OUR STORY

More Seoul

2012-01-25T05:44:00.000-08:00

We had one day to really see what we wanted to while we were in Seoul, so we packed it all in. First we headed for the Seoul tower. We took a taxi (always exciting when you ride in a taxi), and they dropped us off at the bottom of a big hill. FUN! We got to push Hailey all the way to the drop in the freezing cold and everyone was checking her out to make sure she was bundled. That is a big thing here is the children are not to show any skin or you will get repromanded and they will fix the problem for you.

After a little outdoor site seeing and pictures we got our tickets and went inside.

The view was amazing.

After the tower we headed for some shopping. All outdoor walking of course and shockingly enough Joel spotted an Outback for dinner. He was a happy guy!

After shopping we headed to Building 63 where they had an aquarium, art gallery, a cloud gallery which we never found, bakery, shops etc. There were tons of people at this one section and we couldnt figure out their system of tickets. After a good 30min. of winding through the croud, staring at the boards and trying to make some sense of what they were doing we asked for help. First we got wrong directions, then we were given a number which would pull up on the board that everyone was staring at and you would get your ticket. uhhh so complicated.

We finally decided to just go for it and get tickets and off we went. We stood in a line where I accidentally made a little girl do a face plant. Joel and I were a little worried they were going to yell at us but nothing. Ok so it really wasnt my fault she ran ahead of her parents and tripped over the stroller that I happened to be pushing.

This big guy scared Hailey to death. He came out of no where and swam right in front of her when she wasn't ready. He was huge. We didn't look at him long.

The penguins were a big hit and so cute!

These fish were amazing and beautiful. They had an amazing aquarium and so much to see there were just wayyy too many people in one small space. Joel said he was sure the fire coad had been exceeded I totally agreed after being knocked into, my backpack knocked over and my stroller nearly moved away.

Ok so there was so much more, animals we'd never seen before but I figured I'd continue my theme of camera issues and forget to charge my camera, so right in the middle of an exciting pose from Hailey it died. UHHHH I did it again. We had such a great time and packed in almost everything we wanted to see.

Hailey fell asleep in the taxi on the way back to the hotel which is really the best way to travel while in a death defying taxi ride in Korea.

Thank goodness we dont drive like this in the states, I can only imagine the chaos.

Well the Korean adventures are almost coming to a close. I have one more post and then we're done.

Osan

2012-01-21T02:49:00.000-08:00

This trip to Osan actually came before the last post from Seol. I'm obviously having trouble getting all of my pictures organized since I'm using Joel's computer and not my own. Funny how we get used to doing things a certain way.
Well I could hardly wait for this trip to Osan. I had spoken to some people and got good shopping tips and was tickled pink that we were going.
Once we got to the base we walked into the BX and there it was a wonderful play area for Hailey. Boy did these families have it made and didn't even know it. We have nothing in Gunsan for the kids so this place was like Disney World to us. So much shopping in one little area, tons of choices for food and yes even a Chili's. Can you guess who went there for dinner?

We stayed on base and the following morning got bundled up and walked to the local shopping market where mommy had the time of her life looking at all the fun places. They had anything and everything. They even had their local food, exactly what you would see on Zimmermans show of strange and exotic foods that he totally tries a taste of. Ok he left out the smell. That was the first thing that turned me off. It doesn't smell very pleasant. No food tasting for us! Coffee shop for the cold!

Puppies!!!! Yes, Hailey had a ball and we all fell in love with these little guys. They were super cute and very cheap.

More play time!

Hailey has never cried in the car and well that all came to a hault when we put her in Joel's truck. I'm going to hold my breath and assume it's due to it being so tight and small back there but we ended up turning her around to face forward and she loved it. She just giggled and played.

No that did not last very long. She cried a good portion of the way home! That would be a 2 1/2 hour trip. NOT FUN!

Osan was so much fun, I prefer it over Seol just because it wasn't as hustle and bustle. Once I find the rest of the Seol pictures and tell you what happened you'd probably agree.

Did I mention that Hailey is growing like a weed. Those of you back home will be shocked at how big our little girl is.

on the go!

2012-01-19T17:41:00.000-08:00

For those of you who think your kitchen is too small take a minute and imagine how well you would fair in this kitchen. I just laughed when I saw the kitchen that I'd be cooking in for the next month or so and how in the world would I be able to fix food but it's workable.
I started a yummy orea dish.

Space was getting scarce.

Hailey decided to join me and wow, all done! We enjoyed every minute of it. The dessert too!

Joel's secretary gave Hailey this outfit from Korea and it's just too cute not to mention nice and warm.

Daddy daughter time!

We took a trip to Seol last weekend and wow that was an experience. Hailey did not enjoy the truck ride.

We got to the Dragon Hill hotel and yes I had more laughing. What in the world was this, I asked? well if you guessed a blow dryer you were right. I've never seen one. We all got a good kick out of it, even Hailey laughed when I tested it out.

I haven't had the chance to download the rest of the pic. so hopefully I can get that in later.

More fun in Korea

2012-01-16T20:32:00.000-08:00

Naptimes started off great. Hailey was so tired so she started taking 2 naps again for about an hour each. Slowly that changed once she got used to everything and she cut out the first nap and the second went back to under an hour. uh doesn't she know sleep is good for both of us:)
Anyway, I heard a loud clang so I ran in the room only to find a very happy little girl who'd gotten daddy's dresser door and pulled out all of his Korean money. Thankfully she had no desire to eat it just play with is.

One of the other families found this little kitty shivering out in the cold so they brought him in for a little while until we could figure out what to do with him. Evidentally the Korean's consider cats bad luck so they would have nothing to do with him. Finding a home was going to be a little tough. We haven't seen him in a while so we're hoping that he found a warm place to go.

Hailey is all girl, dolly in one arm and her car as a purse in the other!

More Christmas!

2012-01-12T18:13:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas together and even got a chance to play in the snow a little. It was super cold and Hailey really didnt have Snow worthy attire but it was all worth it.

We had gotten this little stroller from a great store in Korea called Lotte Mart. It's like 3 story walmart but ten times better! Hailey got this several days after Christmas just to break things up.

She was given a stuffed lamb from the pastor and his wife at one of the churches we went to.

She likes walking in mommies shoes!

Hailey recieved another Christmas gift - thanks Nana and Grandaddy! She has enjoyed playing with these colorful blocks.

If you're wondering why I'm posting most of the pictures in our tiny dorm room it's because we are here the majory of the time. We do get off during the weekends but I've succesfully forgotten my camera each time. That's the one downside to a large camera it does take up a lot of space. Our first exscursion was the international market called A town. we had some yummy beef and chicken bulgogi and looked at movies, blankets and clothing. We also took a little tour of a park which was really neat and i've heard beautiful at night. The neatest thing they had was excersise equiment outside set up all around the park for people walking that wanted to stop and workout. I thought that was pretty neat. They are very health conscious here. I think it would be pretty neat to have a set up in the states where people can go workout on equipment outdoors. That would surely give more insentive to workout, it's free and you get a great view and fresh air!

Christmas in Korea

2012-01-08T20:07:00.000-08:00

We hadn't been in Korea for very long and Christmas was already here. WOw, was the time flying. We were able to get off and get some more presents for Hailey.
Several of the moms brought up that we thought we might have to open a few Christmas presents a little early due to the little natives getting restless. If you can imagine children being in a dorm room with not a lot to play with and it really being too cold outside to play, yes opening presents early was an option this time.
Christmas Eve we were all in the post office and Hailey was given a stocking full of fun little things.
Here are all her little friends that have become best buds while in Korea together.

Joel got to play santa on Christmas Eve. He and many of the guys went around to all of the dorms and hung Christmas stockings on the doors for all of the men and women stationed here. We even found some on our door. They were given by a town in Texas that collected a large group of items and shipped a ton of boxes to the base where people here assorted the stockings and hid them away until Christmas Eve. What a great idea!!

Christmas morning came and Hailey opened her stocking. This year she had no problem getting presents open.

Oh and did I mention a WHITE CHRISTMAS!!!!! I love snow and boy was I excited when we had snow on the ground. Actually we've had snow on the ground almost the entire time we've been here.

We had a yummy Christmas breakfast and Hailey brushed her teeth getting ready for church.

Once we got home we had lunch took a nap and Hailey and daddy had some fun time.

Hailey got a dog for Christmas (thanks Meemom and Granddad). She loved this little guy. He walks and barks.

Hailey had a great time opening her gifts. Joel and I had a great time as well. We were all thankful to be able to have Christmas together.

We made it!!!

