Riley

Mark, Kat and Riley came for a visit the other weekend and it was great seeing them again. Hailey and Riley had a blast playing together and Mackenzie loved meeting her Aunt, Uncle and cousin for the first time. Hailey and Riley were inseparable for the four days they were here. They watched the birds and squirrels eat in Gammy and Papa's back yard, watched movies, played on the deck, swam at the pool and even went to sports connection to bounce on the inflatables.  Riley is so cute and we couldn't get over how blonde his hair is. Last time we saw him he was just a little bigger than Mackenzie is now. He is really into Elmo and the disney sing along songs. We hate that they couldn't stay longer but we are looking forward to seeing them again in September at the beach. 

Party, school and everything girly

What a great weekend! On Saturday we worked in the yard trimming bushes and then I got us all packed to go to my mom and dads house (or so I thought). On our way out of town we had to stop by Dean and Gatha's to drop something off, well when I went inside it was actually a surprise party for my birthday. I was totally shocked and had no idea. I couldn't believe everyone pulled it off without me suspecting anything. Everyone had a great time and Hailey loved my party hat. Even Mackenzie loved the surprise. 

Hailey started a summer school session on Monday for the next four weeks. She looked so cute and wanted me to take her picture. She is still going through a phase where she doesn't like being dropped off so she cried but she eventually got over it and had a good time. Her good friend Tyler is in her class and she also has one of her teachers from the school year so hopefully that will help her adjust faster. 

When we found out we were pregnant with Hailey I had to get everything nuetral in case we ever had another child that was a boy. But now since we have two sweet little girls I can go all out girly. We decided to redecorate the guest bathroom and make it the girl bathroom since it connects the two rooms. We did flowers and butterflies. It is so cute and Hailey loves it. I can't wait till Mackeznie gets a little bigger and they can take bubble baths together. 

Summer Time

We have

 been going to the pool a lot since it opened a few weeks ago.  We usually go in the mornings when it first opens and are the only ones there, although that

 will probably change now that schools are out. Hailey loves the water but lately she has not wanted to go in the kid pool, which is hard with just me and having Mackenzie with us, so we try to go when Brian gets home and she can go in the big pool.  Hailey has gotten brave with wanting to jump in and is showing some interest in wanting to learn to swim.  Mackenzie will usually sleep a little while we are at the pool but I am hoping that once we can put sunscreen on her we can start dipping her feet in the water. 

We had an art project today but I think we ended up getting more paint on Hailey than we did on the paper but she had fun and that was the point. Mackenzie just sat and watched Hailey and would laugh when Hailey laughed. She really loves her big sister, it is so cute to watch how much they truly love each other (I will have to remember this in a few years when they are arguing over toys and clothes and everything else). 

Mackenzie started eating cereal and at first wasn't sure if she liked it and would only eat a few bites, but lately she has been eating the whole bowl. Hopefully now we can start getting her to gain some weight but I think she is perfect the way she is. This last picture is of Hailey wearing a hair bow. I said in my last blog that Hailey hated wearing them so I tried putting one in her hair to help keep the bangs out of her face. It lasted about an hour and then it was gone but we are making progress so who knows. 

Hair-bows and swing-sets

We had a very productive and exciting weekend. We picked up the swing-set we ordered three weeks ago on Friday and spent all weekend putting it together. Brian and his dad started at 7am on Saturday and worked till 2pm then we all had to get ready to go to a good friends wedding. My mom was here to watch the girls so that we could stay at the reception. 

On Sunday Brian his dad and my dad started at 7am again and this time didn't get done till around 7pm. They finished the swing-set then went to lowes to buy border and mulch (and  some black stuff to put down to prevent weeds or something). The finished product looks great and Hailey is so excited to have her own "playground" (as she calls it) just like everyone else.  We also planted a butterfly bush and some other plants in the opposite corner to even everything out, it looks so good. 

I know that Mackenzie doesn't have a lot of hair (but she does have more than Hailey did) but she has just enough to hold a hair bow. She looks so cute and she acts like she doesn't mind having it in. I am so excited to have a child that can (and will hopefully) wear a hair-bow.  I am trying to let Hailey's bangs grow and they are getting in her eyes so I try pulling them back with the hair-bow but she keeps pulling it out.  She will wear a hat no problem but put a bow in her hair and it won't even last a minute. 

