Christmas Eve {December 24, 2013}

We spent Christmas Eve at my moms this year. It was so fun to get together with my sisters. I love to be with my family. This year we decided to make some candy trains, they turned out so cute! Hayes gets pretty overwhelmed and tired by big things like family gatherings so we left a little early and got this sweetie to bed. I couldn't resist taking some pictures of him sleeping. What a beautiful child he is, and such a fun night for his first Christmas Eve!

My Hayesie

My Hayesie is such a fun boy. We love learning about his personality, and it seems like everyday we learn something new. His favorite thing right now is music. He loves to watch YouTube videos of songs, and that's how he falls asleep. His  favorite song right now is Say Something by A Great Big World. He LOVES it. He also loves mashed potatoes and lemon sour cream pie, and the graduate snacks they have for babies,  and sleeping on his tummy. :) 

This is Hayes and Gator sharing snacks and watching football on Thanksgiving. 

Hayes also thinks leaves falling off trees is the funniest thing ever!

He is also turning into a champion roller. No crawling quite yet, and I am pretty sure his top teeth are trying to come through.

 I love this boy more than anything! He makes us so happy and keeps us on our toes.

8 Months {December 13, 2013}

Seriously, its just not funny anymore now, time is going by way too fast. I can't believe Mr. Hayes is 8 months already. He is such a great baby. Don't get me wrong, we have our hard days when he is really whinny, or won't let me put him down, or he bites or pinches me, but overall he is the happiest sweetest baby ever. He gets so excited when he sees me, and it literally makes me the happiest person in the whole world.

Hayes loves to listen to music, watch music performances on YouTube, watch music on TV or be sung to. In the car, that's one of the only ways I get him to calm down. His favorite one that I sing is the ABC's. He also loves Carly Rose Soneclair.

He loves food, and is getting much better at feeding himself. He LOVES whatever we are eating. His favorite baby food is sweet potatoes, and he absolutely loves when I add a little cinnamon to them. His favorite table foods are refried beans and chicken.

He loves to snack.

He isn't crawling yet, but he rolls everywhere.

He is basically wearing 12-18 months in everything. Some pants are smaller, but I am having to put his 9 months clothes away because they are getting too tight.

He loves the Christmas Tree.

He's getting better at napping. He takes 2 naps a day.

He says "Mama" "Dada" "Ya" and I am pretty sure he says "Yum" and "Ball"

He doesn't like to stay in one place for too long.

He will listen to stories, but only for short periods of time. He does better with books he can touch.

He loves Gator. 

He can roll a ball to you, and can get it if you roll it to him.

Dear Hayes:

You have changed my life in so many ways, from when and how I sleep, to what I do all day. You are always on my mind. I am always worried about you and what you need. I hate when I have to leave you and go to work, but I love how happy and excited you get when I come back to get you. It almost makes leaving you ok. You are happy and you spread that happiness to everyone around. I have random people come up to me at the store all the time and tell me how adorable you are, then to their surprise, you flash the biggest grin and they literally swoon over you. You brighten everyone's day.

You have the most contagious smile. It is the sweetest thing in the whole world. I think your smile is one of my favorite things about you. You also have the most beautiful eyes ever. They are so bright and you can see your smile in them too. What a sweet boy you are.

One of my most favorite things about you right now is all the talking you do. Sometimes you just lay in my lap and babble like crazy. I love to hear what you have to say. I also love how happy you get when you do something good. You can see in your face you are proud of yourself, and I love that. I also love going and getting you out of your crib in the mornings. You always roll around in your crib when you wake up and just talk to your self. When I come into get you, you ALWAYS have the biggest sweetest smile on your face and it just starts every day off right. Thank you for that.

You are my whole world, and I love you more than you know.

Love, Mama 

Swinging

I took Hayes to the park and gave him his first push on a swing. He LOVED it at first- then out of no where decided he hated it:

So then we decided to sit on the side walk and watch all the kids play- he loved that! 

Music

We have a little music lover on our hands. Hayes loves when we sing to him, when music is playing, and especially when the Voice is on. This is him the whole time they sing.

Parenting

Sam and I were talking the other night after Hayes went to sleep about being a parent. Parenting is so different than I thought it would be, but yet it's so much of what I thought too. I think that's the craziest thing about it, it's what you think, and then so much more. 

I worry about him all the time. My whole world literally revolves around him, in one way or another. I worry about what he eats, and what he doesn't eat. I worry about him sleeping, and not sleeping. I worry about how warm or cold he is. I worry about how much I read to him. I worry about how much I singing to him and introducing him to new things. I worry about overwhelming him. I worry about doing too much for him, I worry that I don't do enough. There is literally two worries for everything- if you are doing too much or not enough. I never imagined someone else's happiness would be so important to me. 