2012-01-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

We survived the 10 hour flight. When we got on the plane Hailey received a toy bag that had a coloring book, colored pencils and a magnet board to draw on. I was already shocked with that, then they can with a box of tissues ( wasnt sure if that was a prep for our shedding tears in pure distress on a 10 hour flight or what). Then we got little slippers for our feet, tooth brush with paste, pillow and blankets. Oh, needless to say we were running out of room to put this stuff down.
We each had a tv and saw about 4 movies. We were also given lunch and dinner. Hailey got her own plate too. It got a little challenging holding her and a full meal. WHen I say full meal I'm talking Korean meal - soup, rice dish, glass of water, dessert, bread. We had a tray full. Shockingly neither of us spilled anything.
The ladies loved Hailey and she was ready to roll thinking this flight was going to be just like the other one where everyone played with her and wanted to watch her for me. OH NO - the lights were kept off the entire flight minus meal time and no one talked the entire way. WOW, never experienced that before. Hailey made up for the entire group. She wasnt fussy she was just super talkative.
Here we were waiting for our plane and Hailey made it her duty to waive to everyone in the airport and make them smile. I think she did quite well. She did the same thing once we arrived in Korea.

I was so glad I had her in this outfit cause the plane was soooo hot! Thank goodness for my ginger candy. Someone had given me some that helps air sickness as well as car sick.

Once we got to Korea we had to wait for a bus that turned out to be 3 hours. At that point I just wanted to crawl in bed but not we were not done.

While we were waiting we saw this cactus sign and just laughed.

Hailey patiently waited. Thank goodness for sippy cups and puffs!

Once we got to the bus stop we then had to catch a cab. So Hailey and I waited in some type of an enclosed area because it was cold and snowing. The cab ride wasnt too long and then when we got to the dorm Hailey had to check everything out. She went down a little after 10 and was up by 2am Korea time. The next few nights were looooonnnggg and exhausting.

She did not do well with the time change since she had just gotten used to Hawaii. It took almost a week and then the good naps during the day came and a long nights sleep.

The next morning we had a beautiful snow and Hailey was up and ready to discover Korea. Joel and I however were ready to go back to bed!

The end:(

2012-01-02T21:18:00.000-08:00

On our last day we tried to squeeze in as much as possible before we had to fly back to the other island and then fly to Korea. A lot of flying on this trip!
We took Hailey to play in the water and see the birds one more time.

We got one last look at the beautiful scenery.

Our big night was at Dukes. This was a pretty popular restaurant and highly recommended by some friends -thanks Mike and Marie!!! We had a great meal and then dessert. We should have just eaten dessert. They told us this was a big pie but we had no idea how big. Hailey loved it!

We were seated next to the pool so we got a chance to watch another sun set. I wish I could have really caught this one, it was beautiful. There were quite a number of people that left their tables just to go down and catch a picture of it.

The next morning was an early one. We went to the airport got our starbucks as only good travelors do and hopped on Korean Air for a lovely 10hour flight to Korea. WOW what a flight. I'll share more on the next post. I hope you all enjoyed our Hawaii pictures.

Breaking News Interruption!!!

2011-12-31T22:32:00.000-08:00

I need to skip out the order and deliver some exciting news that Hailey is walking!!!
Here we are at Osan Air Base in Korea. Since we've been here Hailey has taken a few steps here and there but something about being in a new place made her want to venture out more so off she went. She's doing really well but still does the majority of her travel by crawling.

New shoes here we come!!! Mommy is super excited about shoe shopping :)

Finishing up some fun!

2011-12-28T21:10:00.000-08:00

Hailey loved to push her own stroller and got really good at it. Everyone loved watching her try and walk around too. I think she's the only one that enjoyed that stroller. uh I was not a huge fan after we got it but now that we're traveling I soooo do not like this stroller. It's wayyy too short especially for Joel and the wheels get messed up quite often. We've been shown a stroller from one of the mom's here and the handles are tall enough you dont have to bend over. I've threatened to "accidentally" lose control of my stroller in front of a humV with Hailey in my arms of course:) with my luck the guy would be a super good driver and miss it!

Doesn't she have a great pointer finger? Hailey loves birds and we had no idea they had flamingos too at the hotel. She sat and watched them for a while. They were really pretty.

One thing we had not done yet was the big slide. Joel had spotted this one that I hadn't seen yet so I dared him to do it knowing how cold the water was. He did it and loved it, which in turn made me want to try it. That first splash of ice cold water was crazy but soooo fun! I went back for a second run which Hailey was greatly opposed to. Evidentally mommy screamed a little too loudly the first run ;)

I have one more set of pictures after these before we leave Hawaii. Wow I'm already to go back. We really did have a lot of fun, too bad it took us all so long to recoup from our long flights first. Those of you thinking of going that haven't, I strongly suggest booking at least a week no shorter and take someone with you to watch the kids that's a life saver. ok not that we did that but it's amazing how much you learn when you go on a big trip like this one. I'll share more later.

Fun in the sun!

2011-12-27T20:50:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness for the water park!

This waterfall was at the end of one of the larger pools. It was so pretty. Hailey wouldn't get into any of the pools even though she loves the water, it was just too cold. No one quite understood why the water was so cold but it was and only the brave ones went out in it.

More fun!

2011-12-25T17:47:00.000-08:00

I had skipped a section of pictures, after the dolphin pictures the next set should have been after the the volcano post. Wow, if you dont post the day you do your activity it starts mixing all together.
On our way home it was getting late but there was so much that we were passing that we wanted to see but we saw a sign for the black sand island. We were told that was one beach we should see along with the green sand island. The green sand was a little farther and harder to get to so we couldn't do that one but we made it to the black sand. It was really neat and Hailey enjoyed playing in it too. I love dolphins! Since these guys were a part of the hotel, we got to watch them as much as we wanted to for free!!! Can't beat that.

I was just wondering around the beach and had climbed around the rocks and noticed a head pop up and there this guy was eating off of the rocks. I was close enough to touch him however I learned quickly that the rocks were super slippery. Hailey nearly witnessed mommy "swimming" with the turtle!

We really enjoyed hanging out here but time was flying by and we knew we had at least 2 hours to go before getting back to the hotel. Ok so it took us a little longer. We covered the entire island so we could see it all. The drive back watching the sun set was gorgeous, too bad the camera couldn't capture such a gorgeous sight!

Volcanoes

2011-12-21T22:12:00.000-08:00

Day 8 we go head out to see the Volcanoes of Hawaii. Once we get to the top where the visitor center was, I notice that it's drizzly and everyone has coats on. We open up the car door and WOW it's freezing. Hailey is in a sleeveless outfit, Joel and I are in short sleeve shirts. Needless to say the gift shop made good off of us!

This section was pretty cool. The steam was poureing out in a lot of places. quite tempting to step closer to get warm.

This was a beautiful spot. Breathtaking in many ways. When you look over the side it's a straight drop and this was a little wall and it didn't go very far. People could just walk right up to the edge.

This was pretty amazing to see the clear path of the lava.

I love to see small pieces of beauty in an area like this.

We were hoping to see the actual site where the lava was active but unfortunatly they had to close off the park due to the volcano being a little too active. It was putting off the harmful fumes that were way to dangerous for people to be near. You could see the haze that rolled over the mountains. They even had warnings posted that if you smelled anything or started feeling bad to leave the area you were in immediately.

This was a lot of fun to explore we just wish we had more time. It was about a 3 hour drive from our hotel and you had to be able to find it. There we several stops that we wanted to make but just couldn't squeeze it all in. Next time - right hon:)

Big Island

2011-12-19T16:25:00.001-08:00

After a week in Oahu we'd covered the entire island. We had such a great time on the island but it was time to get on a plane fly for 30min. and go to the Big Island. There Joel suprised us at a hotel that was titled the #1 best hotel in all of Hawaii and once we got there I understood why. Once we landed we grabbed a shuttle who took us to the hotel. The ride there was amazing. The driver was giving us the scoop on the area and told us what a great place we were staying and that you could get to your room by walking, boat or tram. I laughed but once we got there he really wasn't kidding.

Welcome to the Hilton Waikoloa Village.

In our room was a little dolphin with a note this is a gift for you. How sweet until I opened the car with your donation of $15. Whoa Hailey get all the hugs you can out of Daisy Dolphin! and she did.

At each hotel there was a favorite spot in the room that Hailey enjoyed. This one had a little cubby hole underneat a safe. She would crawl in and out and then punch the numbers to the safe. Soo funny. We just hope the person that needs the safe can actually get it open.

Here was where the boat would go through. It was like a little city. Hailey loved the boat ride.

This was a connection to a restauraunt. They had quite a collection throughout the hotel of places to eat.

Dolphin pool.

Here was one portion of the hotel. We were on the other side.

This was Hailey's favorite place to play. No sand, No grass, No cold pool just sprinklers.

We got a great workout to get to the sprinklers, they were on the other end of our hotel so we got to enjoy the scenery while walking over.

The lagoon was a nice spot to stay also. No waves and fairly nice temp. and you got to swim with the fish and the turtles. We saw at least one turtle each time we went.

Our first day was just a day to rest. We'd done so much we just dropped our stuff off at the hotel put on bathing suits and crashed in the sand.

