Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving, in three parts. On Monday we celebrated with my family and had everyone over to our house to eat in our newly finished dining room. My grandma was able to come over and enjoy a break from the nursing home. It was so wonderful to have her here with us. Then on Thursday I worked and Hayden and Paul went to the Kent's to enjoy some turkey. Friday was our family Thanksgiving. We made a special breakfast and stayed in our jammies until mid-morning. We carried on our traditional California Thanksgiving and made our own feast with only the dishes we like and ate together. Even Hayden had turkey and greenbean casserole and mashed potatoes.

When we were reflecting on our Thanksgiving last year it was hard to believe that I was pregnant with Hayden, it seems like we have always had him here with us.

We got the tree up and the house all decorated for Christmas. We normally put up our 4 1/2 foot tree and all the ornaments that we can fit on it, but this year we upgraded to a 12 foot tree that we found on Craigslist. It looks great!

Even Hayden helped put the ornaments on! (Don't worry it just LOOKS like Paul isn't holding onto him!)

All in all we had a fantastic holiday weekend. It is just so much more meaningful and fun when you have people you love to share it with! We are so blessed.

Hayden's already 9 months!!

Hayden is changing so much everyday. He weighs 21 lbs. and is 29 1/4 inches long. He is pretty much eating everything we eat and loves most everything...including his "cookies"... He crawls out of his pants sometimes...
He has the best little personality...He has 8 teeth to keep clean...

He helps daddy write his papers for school...

He likes to stand in his crib...

And he is learning to play with Max and his green bone. He really likes all of Max's toys instead of his own!

Happy Birthday

We celebrated my birthday with my family at The White Chocolate Grill. It was so good! Hayden enjoyed his first Filet Mignon and Halibut. Happy 27!

Happy Halloween

Normally we don't really pay too much attention to Halloween but this year was a little more special because it was Hayden's first Halloween. He was a lion, and the cutest lion you have ever seen if you ask me!

Even though Hayden is standing very well by himself, Grammy felt she still needed to hold on to him. You know how Grandma's can be! (We love you mom!)

We went to a Halloween/birthday party at a friend's house and Hayden loved seeing all of the kids in their costumes. He is such a social guy, he loves being around other kids, especially girls. We were watching him through the window of the nursery at church on Sunday and he was mesmerized by a little girl in his class. Uh-oh!
He loved the pumpkins we put out on our porch! I have so few pictures of Hayden and I, so I was really glad to have my mom over to take a few of us.

Aunt Ashley with Hayden and his glow-in-the-dark pumpkin jammies.

Reading with Papa

Bath time

Hayden loves his bath time! He kicks and splashes and even likes to lay on his back and float with Daddy! He is also a great speller! :)

The Perfect Landing

We finally used our gift certificate to The Perfect Landing and went to breakfast this weekend. Hayden wore his bomber jacket, it was so cute! He really liked looking at all of the airplanes. When I point them out in the sky I don't think he knows what he is looking at so it was fun to see them up close. Paul reminesced about his flying days and can't wait for Hayden to be his co-pilot someday.

Mischief

We have a fake Ficus tree in our family room and Hayden thinks it is a toy. He always makes his way right over to it as soon as we are out of sight. The other night I was making dinner and he was playing in the family room and it was awfully quiet so I peeked over to see what he was doing and he was playing in the moss in the pot of the tree. He had it everywhere! This was like 5 minutes before friends were arriving so we scrambled to clean him up and vacuum before they got there. After I checked to make sure none of it was in his mouth I had to get the camera. I guess we are learning already that if it is too quiet something is wrong!

Hayden is 8 months old!

We can hardly believe that 8 months have already gone by since Hayden was born. He is growing and changing so much everyday. Here is a little snapshot into what he's been up to this month: he started clapping his hands a couple of weeks ago, he gives "high fives", he continues to roll everywhere and gets up on his hands and knees and redirects himself, he stands holding on to the coffee table and us, and just this week he got FOUR new teeth, all on the top! He loves anything and everything we give him to eat and is getting very long and starting to lean out. He is wearing all 12 months clothes and even some 18 months clothes. We love watching him learn new things everyday and are so blessed to have such an amazingly healthy little boy!

Hayden's little personality comes out more and more each day and he is so funny and getting quite sneaky! The other day he is was in his highchair while I was making his lunch and I turned around and he had a placement on his tray and was chewing on it! He will grab anything and everything that is even remotely in his reach. He makes us laugh all the time!

What?! I didn't do it!

Hayden was playing with his toys today while I was making dinner and all of a sudden I hear all the toys that make noise start going at once, so I look around the corner to find...
him inside of his toy basket with all the toys on the floor, outside of the basket. I love the ring around his wrist...killer bracelet! He is too funny.

What a cutie!

Hayden was having fun in the diaper box the other day when Grammy was watching him. I guess I used to play in the diaper box when I was a baby too. His hair is really coming in now and you can see it so good in this picture. I love that little toothy grin!

Monday night football with dad

Labor Day Weekend

We decided to get away for the weekend and go to Steamboat Springs. The weather was really nice and everything was so green. We had a great time and Hayden was so good, especially for how long he had to be in his car seat every day.

We went to the top of the mountain on the gondola and Hayden loved looking out the window.

It was so beautiful at the top, but a little windy.

The view of the town of Steamboat was great. All in all it was a nice little getaway as a family. We are excited to do more and get away more often...that is if things settle down a little!

Brothers

Max has been really warming up to Hayden lately. He gives Hayden kisses all the time and is so interested in whatever he is doing. Hayden really likes to pet him and grab his hair, but I am sure the gentleness will come!

Playdate

Hayden had some of his buddies over this week, Austin and Carson Guibord. They are so much fun and it was so cute to see all of them playing together. Thanks for coming over guys!What? We're not doing anything! (they look so guilty!)

Back to school...again

Paul started a master's program at Colorado Christian University this week. He is studying business and will graduate with his MBA in 2010. We are excited for this new adventure and are anxious to see what God does in his life during the next 2 years.