Family Fourth

We hit the road around 4:00 on Friday afternoon to head north to Oklahoma to spend the Fourth of July weekend with my family. After a few stops to nurse Hatcher and change diapers we made it to my parent's house just before 12:30 Saturday morning. Not too bad, our normal 6 1/2 hour drive was just a little bit longer! My sister and her family were already in bed when we arrived but Gigi and Pa Pa greeted us before we hit the hay.

We were excited to introduce Hatcher to his Aunt Ginger, Uncle Jon, and his cousins Hannah and Mya. Hayes loved, loved, loved playing with Hannah and Mya. We were happy Hatcher also got to meet his great Uncle Rick and great Aunt Lisa. We had a weekend full of family fun! The weekend went by very quickly and before we knew it it was Monday morning and time for us to head back to San Antonio.

My only picture of Hatch with Gin. When I had the camera out it seemed I was wearing him in the Baby Bjorn so no pictures of our handsome little guy.

Sweet Mya turned one May 27th.

Hannah celebrated her fourth birthday April 13th.

Hayes kissing baby ma ma as she called Mya.

Hayes and Mya waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Hannah is ready for the fireworks too!

My dad, Mike, and his brother Rick and wife Lisa. Hannah banana still waiting for the show!

Daddy is getting Hayes ready for her first firework show...which she LOVED!! Jon, Mya, my mom Melinda and sister Ginger sitting in the background. Hatcher slept through his first firework show.

The little town of Davis, Oklahoma put on a very nice show. We had a great time watching the fireworks and visiting with family.

Our little angel running in the park. We had a picnic on the fourth complete with some water time for the kids.

Stomping in the chilly spring water.

Bringing Pa Pa his stick boat.

Hannah riding the waves!

Mya getting in on the water fun.

Our Angel Turned Two!!

Can you believe that sweet little Hayes turned two on June 27th? We can't, where has the time gone? In honor of her special day we had ice cream cone cupcakes...pink cones, pink cake, and yummy butter cream icing complete with sprinkles. She gave them two thumbs up! Her special day was all about cake. After church we had cupcakes for dessert, cupcakes for a snack and after nap time we went to Kiddie Park for our friend Jack's second birthday party. His party was complete with, you guessed it, more cupcakes! We officially exceeded our cupcake quota for the summer all in one day!

We are planning on having Hayes birthday party on July 24th. Let us know if you are planning on being in San Antonio...we'll save you some birthday cake!

Dr. Benbow was quite humorous during our two year appointment. He walked in the room and said he was going to ask if Hayes was talking but instead he wanted to know if she ever stopped talking! The girl was talking a mile a minute about anything and everything. I explained that she comes by that trait honestly! He was quite impressed with her vocabulary and knowledge of numbers, colors, shapes and letters. We are so amazed at how big Hayes is getting. She will repeat anything that you ask, regardless of syllables, and amazes us daily at the words that she speaks. She is such a little sponge and knows so many words. She is truly a doll!

Hayes still loves her "cheese" face...when will this phase end? It is cute though!

Taking a bite of her yummy pink cupcake.

More cheese, really!! Sitting in her red car that Pop and Mingie got for her birthday.

After seeing mommy's pony tail she insisted on one, but didn't have time for me to brush her hair before putting it up...busy girl!

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Hayes! We love you dearly!!

Our fearless angel, not even afraid of eating fire!!

We Love You Pop

We have been at a loss for words for updating our blog. On Friday, June 18th we lost our beloved Pop. We have many great memories and we will make sure that Hayes and Hatcher know how much Pop loved them and how proud he was of his grandchildren. We love you very much Pop and we will miss you.

Layin' Low

Hayes is feeling great, but we have been relaxing this week. We've had our usual errands to run but other than a little shopping we have been playing at home. Hayes still goes a mile a minute so she has still been really active...luckily no more big bumps to the head!

Hatcher is a growing boy. His smiles and gurgles can melt your heart in an instant! Tuesday we had his two month check up and he weighed in at about 12 1/2 pounds, exactly where he should be at two months. Since Hayes got so sick with all her two month shots Hatcher only had half of his and will go back later for the other half. After his shots he literally slept all day, only waking for about 30 minutes a few times to eat. He was still a little drowsy today and we are so happy he didn't have any negative reactions to the shots.

We have a busy weekend ahead. Gigi and Pa Pa arrive tomorrow and Mingie, Pop, Greg, Sissy and Tyler make it to San Antonio on Friday. Hayes has her second birthday party this weekend, a weekend early. We are looking forward to lots of fun time with family!

Chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered strawberry cake.