Luau

2011-12-18T16:12:00.000-08:00

Monday we all got to go to the Luau. It started at 5 which was perfect since Hailey still seems to start getting really tired around 6. First we got pictures, watched the ladies make lei's and the men were making head dresses.
The guy that you see in this picture explained his tattoo. Scarry enough he said this wasn't just a stamp or a regular tattoo. In their culture they are titled and your tattoo's showed what title you were. They are also pounded into the skin not needles and ink. uh the pain this guy must have gone through!!!

Hailey was having a blast. She danced to their songs that they sang for us and of course loved the grass.

They even did tree climbing demonstrations.

They had a ceremony with the pig that we were going to eat. This was fun was pretty neat too. The Hawaiian men cook for their families.

I was a great Luau. I was really glad we did it. The food was wonderful and entertainment was great! Hailey did great as well. She was beyond tired though was we got back to our hotel.

Aloha day Day 4 & 5

2011-12-17T22:16:00.000-08:00

Hailey adjusted quite well by day 3 and then Joel ended up getting sick and had a type of pink eye. Traffic in Hawaii was unreal. We weren't quite prepared for all the traffic. We decided to check out the local mall and boy were we suprised. 3 floors of stores I haven't even heard of not to mention fun stores like Prada, Tiffany's, Louis Vuitton and Cartier. ok we strictly did window shopping there:) The amount of people in the mall was also a shocker. We had a hard time finding somewhere to sit for lunch so we had to share a table with some ladies who thought Hailey was sooo cute.
The next day we did some errands and headed to the North Shore. First stop was a shrimp truck for some delish shrimp. Then we found the Dole plantation so we took a little tour.

A lot of our trip we found ourselves saying - "we need to find Hailey some grass to play on" I felt like we had a puppy dog everytime we said that. The whole sanitary thing went out the window day one we landed in Hawaii. Hailey has licked, chewed and bitten any and everything she could. She loved to push her stroller around so we often found a nice spot of grass for her to play on.

We saw these trees and they looked so funny but very Christmas like. THe downside to them is they are actually very prickly.

On our way back to the hotel we saw a scenic spot where there was a blow hole. While I was out taking pictures there was a local telling a story about the blow hole. Evidentally a few years back there was a time where it wasn't blocked off and a man went close to the hole to look in it and the water came out and blew him into the air and took him back down. They didn't find him for 2 days. I had heard how dangerous they were and had never seen one in person. This one didn't seem that big but i guess the tide and force of the waves has a lot to do with it too.

ALOHA Day3 part1

2011-12-15T14:05:00.000-08:00

As you're looking at these next few post and something doesn't quite make sense it's due to my serious lack of sleep and jet lag!
In our hotel at the Hale Koa - We had a huge balcony that was quite safe for Hailey to be on practically by herself. As you notice in this picture, she tried her best to get a glimpse of the hustle and bustle below. Not to mention the birds in the trees outside our room. She started off with a dog obsession but in Hawaii it turned to birds. There are birds everywhere and she loved them.

Our adventure for the day was Diamond Crater. We took a nice drive out to the crater and decided to hike to the top of the crater. I got to cary Hailey first all the way to the top. WHAT A WORK OUT!!!

I had a friend in my MOPS group highly recommend this sling especially for the trip and it was a life saver. It didn't take up any room at all in my bag and was light and airy for a hot walk up the crater.

The view was absolutely beautiful. I believe the view's that we saw on this trip really couldnt be caught in a picture. They were so pretty.

Now if you really wanted to get the actual view of what the top of the crater looked like you needed to take note of it when you were landing or take a nice helicopter ride.

Once we got to the bottom of the crater we were so hot we naturally noticed the shaved ice truck. We got 2 and it was enough to feed 4-5 people. They were super delicious!!!

On our way down I naturally spotted a market. Most of you know I can't pass up a chance to go shopping so we stopped. I love going to the local markets. We had a great time looking at the local food, flowers and hand made items that they had.

I loved these flowers and wished at that time that we were local so that I could get a whole bunch of them to make a beautiful centerpiece.

Leaving the maket was I guess another museum type thing. We didn't have time to check it out but the front was covered in all these types of cactus.

This day was pretty full and I have a lot more pictures to post so I will post more later.

Hawaii Day2

2011-12-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

ALOHA! Joel and I gave up on trying to get Hailey to go back to sleep so we just got up went downstairs got a starbucks and the best doughnut I've ever had, sat and watched Hailey welcome the early arrivers. And when I say early I mean the sun wasn't even up yet!
We decided to beat the crowd and make our way to Pearl Harbor.
We took a boat to the memorial and I noticed the strong smell of oil in the air. I didn't realize that oil was still dripping after all this time. If you stand in the right spot you can watch a drop of oil hit the water and then it forms this circle you see below. Amazing.

There were several other museums etc. to see but Hailey was not allowed which we weren 't prepared for so we didn't do it.

After we saw all that we could see we then headed for Ko'Olina lagoon. This was a hot spot for Hailey. She really liked the gentle waves, the downside - no towels. We made quite a few oops on this trip and this was one of them.

We had a beautiful view and we even got to see a turtle that mosied along as we played.

Since we still hadn't adjusted to the time change, in order to catch up we all tried to stay awake so after a super long day we decided to hit the commissary and walk around our beach just to stay awake. It worked. Hailey loved seeing all of the new sites and how many friends she could make. Let's just say she has made a ton!

1st trip

2011-12-10T11:20:00.000-08:00

This was Hailey's first time flying and it was a great one. I was very concerned at how an 8 hour flight would fair for her but it went well. So here's our experience. I'm going to post our trip by day's so here's day 1.
I would venture to say getting through the gate at Norfolk was the hardest. If you can imagine a back pack, larger bag, umbrella stroller, car seat on wheels and Hailey that's what I had to carry. so they took my car seat and put it on one side and took my large bag with food and took it to another place and left me to try and collect everything without setting anything off. I only had one person that was kind enough to stop what he was doing and grab my car seat after he saw the look on my face. ( I had a little struggle cause i was on "the wrong side of the bar")
We made it with all of that to our plane got to Texas and wow I had no idea how hard it was for people who needed the elevator. They really take you out of the way so I got lost for a short time simply because it took me so far away from where I needed to go. The funny part was one of the flight attendants told me to just walk all of my stuff to my gate. At the last minute I decided to take the tram. WOW what was she thinking it was a 10 minute ride!!!! I would have missed my flight if I had walked. TOO FUNNY! Once I got to my gate I met quite a few military men back from deployment and some grandparents who Hailey one over and they went out of their way to help us. SOOOO nice!!!.

I thought for sure Hailey would crash for a good portion of the flight but noooooooo. It was all too exciting and she didnt want to miss a thing. so She crashed as soon as we took off only to tease me into thinking I'd get some rest and just as I started to get settled myself she woke up and was on the go for the remainer of the 7 1/2 hours. Everyone around us was super nice, mostly grandparents around us who wanted nothing more than to watch her laugh and play. One flight attendant fell in love with Hailey and offered her ice cream and gave her the biggest cookie I've ever seen. As I looked at it I thought, her first time eating food like this was just last week I dont think i'd ever give her a cookie like this but since we're on this flight have at it! No she didn't eat it all:)
The turbulence was pretty aweful and they kept the seatbelt sign on for at from hour 3 till the rest of the flight. Hailey loved it she thought we were just bouncing around for fun. Those of us who knew better were a little more nervous and some very very sick. I've never seen so many people getting up.
We made it to Hawaii without any difficulty but again the elevator which I couldn't find Joel. Here comes the funny/ grose part. I'm nearly panicking cause I've been trying to get down to baggage but i can't figure out how to get there and the rest of my party took the escalator, so I'm waiting for the elevator again and i look and yes there i notice dripping from Hailey's stroller. UHHHHHH No way! For some reason she had a horrible case of D. and her diaper just leaked really badly. We finally got to Joel, super fast hug and kiss and run to the bathroom where she got a completely new wardrobe and a slight bath.

We were able to rent a Jeep which she loved and so did we. Off the the Hotel we went in the Hale Koa.

Daddy and Hailey.

Fun day. This was probably the longest day. We tried to drag it out since they time difference is about 5 hours. Needless to say Hailey did not like the change. It was a long night but a very early morning.

Happy 1st Birthday

2011-12-07T22:00:00.001-08:00

ALOHA! Hailey is now 1. I can't believe our little girl is 1 already. We had a birthday party for her a week before her birthday so that family and friends could celebrate it with us. We had a great time.

The theme was baby mini. I made matching bows to keep the theme going :) ok I had waayyy too much fun doing that.

I made the mistake of letting her open this gift first and had no idea how quickly she'd attach to it, she had no desire to open anything else. Needless to say we had to hide this after a while so that she's open another gift.

Hailey has payed enough attention to now know where the phone goes. When she got this little toy the first thing she did was put it up to her ear. We celebrated Hailey's birthday a second time on her real birthday at my parents house .

She loved it and got better at getting dirty. She doesn't like to get messy.

