said he could of almost died, so we thought we would play it safe). We walked around on the field after the game and talked to people. It was worth the almost 6 hour drive there and then back again. I hope we get to do it again next year, Go Apps!

Ms. Independent

It is so much fun watching Hailey grow and learn to do things on her own, although it is a little bittersweet because she doesn't need me as much as she once did. She still loves to sit and read books, but now she tries to read to herself and doesn't always want to sit on our lap. She can dig in the toy box for the toys she wants herself and doesn't need us to get them for her. Although as you can see sometimes she falls in and does still need mommy to come and pull her out. But the one that gets me the most is that she wants to feed herself not only does this make me sad because she doesn't need me but because as you can see by the picture she makes a mess that I have to clean up. I just tell myself that in the grand scheme of things that it really is a short time and I should cherish everything not only the good and the bad but the messy as well.

Monkey Joe's

We decided to take Hailey to a place in town called Monkey Joe's, it is a big indoor place that has a lot of different moon bounces for kids to play on. As you would imagine it was a little crowded a lot of kids have birthday parties there. When we got there though it wasn't too bad so we put Hailey in one of the toddler areas and she wasn't sure what to do. We helped her climb up the slide and then had to push her down the slide. Even after that she wasn't sure if she liked it. Then her daddy took her on some of the bigger play areas and showed her how it was done. I don't know who had the better time her or Brian. When they got done playing together we put her back in some of the toddler areas and then she was off and was having a blast. Then in a matter or seconds the place was swarming with kids and Hailey got knocked down a few times but she just got back up and tired again. I think we will try to go back again when she gets a little bigger and can move around a little faster.

Martha Stewart

We went to a Christmas Party at a friends house last night. We had a great time and Hailey had her own personal chauffeur. It is so cute to watch her and Tyler together, they love to give each other hugs and kisses and they also each take there share of beatings from the other one. Since Tyler is a little older than Hailey he decided he would help push her around on his fire truck since he can move a little faster than she can. He would even back her up when they hit a wall or got stuck in a corner. It was very sweet to watch.

I had seen a picture of a gift box cake in the Southern Living magazine and thought it was cute so I decided to give it a try. Now for those of you that know me well, know that I am not creative or crafty so this was a big challenge for me. Since I didn't have any small square baking pans I decided to use my round ones and do a hat box. Here are some pictures of the finished product. I was very proud of myself and I am only bragging because it took a long time to do so I don't think I will attempt this again.

Patience

I think the look in this picture says it all. Hailey has been testing me lately and has been hitting, we even had to try time out yesterday. This is the first I have really ever had to discipline her and I am not sure what to do or what is going to work. Yesterday was a very trying day, I tried putting her in a corner for a minute or two and tried to explain what was going on and why. I don't think this worked very well, but there really isn't any place I can keep her confined or a minute to let her know she was bad. I would love to know what other people have tired and how long this stage lasts. I have been praying for the patience to get through this but at times it is very hard. To top things off she also has a very runny nose and I can't take her anywhere so we are stuck in the house all day. I would really appreciate any advice you can give and your prayers to help me through this tough time and all the ones to come.

Copy Cat

We have started putting Hailey in her booster seat instead of her highchair now that she is a big girl. We were washing the highchair to put into storage and keeping her booster at the kitchen table (where it is supposed to be). Well one night after dinner I got Hailey seat all cleaned up and pushed it under the table as usual and the next thing I knew Hailey was pushing it to the corner where her highchair sits. Obviously she thinks that is her corner and that is where her chair goes. She does not want her chair at the table with the others, she does this every time it is too cute.




I was emptying the dishwasher one day and had the towel over my shoulder to dry the dishes that were still a little wet. I had to run upstairs to put the laundry in the dryer so I flung the towel over one of the kitchen chairs. When I came back downstairs Hailey had gotten the towel off the chair and was walking around with it slung over her shoulder. I guess she just wanted to help mommy with the dishes. It just amazes me the things that they pay attention to and pick up.



We put our tree up a little before thanksgiving since we were going to be so busy after the holiday. I love my tree and putting the ornaments on and sitting in the living room looking at it all lit up, watching Christmas specials. I was a little nervous this year because I didn't know how Hailey would do with the tree. Well she loves it and says good morning to it and gives it kisses. I was so proud of her because she would only mess with one or two ornaments during the day. At night once we lit the tree she would usually notice a few more to play with, but it was fine I could handle just picking up a few ornaments every night. We went away for the Thanksgiving holiday so she was away from the tree for a few days. Well when we got back she proceeded to take every ornament she could reach off the tree. I would say no and put the ornament back and show her the ones she could play with, that didn't work. After replacing the ornaments a couple of times I just started to place them back in a higher spot so she couldn't reach. So now my once beautiful tree not only has ornaments on the top half and the bottom half is bare. I guess I can live with it this one year but it just makes me laugh every time I see it and Hailey still loves the tree.