Hayes thought it was so yummy that she needed to help daddy with his!

Our handsome little man!

Can you feel your heart getting all squishy? He makes mine melt!!

First and Hopefully Last

Today was a first for our family, and hopefully a last. After going to early church and coming home for lunch we had quite an adventure.

Hayes is an energetic and active little girl and has taking a liking to exploring our bed and all the pillows that adorn it. She took a tumble and luckily hit the bedside table first before hitting the wood floors (wood floors with concrete underneath). Had it not been for hitting the table first I think her fall would have been much worse. She had (still has) a huge knot on the back of her head and her back had already turned purple. Craig fixed a bag of ice while I calmed down our angel. With such a bad bump and hard fall I was pushing for taking her to get checked out. After she started getting sick, within five minutes of her fall, Craig was convinced we should go. So, the four of us loaded up and headed out.

Hayes does have a mild concussion but luckily the CT scan came back normal with no swelling, fluid, or anything out of the ordinary. We are very thankful. I sat next to Hayes on the way to the doctor and had a hard time keeping her awake, she was really trying to pass out...that was really scary!

By the time we were released to go home she was back to being her chatty, sweet self. She still has a huge bump on the back of her noggin, bruised back, and a bruise above her right eye (that could very well be black tomorrow) but we are home safe and sound!

Sunny Days

Here are a few short videos to make your day even brighter!

This was taken a few weeks ago, he smiles much more now...so adorable!

Our same fun loving angel, just now a big sister.

All smiles as she shares her HEB balloon sucker with Star.

"More Star?"

Sweet Blessings!

Craig and I are sore from head to toe from pinching ourselves...how did we ever get so lucky on our tenth year of marriage? We have two beautiful, healthy, happy children. Thank you Jesus!!! Sorry I have been so slow on updating.

Life is finally settling down. Sweet Hatcher was quite colicky for a while but the last few weeks he has started to feel better and I think we can now kiss that pesky colic goodbye. Yeah!! From day one Hatcher has been such a wonderful sleeper and loves to sleep on his own. From time to time, especially when we are out and about he loves to cuddle and sleep in the baby bjorn but he really does rest better when sleeping on his own. Another thing that is amazing about our little man is that I always make sure when I put him down for naps or down for the night he is awake...I let him put himself to sleep and since this is his norm he has never fussed. Sometimes he squirms for a few minutes but settles right down. It's wonderful!! He was sleeping from about 8:00 at night until about 3:30 and then until around 8:00. This week he has been waking around 1:30 and again around 5:30 and still getting up a little after 8:00. He is a great eater, the boy doesn't mess around. He eats hard and fast, he wastes no time. Last week Hatcher was right at twelve pounds. He turned two months on the 5th and we go in for his first round of two month shots next Tuesday. We are anxious to see how much he has grown. Newborn clothes are a thing of the past. And Hatch seems quite long, the only pjs that seem to fit are size 3 -6 months. He has been in size one diapers for a few weeks and this is probably the last week for size one, we are moving on up to size two. The past few weeks he has been all about smiling. He is starting to talk more and more which we love! He can sit up in his bumbo chair all by himself. Such a big strong boy.

Hayes is such smart little girl. It is hard to believe that our angel turns two in twenty days! She loves to count anything and everything and can count to ten, she just sometimes skips 8 (7, 9, 9, 10)! She can find all the letters in her name. Last week we were at a restaurant and she ran up to a sign and eagerly pointed to an H and said H, Hayes. Love her! She still does so well with Hatcher and if he is crying she tries to bring him a pacifier or his blanket to help soothe him. We are still waiting on her two year molars and her bottom incisors are finally breaking through. Hayes is beginning to eat more meat, but is still mostly a vegetarian. Our little angel loves to swim. She would spend all day at the pool or playing out in the front yard if we let her. Lately Hayes has decided to sing "twinkle, twinkle, little star" but she changes the words. The other day it was "Elmo, elmo, elmo, elmo" while she was coloring in her Sesame Street coloring book!
She is still crazy about books and loves to sit in her 'thinking chair' and read. She can read brown bear, brown bear and polar bear, polar bear (by Bill Martin, Jr.) quite well. Coloring, puzzles, swimming, reading, her tricycle and chalk are her favorites at the moment.

All smiles before bath time.

Our little fish.

Isn't her pink swimsuit adorable?

She is so brave...she will jump in the water to daddy's arms and even laughs if her head goes under. It won't be long before we can get her into swimming lessons.

Mingie and Hatcher. Pop and Mingie stopped by on their way home from the lake on Memorial Day. They were so happy to see how big Hatcher had grown.

Pop and our sweet little boy!