Hailey had a great 1st birthday and we can't wait for the rest!!!!!

Thanks for being patient with my post. We haven't had internet for a while and I'm not sure when the next fun post will be but keep an eye out:)

Catching up

2011-11-08T17:21:00.000-08:00

I'm still trying to catch up on posting pictures so here we go! This one was just too cute. I can't resist taking a picture of a smiley, laughing face.
We're at Meemom and Granddads house and Hailey has taken over the piano. She has loved music from day one and boy does she enjoy playing on the piano. I'm looking forward to seeing what she does when she gets older. Watching her play on the piano and listen to what she's playing is exciting.

Look at those fingers!

We had some friends giver her her first tea set and this is what she enjoyed for the first few minutes. Nothing like a big bag to play peak a boo in.

Hailey loves a good chase also.

Uncle David is feeding Hailey while she checks out his beard.

What fun is sitting in a chair the right way?

Ok this might be a shocking picture for some but I think it's hilarious. The track from the den to the porch at my parents house bothered Hailey evidentally when she tried to cross in crawling so here's the other option. Each time she went over it up came her little bottom and crab crawled over until she was on the other side. SOOOO funny!

I love fall and can't believe it's already here. Hailey enjoyed the leaves until she wasnt allowed to eat them.

She's growing wayyy too fast. Yesterday she figured out how to get her leg up on the first step of our stairs and their she stood - great here comes another gate!!!

She is working on walking with one of those push toys and doing very well. My favorite - giving mommy hugs first thing in the morning when I get her out of her crib! She's getting more huggy and loving. I found a cute target Christmas dog and thought he was adorable and showed Hailey (mistake) She grabbed him and just hugged him tight and make cute little noises as she tightly held on. The sad thing was I had to keep walking down the isles and then distract her so that I could distract her to get him back on the shelf. :) She's a dog lover for sure!

First craft fair

2011-11-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

My first craft fair was at a private school in Christiansburg. I had several nights that turned into midnight working. I decided it was worth it so that I could play with Hailey during the day and have fun with her instead of missing out on what she's doing.

Joel's parents came in to watch Hailey and I started Sat. morning at 7:15 getting my table set and then open dorrs at 8:00am. Hailey, Nana and Granddad came around 10ish and stayed through lunch and then it was back home for a nice nap! No not me- Hailey (however, I could have taken one! )

Here are my bow collectors (they probably have a name but I dont know it )

I'm quickly learning new bows all the time and here's one of my newest. Love this one!

These are just a few of what I had. I really had a great time doing this craft fair and it was a learning experience for the next one that I do. I'm looking into doing some online things so we'll see where this takes me.

Busy Bee

2011-10-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

I realize I haven't worked on the blog in quite some time but here's my reason why! I'm doing a craft fair Nov. 5th. I'm really excited but am very busy. I hope to continue selling bows after this is all done. I love making them and they are super cute on Hailey.

Big Smile!

2011-10-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

Hailey loves to play games and obviously loves to smile and laugh. I found this little hat at a super great sale and it looked so cute on her. Too bad she hates wearing hats!

Now that she's crawling, she has discovered how to stand in her crib so I had to lower it twice to keep her from falling out. She's a tall little girl.Below was halarious to watch in person. Hailey pulled this out of the bottom of her toy box and gave it kisses and laughed at it. Her new thing is looking at herself in the mirror and laughing as well as giving kisses to the baby in the mirror. Her 9 month check up which she was really already 10 months she ended up off the charts at 30 inches. She's going to be tall! This week she's had to top teeth break through and I'm waiting for more due to the unusual fussiness, drooling and screams in the middle of the night. We were definitly spoiled when Hailey slept through the night without a peep at 3 months. Now with this next group of teeth she's waking up a lot. Not fun!

Go Hokies!!!

2011-09-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

I think I took Hailey by suprise when I took this picture and of course I had to put it in. Nana and Grandad were here for a weekend and a we were able to watch the game and we won! Hailey was a great cheerleader.

We had a great time and Hailey was such a great Hokie fan.

She's CRAWLING!!!!

2011-09-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

Hailey inched here and there and today Hailey took off right for something I had dropped on the floor and didn't realize it. It was hot pink so she obviously likes that color:) Now it's off to childproofing the house this weekend -ya!

She loves to sit in the laundry basket when I do laundry.Ok I totally couldn't help myself when I saw this. I had to get it. I have had so much fun dressing Hailey up. She doesnt mind it unless it's a hat. She started pulling herself up first. I found her here on the couch trying to grab something. Then came the standing up. I found her standing in her crib today during nap time. Now I get the fun of taking the crib and lowering it.

Hailey has been so much fun! I'm enjoying every minute and trying to log everything she does down. I can't believe we're at the next stage of crawling and walking and we're getting really close to a first birthday!

Outdoor girl!

2011-09-03T06:21:00.000-07:00

Hailey really has enjoyed being outside. Her favorite things are looking at the flowers and pulling up grass.

It's hard to believe Hailey is 9 months old now.

Play time!

2011-08-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

Once we got back from visiting the Grandparents, we locked into two moms groups and several library groups where Hailey and I can get out, make new friends and make great memories. We have several libraries that hold story times and music time. Hailey really enjoys them. She made two new friends Jayden and Gavin. I forgot to ask their moms if I could put their pics on the blog so sorry we have to wait to see the cuties. Jayden was born the same day as Hailey. Pretty neat to find someone born on the same day as you.

We had a moms group meet at the park where Hailey had her first experience in a swing. She laughed and had a great time!
What was even better, she took a great nap when we got home:)

2 front teeth

2011-08-09T17:25:00.001-07:00

One of my new hobbies is making bows for little girls. I've had a great time testing them out on Hailey. She's a very good model for me :)

She's such a little princess. Now that she's sitting up so well she crosses her feet like this almost everytime. This goes along very well with her little princess wave that she has.

Here are those beautiful teeth to go with a beautiful smile. She just lights up a room where ever she is.

2011-08-07T17:22:00.000-07:00

Here's that little tooth that appeared on my birthday. What a great present. It just doesn't get anybetter than this! Hailey did pretty good when this tooth came. She continued to sleep through the night and was just a little more fussy than usual when it hurt really bad. That big smile still continued.

end of our trip

2011-08-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

Hailey finally has enough hair that I can stick a bow in! Meemom made her pretty dress and she looked like a little doll.
We celebrated my birthday at my parents house and Hailey only had one focus. CAKE!

For my birthday present from Hailey she gave me her first tooth. She just wouldn't let me take a pictures of it. For mommies eyes only.

Joel sent me beautiful flowers!

Last day at Meemom and Granddads was a full and fun day.

Our next stop was at Nana and Granddad Sloan's house where most of the cousins were. Michael and his girls-Matilda, Eleanor, Anna and Lucy were at the house as well as Beth & Zane and Miranda. It was an all girl party for a few days!

Hailey had a great time at Nanna and Granddads house.

We had a great time with everyone but it sure is good to be home again!

Nags Head

2011-07-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to see how much Hailey loved the beach. I think she enjoyed it just as much as I did. I could live there 24/7 if we could. I've always loved the beach and now I get to share my favorite spot with my little girl.

Hailey thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the sand and tossing it with her fingers.

Day 2- I put her in one of those short sleeve shirts, so she wouldnt get any sun on her. I had to put sunscreen before we left the cottage and once we got to the beach just so she wouldn't get burned. We ended up going to the beach no later than 8:30 am so that Hailey could enjoy the beach and not get too hot. Wow did it get hot there but thankfully the really hot weather didnt hit until the day we went home.

One thing I love about being here is good naps! We've been doing so much and it's so hot that she's too tired to hold off naps. She has been a trooper and such a good baby while we're away from home.

A taste of the beach

2011-07-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

Hailey has now had her first trip to Nags Head. One of my favorite spots to go and she loves it. I knew she'd love the water cause she loves taking baths and she really enjoyed the pool when Joel and I took her but I wasn't sure how she'd handle the noise of the crashing waves.
They didn't bother her one bit. She loved them! She sat right down in the sand and started slinging the wet sand.

We really had to pay attention to the waves, otherwise we'd end up getting soaking wet.

This was one happy girl at the end of the day and a really tired one. More pictures to come later on.

A day at the Zoo

2011-07-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

I could hardly wait to see Hailey's expression when she saw the animals at the zoo. The day was perfect, it wasn't too hot and there was a nice breeze blowing the times that we had to stand in the sun.

Hailey loves flowers and the flowers at the zoo were gorgeous. I think Meemom and Granddad got more pictures of the flowers than the animals.

The red panda was my favorite. He was really adorable.

The cats were pretty lazy and didn't move except to stretch.

Here's one happy girl! She charmed everyone at the zoo even some of the animals.

Hailey decided to stretch out and make herself even more comfy.

This was the biggest turtle I've ever seen up close.

Hailey loved the the little monkeys and they loved looking at her. They were jumping up close to the window to look at her and we found a tiny little baby monkey making faces at her and just staring. It was soo cute.