Being a parent is so hard, but it's the most rewarding endeavor I have ever undertaken.  I think the best thing in the whole world though is when I see his face and he lights up. I feel like the luckiest mama in the whole world when he does that. I couldn't have dreamed up a more perfect fit for our family than Hayes. What a blessing he is. I am eternally indebted to my Heavenly Father for sending him to me. I love you forever Hayesie Wayesie! 

Teeth {November 20, 2013}

Hayes has some pretty fierce teeth on the bottom. These two babies are made for biting, and Hayes loves to do it. Its made nursing kind of a challenge, but we are still pushing through. I have to say I am actually super amazed I am still nursing. My goal was to make it to 6 months, and now we are almost half way to 8 months. Since I am so close, I really want to make it to a year. I have to say, nursing has been on the hardest things I have ever done, but I feel like it has been so worth it. Hopefully these two little teeth don't cause me to re-think the next four and half months. :)

Family Pics {November 16, 2013}

We got our family pictures taken this past weekend, and my sweet friend Amanda took them for us. They turned out beautifully. Here are few of my favorites:

Babies and puppies

This morning while we were playing with toys in Hayes's room, something so funny happened. We had our first fight over toys. The fight- Gator vs. Hayes. The winner- well Hayes of course. The fight was over that tiny blue stuffed teddy bear. As you can see, Hayes had about 10 other toys, so I gave that little bear to Gator.



Hayes decided he wanted that little bear. 

 

Gator felt bad and pushed the toy back to Hayes. 

 

But got kind of upset when Hayes actually touched it.

 

And even more worried when Hayes actually picked it up. 

 

Smart Gator set the toy down and tried to make a trade.

 

Hayes was not impressed.

 

Gator felt sad, and came and tattled.

But then, it was time for Hayes to eat, so Gator went and got the

 toy and had a party while Hayes was busy. 

But then, Gator's conscious got the best of him, and he brought the toy to Hayes. 

 

Haha! I love these two!!!

7 Months {November 13, 2013}

Today this sweet little guy turned 7 months!

 

 

What a fun boy he is! We have loved having him in our family, and getting to know his sweet personality. Here are some things we know and love about Hayes:

 

-He LOVES to eat and is VERY interested in food.

-He has started biting when I am nursing him. I have had to start flicking him, but the problem is he doesn't seem to be bothered by that and just smiles. It makes me kind of mad, but he is just always smiling, and I know he doesn't mean to hurt me.

-He has been sleep really pretty good lately. He has had a few rough nights, but for the most part he goes to bed somewhere around 8, wakes up between 4-5 to eat, and then sleeps again until 8ish. That has been SO nice.

- He hates peas.

- He LOVES peaches and applesauce.

- He is VERY ticklish on his legs, tummy, and under his chin.

- He stopped saying mama and dada for a little while, but he's back at it again. I absolutely love it.

- He looks adorable in hats, and for the most part he leaves them on his head.

- He still hates my office.

- He's a mama's boy.

- He loves to be sung to.

- He does pretty good on walks, but much prefers that I run. (maybe the stroller vibrates differently?)

- He LOVES Gator.

- He sits up really well now, and is more interested in trying to move around.

- He pulls his socks off all the time now.

- He won't keep shoes on.

- He is the happiest guy and makes us so happy!

 



Hayes's first pancake- he just crumpled it up and squished it between his fingers.

Hayes makes the best Elvis face!

He loves to be naked- and cries EVERY time I put a shirt on him.

 

 

Dear Hayes:

 

Hayesie Waysie, you are the best thing. You are seriously the happiest little guy. You have not loved my office, but even there, you still will laugh and smile at everyone who talks to you. You have the biggest brightest smile, that literally melts everyone's hearts. Random strangers stop me and tell me how adorable you are, and then they literally swoon over you when you smile at them. You are already so charismatic.

 

You are pretty silly too. You love to play peek-a-boo and to sing songs. You are captivated by music. It's one of the only things that makes you stop crying in the car. You love to have music playing all the time. You are working on being nice to Gator. You love to pull his hair. I know you just love how different it feels. You are kind of a stinker too though, you are going through a biting stage right now. Its pretty painful, but in true Hayesie fashion, after you bite, you give me the biggest smile. I don't know what I'm going to do with you.

 

You are the hardest, and best thing that has ever come into my life. You mean more to me than I ever thought possible. You are so special to me. I love you forever.

 

Love, Mama