We have been having fun at the pool in the morning and now our afternoons are spend swinging in the back yard. I have a feeling that we will spend a lot of time outdoors this summer and go through a lot of sunscreen. Hope everyone has a good week!

One mans trash is another mans treasure

On our way home from the grocery store last week we found this piece of furniture sitting out by the trash at a house that was for sale. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with it except for a few scratches so we decided to take it home. We didn't know where we would put it or what to do with it but at least we had it as an option (even if we just used it in the garage to store things). We decided it would be a good piece of furniture for the play room so the girls could watch movies when they get older. 

Well we went to Lowes Friday night and bought some sand paper and some paint to fix it up. I wish I would of taken a before picture but I also forget that part. Anyway the furniture turned out a lot better than we ever expected. It took a few days to work on but we primed,sanded, painted, glazed, distressed and put a protective coat on it and about $25 later we had our finished product. 

Long one, sorry

I know it has been a while since our last posting but we have been really busy. Plus our camera broke so we are borrowing one till we can either get ours fixed or get a new one. Since the last blog we have celebrated my 30th (yikes) birthday, had Mackenzie's 4 month check up, Hailey's last day of school and went to Savannah. 

Hailey's last day of school was on my birthday and they had an aloha picnic. Brian and I got to go and have a picnic lunch with her and all her friends. She had a blast running around with all her friends. We are going to put her in summer school for a few weeks starting in June. Mimi and Popi and Gammy and Papa game that night to help celebrate my birthday with cupcakes. Hailey only wanted to eat the bottom of the cupcakes and everyone else had to make the sacrifice of eating the top with all the icing.  I got a nice bottle of wine, the label is Mommies time out. I also got a wii and a wii fit. I am hoping between that and the Y I can finally get all this baby weight off and hopefully a few other pounds that I picked up here and there (ha ha). 

Savannah was a lot of fun. We all left on Friday morning Brian and his parents left really early so they could make it to Savannah for their tee time. I left with my parents and the girls a little after 9 and got there a little before 3.  Uncle Nick Aunt Lisa and the girls (who turned 21) arrived right around 3. We went across the river and let the fun begin. Brian and I discovered that night that it is harder keeping up with 21 year olds than we thought. Lets just say we were moving a little slow the next morning. It rained on and off everyday but we were able to get in everything we wanted to do. One day that it rained most of the morning we went to the mall to the Bass Pro Shop. Hailey spent the whole time at the fish tank looking at all the big fish. Her favorite part of Savannah was riding the ferry boat across the river and the free trolly that went up and down River Street. We did manage to go to the pool one morning before the rain started but the water was freezing. Hailey really wanted to get in the pool so we tried to tough it out. But even she got cold and just wanted to ride on the mat, she was still cold but didn't want to get out of the pool. We ended up having to put a towel over her while she laid on the mat and Brian pulled her around the pool (does that sound like a princess or what). 

Mackenzie had a good 4 month check up. She is only 11 lbs and 6 oz so we have to try and get her to gain more weight. The Dr. isn't worried though since Hailey has always been small also. She is doing good with her head control and sleeping. She is trying to roll over from her back to her tummy. She loves to smile and is just so sweet and always in a good mood. She didn't like traveling in the car, which is going to be a problem since it seems like we are always in the car these days. 

Well I guess that is about it. Hopefully I can get some good pictures of Hailey at the pool soon to blog about. She loves the water so we will probably be at the pool a lot this summer. We are having a really hard time with the potty training so I would appreciate any advice if you have any.

Mothers Day

We had a wonderful mothers day. On Saturday we had a Mothers Day tea which we are thinking of making it a tradition. I did manage to find a really cute tea pot but could not find any tea sets that were not play sets. So we had to drink our tea out of very small tea cups and had to fill them about 15 times but it was a lot of fun. I think we are going to shop for our own tea cups while we are in Savannah in a few weeks, that way we can each pick out our own and make it special. I made an almond pound cake, and fruit kabobs and we had mini quiche (I did not make those). Everyone had a great time, and Hailey loved drinking her milk out of the creamer jar we put on the table. Mackenzie slept through most of the tea but I have a feeling she will have fun next year.  After the tea party Hailey really got into the spirit of cleaning up (ha ha).