She just giggled and squealed each time they came near.

Here was a mandrill I think I got that right. He was very unique. He had rainbow colors but would not show his face just his backside but I decided not to put that on :)

Oops I accidentally erased it and can't get it back on. sorry about that.

We had a great day at the zoo and Hailey did great. I think she had a great first experience at the zoo and we're looking forward to our next trip.

Hanging out at Meemom and Granddads!

2011-07-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

I can't believe a week has already gone by! We have so much more to do and so many people to see before we leave. It's looking now like we're gonna have to make another trip just to get everyone in. Hailey is really enjoying our little vaca. She's on the porch here watching Granddad do some yard work. WOw is it hot here!!!
We had gone over to my Aunt and Uncles house and they gave Hailey this adorable purple dog Chloe from Clifford. I have pictures but from a different camera so I will post those when I can get them transfered. Needless to say it was a big hit.

Hailey finally meets her 3rd Counsin

and great aunt and uncle!

Hailey and MeeMom just hanging out at the house!

We tried to get a little pool for Hailey and couldnt find exactly what we wanted to we came up with something that worked. Hailey loved it and enjoyed every moment.

This was a new discovery. Hailey found herself in the mirror this week and kept looking closer and closer. It got to be funny cause she was would keep leaning in to where we thought her eyes were going to cross.

Hailey and Uncle David.

Once she got to Aunt Rhonda she leaned over and gave her a little hug, it was soooo sweet! This is also a new thing she's started. The first time she did it was with my counsins daughter who held her and Hailey leaned over and put her face against Brooks, I teared up rather quickly on that one. It was just adorable!

My once little nephew now grown up also got some Hailey lovin.

Sunday's are such busy full days and I was a little concerned at how it was going to go for her but it turned out just great. She got her naps in the car, short but they were naps and she managed to stay bright eyed and with big smiles all day even though she was a little sleepy. The next few weeks are going to be full of more fun and new ventures!

First baby shower

2011-06-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

Hailey and I went to a baby shower this weekend of a friend who is finally getting her baby girl. She is so excited, so the theme of course was all about pink! Most of us wore something pink and we all had a great time.

This purple dress is not what she wore to the shower. I put her in it as a final goodbye to one of my favorite dresses that she can no longer wear :(

Unfortunately the majority of Hailey's pictures are all in bibs since she spits up as soon as I have a nice outfit on her.

Here she is sitting in an adorable baby chair that she absolutly loved at the shower.

This is the baby cake I made for Tyla.

We all had a great time but Hailey and I were pooped when we finally got home.

new week great start!

2011-06-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

This morning Hailey and I went to the lap storytime for the first time at our library. I sat beside a mom with a little guy that had the same birthday as Hailey. HOW FUN IS THAT!!! We talked for quite a while until another mom came up and told us that they had canceled the storytime without telling anyone due to some animal show. No problem, we turned our little spot into a mini moms group and just shared things that we'd discovered etc. I had a great time and so did Hailey, well almost a little too much fun. She spit up enough milk to cover the bottom half of my pants and right before we left she decided that she'd missed a spot and her diaper gushed like a fountain on the top half of my pants. We could only laugh and make a quick exit!

I just cant resist dressing her up like a little doll. She's just too cute!

Was it worth it?

2011-06-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

I hadn't been to a yard sale in a long time and the weather seemed nice so Hailey worked on her second breakfast and after that we headed out. I had it all planned out. First scope out our neighborhood and a few others behind us and head in the direction of Panera for a wonderful Latte and head home.

ALL DONE!

And we're off! Our first stop, a small sale with baby stuff. I found a cute little baby scooter for .50cents. Not a bad start. The guy told me there were really good yard sales further down so in the car we went and found the big one.

I had Hailey sitting in her car seat and I looked through some clothes. I'm not a big clothes buyer at yard sales but these were name brand Gymboree and some other higher scale stores. Evidentally I wasn't looking fast enough cause the owner came over and started handing me the really nice outfits. I'm standing in her driveway with my arms full and a big bucket caught my eye. It was full of a beautiful baby bedding set. I asked how much it was and she said she had it on ebay for $25 but she'd give it to me for $20. The one thing I learned from mom when we went to yard sales was always try to see if the person will give you a better deal.

So I thought I'd pull out a Mike and Frank from American pickers and ask her to give me a bundle price. She gave me a price and I questioned if I really even needed to set like I always do. I told her I'd pass but would think about it. I left with the clothes and ended up pulling off the road a ways down. YEP I changed my mind.

After going back asking her to hold it, running to get some cash and then pulling up to her driveway I was sold that I'd made a good decision and then it happened. An out of body experience. I decide to leave Hailey in the car, I get out, close the door and realize I cant move. I look down at my hand and do a double take. I'm looking at my 2 fingers closed in the door and the door has literally clicked shut. I think I was in shock at first and then the pain came - I opened the door and then I nearly passed out. oh man was my hand throbbing. I quickly paid for my things, the husband graciously took it to the car and I went straight home. The hardest part was getting Hailey out of the car seat. She just smiled and had a great time though.

So for my question - was it worth it. ABSOLUTELY!

Lots of fishin

2011-06-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

Joel passed his defense for his dissertation so we decided to spend the week together fishing. Our first stop was the river in Radford. Joel pretty much did the fishing while Hailey and I tried to stay out of the sun and walked on the trail.

It was a pretty hot day so we let Hailey did her toes in the water. Evidentally it was pretty cold cause she didnt care for it too much.

Ok so I slipped in a picture of her Sunday look.

Next stop, Whitetop Laurel. We had a bit of a drive but it was a nice trip and the view was pretty. We had a nice trail to walk on that followed right beside the river. Hailey's favorite part was getting to lay down on the blanket.

Off for another trip!

We headed to our favorite spot - the cascades. It's about 2 miles up and 2 miles down. We fished just about the entire way up to the falls so it took us a lot longer.

Hailey's first fish and she caught it with her eyes closed!

Mommies fish!

We finally made it to the top and were exhausted. Hailey and I hung out on the rocks near the tiny streams of water while Joel headed close to the falls and worked on some fly fishing. He caught a ton.

Hailey loved sticking her toes in the running water. She squealed a lot.

On the way down the lil punkin crashed and slept almost the entire way to the bottom. She fell asleep with her thumb in her mouth which was a first but shook her around too much trying to get out the camera.

blog changes!

2011-06-14T18:44:00.001-07:00

For those of you who are wondering where my last post went, I made a little goof and I decided to try and change everything while I was at it. So hopfully in the next day or so I will have it all figured out and posted.

Pool Party!

2011-05-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hailey got her first pool experience this week with it being so hot outside I thought it would be a great time to test out how she likes it.

Needless to say she loved it and cried when I took her out.

This Sat. was pretty warm so we all went out and played in the water.

First food!!!

2011-05-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well that time has come for Hailey to start solid foods whether mommy and daddy are ready or not. I'm not, I just think she's growing up wayyy too fast but food is essential :) Once we got back from our parents house, Sunday was the big day for Hailey to get her first taste of cereal.
Joel and I prepared ourselves for her to gulp it all down and practically inhale the spoon which is what she usually does with her bottle but we were a little disappointed. There was not much interest there and in fact a shiver of "wow that stuff was nasty".

I gave it a taste as all good moms do to make sure that what they're giving their cutie is only the best. Ok that stuff is NOT GOOD! so I tried to disguise my disgusted look with a strange smile and she did pretty good.

Once it was all done, she was more than happy to take a delicious warm bottle and end with some play time. After about a week of getting used to eating from a spoon, Hailey is doing very well and getting used to something that is not tasty.

Whirlwind visit

2011-05-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Joel had some training to do at Langley so we stayed with my parents for a few days and said our goodbyes before he heads off.

Dad got ready to grill and found this little guy enjoying some shade. It took a while to get rid of him.

Hailey had some Uncle David and Aunt Rhonda time. We were able to have dinner on Mothers Day and go to Beamers for dinner on Monday. Hailey had a great time shooting them cute smiles and laughs during our dinner time.

Hailey's first piano lessons. Grandad and Hailey had a great time playing on the piano.

Hailey loves to look at books and her and Grandad had some quiet time reading about William and Kates wedding.

I finally had an apportunity to introduce Hailey to my BFF that has moved close to my parents. It was such a great time to hang out with Amy and her adorable little Elizabeth. Thanks girls for a great time!

Amy let Hailey borrow a ton of stuff and Hailey dove right in.

Next stop~ Powhatan! We made our next goodbye stop with Joel's family and had a chance to see John and Amy and their kids. (still looking for more pics)

Nana and Hailey had fun watching the kids play outside.

Hailey, sophia and Granddad just hangin out.

Great grandma Nesbit had some play time with Hailey too!

Great grandmother Sloan and Hailey had some play time indoors.

We had a great trip, it was just way too short. Thankfully, Hailey is a very go with the flo baby. As long as she can eat and take naps she's good to go.

Fun pics!

2011-05-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

Nothing Hailey loves more than hanging out with her daddy.

I have noticed that the last few post I've done, the pictures are a little fuzzy. Sorry about that. I'm not sure if it's the blog or just my pictures. :(

Hailey and her baby pose look, I couldn't resist.

This past weekend was our churches 50th anniversary. Sunday I finally took time to take pictures of Hailey in her little dress before it was off to the races for the day. This is a dress that her Mee Mom (my mom) had made.

Precious memories

2011-04-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

We had professional pictures done and this is one of them. Hailey loved the photographer and he did such a great job, I dont think there was a picture left behind :)

She is now 5 months old, reaching for items around her, cooing and sining more, laughing a ton and enjoying reading books and playing with toys.

First Easter and some

2011-04-27T15:06:00.001-07:00

WOw did Easter go by fast. As soon as we got up it was off to the races. We opted out of going to the sunrise service and breakfast, even though Hailey attempted to wake up before the sun did. I was singing in an ensemble so naturally we had to be there early for warm up practice not to mention be ready to sing with the music team, so Joel and Hailey hung out while I practiced. Once everything got started it was a whirlwind and Hailey had no intentions of staying in the nursery. oh to think as a teacher I used to laugh (kindof) at those parents who just couldnt let go of their kids or viseversa and now we're that family :) what can I say! I am working on that.
Once we finally get home (after 1:00) we have lunch and put Hailey down. The one day that she decides to take over a 2 hour nap is the day we have a lot of plans. Our neighbors invited us over for their Easter egg hunt and dinner. So after 2 1/2 hours of great sleep we get her up and take her over in time for dinner. We all had a great time and Hailey did wonderfully.

Would you believe these are the only pictures I took of her the entire day. We were so busy I forgot to take time for pictures. So here's Hailey in her Easter dress. She was beautiful!

The pictures below were just random pictures of Hailey through the week. She is turning into such a camera bug!

Spring at last!

2011-04-14T13:12:00.001-07:00

I love spring and I love beautiful flowers. These tulips popped up on the side of our house in one of the flower beds and I had honestly forgotten that we even had tulips. What a great way to be surprised!

Hailey of course loved the flowers. She seems to really like it outside which I'm quite thankful for.

Hailey saw what she wanted and went for it. At this point anything that she can get her mouth on she goes for.

The drool was just coming out - she really wanted that flower!

pretty in pink

2011-04-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

Time is really flying. Hailey is 4months old and growing so quickly. We think she might be in the early teething stages with all the drooling & boy does she like to suck on her fingers or whatever will go in her mouth. She has turned into quite the baby houdini- even with the nice velcro swaddle blankets she is able to get out. I had the monitor on and heard this familiar sucking sound and sure enough her hand was out and she was sucking on her thumb that was caught in her sleeve, so it made quite the loud sound. I came in and she just looked at me with those big blue eyes and gave me the most adorable smile as if to say look what I can do mommy!

First Fly fishing trip

2011-03-29T17:34:00.000-07:00

The weather was so perfect last week so Joel and I took full advantage of the day and the 3 of us headed for the Cascades. Hailey slept for the majority of the time in her little carrier while Joel fished. Then we swapped and Joel and Hailey had some fun while I fished.

What a perfect day and Hailey really enjoyed the outdoors. She had a little trouble with the wind and of course the sun but besides that it made a great family together time.

Action!

2011-03-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

Look at those cheeks! Hailey is still the ultimate smiley baby.

I had found these adorable bloomers and started taking pictures and well keep scrolling down and you get Hailey in action rolling over on her back! I was a proud mommy that day.

Tummy time

2011-03-17T17:38:00.001-07:00

Hailey has finally agreed to hold her cries for at least more than a minute when I put her on her tummy. At first she cried immediately. Joel had left on Sunday for a trip and that afternoon I pulled out a new blanket we'd been given, got out the camera and put her on her tummy & started shooting pictures as quickly as possible. Ok I must have totally been in the moment cause I didnt even catch it that I was shooting her rolling over! Yep she rolled over on her back for the first time. I put the camera down and just laughed as she laughed and smiled along with a lot of drool.

I put her back on her tummy so I could get a video and NOTHING! She wouldnt do it. :(

A day later I tried it again and nothing. Tuesday she did it again but did I have the video camera out NOOOO!

Of course with Joel being gone he missed it all not to mention the halarious laughing that she did when I was making a face at her poopy diaper. She evidentally thought that was funny. That was also her longest laugh ever so far.

Meet the Atlanta cousins!

2011-03-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Joel and I made a trip to Atlanta to see some of the Sloan family. It was a quick weekend but a lot of fun! Here is Anna and Hailey.

Lucy hiding behind bubbles that turned colors!

Hailey getting kissed by a frog

Joel is working the water bike.

Matilda is working the boat in the stream.

Eleanor is enjoying the giant green frog!

They all ended up finding their way to the ball pit. That I must admit seemed to be the most fun of it all.

We all had a great time and Hailey did wonderfully! The ended up driving back after Sunday service and it rained the entire way to the Virginia line and once we hit that is started to snow. We couldnt believe our eyes. Snow go figure! We were just thankful we made it home safely without any problems.

NO MILK!

2011-03-11T15:54:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had that thought in the back of your mind like a "what if" but then you forget and a month or two later it pops up again? Well I had that happen regarding Hailey. When we switched over to formula I noticed her skin was getting really dry and she was spitting up a lot as well as spitting up water. I had a split second thought of I wonder if she's possibly allergic to milk or is it something else? I addressed it with our Pediatrician and was told all babies spit up etc. We went on with our usual routine and after spending some time with family for the weekend we came home to find that yet another dry spot popped up on her head. That was it, I was determined to find out what was going on. I was able to get an apoitment the day I called and the Dr. and I came to the conclusion that my "what if" was very possibly. So we put her on a milk free formula and she fell asleep instantly after she was fed. Joel and I just looked at each other and smiled - this is good!
By the next day we could tell a difference. So Hailey is most likley allergic to milk which I was also so catching it this early is good and she hopefully grow out of it like I did.

first words!

2011-03-08T15:45:00.000-08:00

Ok dont get too excited just yet - Joel had Hailey on his lap and she was crying and it sounded like she said I want my mommy, we laughed so hard she stopped crying and looked at us.

This day Hailey went to her first birthday party of some friends from our church. She had a great time watching the kids play around. The bib has become a part of her outfit since her drooling/ spitting up is quite constant. One minute she's spitting up what she just ate, the next minute she's drooling up a storm. Her favorite thing is to make bubbles and wait to see how far it will fall.

Happy Birthday Joel!

2011-02-23T15:29:00.000-08:00

Joel's Birthday was yesterday! We got up and he played with Hailey while I made breakfast. This was her fifth outfit of the day, little did I know this day was going to be messy.
For those of you questioning this cake it is Joel's favorite - carrot cake, unfortunatly I was paying more attention to Hailey than the cake and it sunk in the middle however, I've always been told the ones that don't turn out are the ones that taste the best and yes this one is a winner!

This outfit was her first. It said Daddy's little girl. SOoo cute but sure enough the reason why we dont hold her and eat - yep she got coffee spilled on her :( no it wasn't hot and it hit her clothes not her skin.

We put her down for a nap after breakfast and Joel did some work at home until lunch.

This was her fourth outfit right before we took daddy to lunch. I got her up and had her laying down changing her diaper before we left and boom she spit up straight shot for the front of her. I changed her clothes and before I could finish the last snap spit up again. UHHHH I changed her four times before we could get out of the house with a clean outfit on. Evidently she got tired of getting changed cause she stopped for a while at 4.

Hailey is doing great and especially with her sleeping at night. She's been sleeping the majority of the night but the last few nights she's been sleeping almost 10 hours. It took me a while to relax and not worry about her but I'm very excited.We're enjoying this while we can.

Ok these pictures I've had ready to post but I wanted to spread my post to only posting once a week. So far these are my favorite!

Singing cutie!

2011-02-20T11:15:00.000-08:00

Sure enough Hailey has become our little singer the last few weeks. She's pretty happy in the morning, so Joel will set her on our bed while we get ready and she starts singing and cooing up a storm. She also has her moments in the swing as well as on Joel's lap. It gets pretty funny when you really listen to her. I'm hoping to be able to post it on the blog if we can figure it out.

Going to church!

2011-02-12T16:59:00.000-08:00

Hailey does such a great job at church. This last Sunday we went to both Sunday School and church service. She stays with Joel and I for both. We're not ready to put her into a nursery yet :)
She did really well this time minus the beginning of Sunday school where she decided she was going to have her poopy diaper and did a little dainty baby grunting which I had to take her out (mommy got a little embarrassed!) Once that was over she sat through both services quite well and did lunch with us and some friends from Colonial Andy and Davina. We had a great time hanging out with them for a while! We are looking forward to them moving to Blacksburg as soon as they reach their 100% for their missionary support.

A huge thank you to Heidi for making Hailey's little bracelet! I have thoroughly enjoyed the jewelry that Heidi makes and she sent Hailey a beautiful bracelet that when I put it on her she gave a huge smile and little giggle.
I have her site posted on the side with my favorite sites.

Better?

2011-02-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

Ok so this picture is a little blurry it's not you! I'm still practicing :)

almost 11 weeks!

2011-02-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

Whoa, I'm working on picture sizes, as you can see I have a little more work to do but in case your vision is going this picture should be perfect!

Ok I wish there was a way to slow their growth down. She is getting big wayyy too fast for me but I'm loving the bigger smiles and adorable laughs and giggles she gives.

Haileys visit to Bass Pro shop

2011-02-08T16:34:00.000-08:00

I forgot to add our visit to Bass Pro Shop in with my last post. Not only did Hailey get to see Kohls, Williamsburg and her new best friend but she also got to go to the Bass Pro shop. Dad and Joel were talking with a guy tying flies so mom & I went over to the large fish exhibit and sat down on a bench in front of them and I fed Hailey. After a few minutes I noticed stuff dropping into the top of the water so I thought oh they are feeding the fish. I looked up & saw a girl pouring out something in a bag and smoke started to head our way. Before I could get up it was on us and I had to literally go quite a ways to get away from it.
Mom and I met the guys and I looked at her & asked if she tasted something funny on her lips. Sure enough whatever it as left a film on us so naturally I was concerned for Hailey not knowing exactly what it was.
We all went to the front and I asked a clerk who wasn't sure but she grabbed manager close by. His response - "oh, there's no need to be concerned about the fish we'd never use anything harmful" I looked at Hailey in my arms and then looked at him again wondering how he had gotten a management position. I then repeated that I was feeding her when this stuff was dumped and it got on us and again he kept assuring me the fish were going to be ok. WOW, it was so frustrating I had to laugh - he was totally clueless that I just wanted to know what the stuff was in case she had a reaction to it. Finally I made my point ( yes I was nice) and he got it and went to find out what it was. For those of you who get in this situation it's baking soda- go figure. We all had a good laugh once we got in the car so we wouldn't offend the guy who was more concerned about the fish than a newborn!

First Best Friend!

2011-02-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

This past week Joel, Hailey and I took a trip to see our parents. We hadn't had Christmas with my parents so we took an opportunity when everyone was healthy to go and spend some time with them.

We also got to see some great friends who had also had a baby right after Christmas. The two girls got to meet & it was Best Friends at first sight. Once we put the girls down for a photo shoot Rachel started smiling at Hailey and Hailey was willing to share her fingers with Rachel. It was sooo cute & the cameras were flashing like crazy!

Rachel's older sister Claire was such a cutie we couldn't leave her out so she gave us some great big sister poses for us.

Mom & dad had so much fun with Hailey. We took her on her first Williamsburg Outlets shopping trip where she pretty much slept the majority of the time.

Hailey got her first pony for Christmas! He makes real horse sounds and his tail swings. TOO FUN!

I think sitting by the Christmas tree and looking at the lights were her favorite. She would stare at the tree for the longest time.

We had a great time at both of our parents house. Hailey got to spend a lot of time with her grandparents and did such a great job traveling. She started sleeping through the night the night before we left and continued to do a great job throughout our trip. She also slept the majority of the way both coming and going to everyone's house. We had such a great time and look forward to more fun times.

soo many smiles!

2011-02-03T15:45:00.000-08:00

The smiles sure are coming and Joel and I are enjoying every minute of it.

Hailey's personality is definitely starting to come out and she's showing to be such a happy baby provided her tummy is full.

another week gone

2011-01-23T05:39:00.001-08:00

She's getting sooo big!

Hailey is turning into quite the happy baby! She loves to be talked to and she's a morning person just like her daddy. Me not so much so while the two of them are bouncing around at 6:00am I'm still trying to wake up. Hailey will sit on our bed and laugh and give us huge smiles which will make any non morning person a little more chipper than normal.

I'm fully expecting one of these days to find her crawling or walking around before we're ready. She is the wiggliest baby I've ever seen. I can't keep her swaddled in her blankets which once she gets going it wakes her up.

Last night was a good example. Joel was gone this weekend to a conference and I was solo. I kept her routine and put her to bed just like we do every night but I was not prepared for the night we had. She went down after I fed her a little after 7:00pm and she fell asleep before 8:00 pretty much the norm. 10:30 I wake up to the sound of her hands flailing around so I jumped up really quickly swaddled her again and amazingly she didnt wake up. 11:30 same thing uh this time I just went ahead and fed her cause she completly woke herself up and there was no going to sleep unless she had her food. 2:30am out again- You'd think I'd have this swaddling thing down but I dont think anything is going to keep her swaddled! I fed her put her back down and sure enough 5:30am. Now she successfully gotten out each time, woken up every 3 hours sometimes less than that and at 7:00 we got up and she throws me the biggest smile - STINKER :) but she's sooo cute!

There's something about her daddy putting her down for bed that sets the tone.

7 weeks old tom.

2011-01-17T09:26:00.000-08:00

Hailey will be 7 weeks old on Tues. Hard to believe!!!
We went to church yesterday for our first time, except for the Christmas Eve service. She slept through all of church service never making a peep then it happened to be a pot luck and business meeting afterwards so we tested the waters. Joel and I drove seperately so that he could go to Sunday school and once Hailey and I made it to service we could leave when we needed to.

She practically slept through lunch, making a short appearance for her lunch then slept soundly through the business meeting which I also wanted to do.
All of you moms out there know how hard it is to stay awake when you're rocking and your baby is sleeping so good, I was starting to nod off myself!

After a "few" pictures, this picture was purely an ok mom I'm doing this just for you!

She was all bundled up in her little fur coat. This coat had a satin lining and I had no idea how toasty warm it would be. When I pulled her out of the car seat she was practically sweating.

Overall, Sunday was a great day. Joel and I were a little tired but we managed to keep Hailey away from those who were sick and she got a great nap in. The topper on our cake was that she slept very well that night and she didnt get up at 5:00am but I had to get her up a little after 7:00am. She is such a joy and yes Amy C. I'm having a lot of trouble putting her down during the day- she and I are like glue!

Smile

2011-01-13T05:27:00.000-08:00

Hailey has started smiling more often now. I can't say just started cause she was smiling within 2 hours of being born. The last few days she will throw me a big smile while I'm talking to her, I just wish I had a camera attached to me so that everytime she smiles I can get a picture of it.

I love to watch Hailey sleep! She's so adorable and the little sounds she makes when she sleeps is too cute as long as it's during the day and not in the middle of the night which seems to be her favorite time to make those sounds but that's ok I'll take it:)

Growing like a weed!

2011-01-09T07:20:00.000-08:00

Ok this is just the beginning of being Daddy's little girl!!!

Here's Hailey's crib. Once we found out that we were having a girl I could hardly wait to turn it into something totally girly and more princess! I think this does it.

5 Weeks old!

2011-01-06T15:55:00.000-08:00

Time has flown by and it's hard to believe that Hailey is already 5 weeks old. She is growing like a week and those little cheeks are getting chubbier. She is cooing more and more and some of her sounds Joel and I look at each other and just laugh. We got her a little projector for Christmas that projects pictures on the wall with matching songs, like twinkle twinkle little star. That is part of her nighttime routine once we lay her down to go to bed she watches the moon and sheep go across the wall for a little while. I think she really likes it and I must admit I think it's pretty neat too!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T16:22:00.000-08:00

The day we took these pictures Hailey really wasnt in the mood to have her pictures done so we took what we could get. She's still adorable even if the pictures weren't all that great!

What a great Christmas! We woke up around 3am to feed our little princess and looked out the window to see a beautiful white blanket on the ground. Yep, we had a beautiful snow that is still going as I'm writing. There's nothing like snow on Christmas day and today was absolutly perfect. It snowed all day today and Hailey was the best Christmas gift we could get!

We opened presents but Hailey decided she was too tired so she took a quick nap while Joel opened her present.

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and for those we weren't able to see, hopefully we'll see you soon!

Cuddle bug!

2010-12-20T14:46:00.001-08:00

This was her first bath and we survived but barely. It took her a moment to get used to it and then she started sucking on her hand that had been in the bath water. Good Stuff!

Could you resist cuddling with a little face like this one? We can't! I love to cuddle with Hailey- she likes to stick her little tushy up in the air and cuddles under my chin which in turn makes my heart melt and I'd give her anything she asked for if she could talk :)

Tomorrow Hailey will be 3 weeks old! AHHHH where has the time gone. I'm still trying to get over that this weekend will be Christmas.

Good sleepin!

2010-12-12T14:45:00.001-08:00

5 Hours of sleep at one time!!! Boy did we need it. Hailey decided that she was going to give us a little extra sleep time, so last night she slept for about 5 hours the first stretch and then a little over 3 for the second!

Hailey is for sure the best Christmas gift we could ever get, so can you blame me for fixing a little photo session under the tree. I thought it was a great idea, Hailey wasn't too sure she liked the stocking, it was a little itchy.

What's sleep?

2010-12-10T08:41:00.001-08:00

It's hard to believe that Hailey is already over a week old. She is doing great and growing fast!

She is such a good sleeper! Her big wake time is of course right before we go to bed. Once she gets that out of her system she's out and only wakes up 2x's during the night. We are blessed but a little sleep deprived :)

Joel and I had gone to the outlets quite a while ago and saw this little winter coat that we couldnt resist. It's so soft and snuggly, I knew she'd love it. The day we went home it was super cold so we got to put this coat on a trial run. It was a little big but she'll grow into it.

Lil princess!

2010-12-04T17:36:00.000-08:00

Hailey is quite the little cutie and has won the hearts of everyone that sees her. We were able to go home Friday afternoon and Hailey got to be out in her first snow today. We now have a good 2-3 inches outside, so it made our early Christmas complete!

She's Here!!!

2010-12-02T12:08:00.000-08:00

Hailey Rebecca Sloan was born on Nov 30 at 5:50 pm! She's 8 lbs, 1 oz, and 20 in. long.

What a cutie!!!

She likes her burrito roll.

The nurse gave her a spike hairdo after her bath.

Ever seen a 2-hour old kid smile before? Neither had we!

We know she's going to be a smart girl--she was pondering the meaning of life before she left the delivery room! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-23T16:29:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!
For those of you patiently waiting to hear some good news, NOPE there is none
:( Lil Sloaner has decided she's quite content where she is but is happy to provide contractions here and there just to get our hopes up. This Friday will be week 39 for me and I plan to do some Black Friday shopping after a relaxing Thanksgiving day of the Macy's parade, dog show and a good nap!

Diaper shower!

2010-11-11T14:39:00.000-08:00

A diaper shower was thrown for lil sloaner and I this past Sat. Tyla made this absolutely adorable cake and it was melt in your mouth delicious!!!
Tyla on the right and Sonya her sister on the left were the host of this great shower!

We started with mingling and getting a great opportunity to talk with everyone there. Then we had a wonderful brunch. After we finished we had yummy cake and then a devotional unique to something I've never done. The silver tree you see in some of the pictures was called a blessing tree. The ladies were asked to put down a one word blessing on a star and hang it on a tree. Once it was time to start I picked a star and said what it was and the person that had written it explained why she chose that blessing. It was really good and a wonderful memory for our little girl.

After the blessing tree it was present time. I was blessed with wonderful gifts ranging from diapers, wipes, adorable outfits and unique gifts.

Once we finished, we just talked as a group, shared stories and had a great time in laughter. I couldn't have asked for a better ending to a great memory.

One extra that Sonya and Tyla did which I just adore was everyone painting little onesies at any point during the shower.

Here is auntie Tyla with Sonya's little boy painting one of the onsies.

Once we got home Joel and dad checked out the gifts!

Joel and I are so thankful for the friends and family that are around us that have and are making these moments so special. We can hardly wait to see our little princess.

last cake for a while

2010-10-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

At our church there are 3 of us that are expecting one towards the end of this month, another the last week of November and then me the first week of Dec. Charis is the one right before me and her shower was this past weekend. I was asked if I could do just a topper for a display on the table. Her colors were brown, tan and purple so I thought it would be cute to do a decorative gift box with streamers coming out of it.
Can I just say those cake shows make it look sooooo easy!!! I enjoyed doing it until my streamers decided to fall.

I put it in this pan to keep it steady for the drive, which by the way is more nerve wracking than making it! Surpisingly I made it all the way to the party without anything falling apart. The funny part was about an hour or so into the party I went up to the table and some pieces had fallen and sure enough it will survive a bumpy car ride but not a bump of a table go figure! The shower was fun and we had some great games and the pressure was off once I had delivered it :)

Now I will just focus on some rest and relaxing and getting my scrapbooking done before this little one comes! For those of you wondering her room is all ready with accents of pink and baby lambs with a few other animals that we have. Once she's born we will put her name on the wall and I'll take a picture and post it but you'll have to be patient until then.

Mini vaca

2010-09-29T05:45:00.000-07:00

Joel and I had been talking about getting away but with his project it just wasn't looking too good to go anywhere for longer than the weekend. This past weekend was just about our only option so we took it.
We decided to go to Staunton- no phones, no computer just some peace and quiet.
Joel was able to get home a little early on Friday so we hit the road and headed off to some fun.

Saturday was going to be a beautiful day so we headed for the Luray Caverns. I knew it was going to be cooler in the caverns so I was pretty excited. It turned out to be such a hot day! Sure enough the caverns were not as cool as I had hoped but we sure did have a lot of fun.

We were given head pieces to listen to the history of the caverns which was really neat and unexpected. It was a popular day to go the place was packed which was good for me cause we could take our time or in my case a breather after walking up a few hills.

Here was the favorite fried eggs in the cave. When you looked at it, it really did look like eggs. The kids loved it.

After the caves we went through a car museum.

They also had a garden maze but it was wayyy too hot to stand outside and get lost in some bushes, so we opted out of it. They had little gift shops and a restaurant but Joel and I spotted our favorite which was a local that was making BBQ :)

We headed back to the hotel but decided to take the scenic route which turned out to be a long drive behind people that wanted to look and drive slower than a turtle uhhh pure torture!

Once we got to the hotel we hit the pool and we got it all to ourselves which was perfect!

Dinner was the icing on the cake ~ We went through the restaurant listing and a few caught our eyes but one in particular that had been rated extremely well was the one we went for. The Mill St. Grill was super popular & even though we did have to wait for a while it was well worth it. I had crab stuffed salmon and Joel had a rib platter that he raved over.

Sunday morning I really didn't want to go. The emphasis on a short vacation was true, so after a lot of prodding :) Joel and I headed back home.

Big one!

2010-09-22T07:41:00.000-07:00

Joel had an opportunity to go fishing yesterday and finally caught that big rainbow trout he'd been dying to get. Too bad pictures don't show how big and beautiful they really are. I was not there, so he had to take it with his phone.

Movin right along!

2010-09-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

This weekend was super busy but a lot of fun. We started off with me making a new dish from my favorite food network start Arti and her Samosas. HMMM ~ after making them I would add some other things to them to give them more taste but they were fun and yummy!

I started with mashing these potatoes.

I then chopped my favorite- cilantro and then a mango.
I put all of the items in a bowl with some cooked chicken and roasted peppers, salt, pepper, cumin & coriander. I would totally add cheese and more spices to give it more kick!

This is where I spent the most of my time. Next time I will roll out my pastry and just cut squares instead of half circles.

Wet the edges so that they will stick when you roll it up.

This is what you end up with :) A delicious stuffed pastry!

Sat. afternoon Joel was dying to do some fishing so we went to the cascades and went fly fishing. The Tech game was going to be over around 4:30 so we agreed we'd only fish for 1hour RIGHT! I knew we couldnt stop after just an hour. We caught several fish and had a great time!

Joel spent the rest of the weekend prepping for his presentation for his project. The presentation was Monday morning at 8:00am and of course he passed with flying colors! I knew he'd do great and am sooo proud of him.

Update on Lil Sloaner ~ I'm now in my 3rd Trimester! YAAA She's growing really well and is very active - Joel says she gives him high fives when we're watching TV.

Anita

2010-08-27T18:28:00.000-07:00

A few years ago when I was teaching, I was sent a clip of Anita Renfroe performing a great song. All of the teachers loved it. Last year I had the opportunity to go to an Extraordinary women's conference where Anita Performed and later that day I got to meet her and take a picture with her. She is hilarious. We all laughed so hard we nearly cried.
This song has just come out and since I love sweat tea I thought it was perfect!
I hope you love it as much as I do.

Big Ol' Sweet Iced Tea

2010-08-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

Pastors 50th Birthday

2010-08-13T05:58:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was a surprise party for our pastor. He didn't have any idea what was going on until we started singing happy birthday after the service. We put up some decor, I made close to 100 cupcakes arrange to make the number 50 and I also made a fake chocolate cake. After service was over everyone came to the other part of the church for gifts and cake.
Little did Gene know what was coming! We asked him to blow out the candle which was supposed to relight but that fell through but the cake stood firm! He was given a butter knife to easily cut this delicious smelling cake but couldn't. The best part was no one understood why he couldn't cut it. Finally he took his hand and put it on the "cake" to cut it and still couldn't which is where I told him that it was a roll of toilet paper decorated. I thought it was funny :)

One of our members read a poem she'd written just for the occasion, which turned out perfect.

After that he opened all of his gag gifts and enjoyed a great laugh. It's hard to see what he got but he had a nice variety of things from false teeth, retirement home papers, fossils and creams. Who said we didn't have a great sense of humor:)