He's the cutest little guy ever and he's growing so fast!

Some highlights from the past few weeks:

*He and I dance every day. I hold him close and we sway to It's A Beautiful Life by Fisher which I posted a few posts ago. Call me crazy but I think he knows it is our dancing song. One of the commercials that plays it came on while he was in his play pen getting ready for a nap and he started laughing and cooing like crazy!

*I was watching a Little Einstein video on the computer and two little owls hooted and he cooed back at them.

*He loves having his butt massaged after a bath. He smiles and laughs while I do it.

*I've been peed on once. That's pretty good from what I hear.

*He loves bath time and is now using his little bath without the frog holder that he needed when we first brought him home.

*He hates the car seat and cries every time we put him in it.

*The doctor thinks he'll have a few teeth by 3 months! He already has little teeth buds! YIKES! He's trying to keep up with Alyssa I guess! :)

Wanna win this printer?

I know I do! For three chances to win, head on over to Simple Mom

Thank you Kelli for the heads up!!

While you are over there check out all the amazing advise she has to offer! I was especially inspired by Menu Planning and 12 weeks to an enjoyable Christmas, but there are a ton of other really great posts! Stop waisting time reading this. Go check her out!

The weather is turning cold here. The few leaves that have managed to cling to the trees are withered and gray, and it is dark by 5 o'clock. Already, I'm wondering if I will survive winter without pulling my hair out or worse gaining an obscene amount of weight. Maybe that isn't worse I'm pretty used to be fat, but I've never been bald. Luckily I have Hayden to occupy my time and he's a great occupier. I've dubbed him "Little Tyrant". It's his way or the highway. I wonder if he knows he has competition for the title. Erin is quite the little tyrant these days as well. It's a good thing I love them both to pieces!

In random news, I managed to pump a full ounce today! To me this is akin to winning the lottery! I've been taking brewers yeast, More Milk, and eating tons of oatmeal along with pumping like crazy just be able to pump that much! Hayden is getting more than that when he breast feeds, but not much more. I still have to supplement every feeding with a bottle, but seeing progress motivates me to soldier on.

I went to an arts and crafts show with my Aunt on Thursday. It was so much fun. The towns around here do things a little differently. Instead of going to a big hall full of booths, the artist open up their homes and you meet them where they live. We picked up a map from the local bank and hopscotched our way from one house to the next sipping apple cider and drooling over crafts. I picked up a few Christmas gifts and enjoyed spending time with my Aunt. It feels strange to be all grown up around her.

Hayden had is one month doctor's visit on Friday and the little man has grown to a whopping 11lbs 9oz and 23 1/2 inches! There is no stopping the little tape worm as David refers to him. He's also entered the oh-so-cute stage of coos and smiles! While laying half naked on the examination table he decided to kick his little legs like mad and he and I had a coo off. He cooed and then I cooed then he cooed and I cooed. You get the picture right? The whole thing ended in him letting out a loud baby laugh which was almost immediately followed by baby cries when they gave him his shot. Poor baby! Luckily the crying didn't last long. He ate a little which was probably more about comfort than huger and then he went off to dream land.

In all my spare time AKA when David is home and willing to watch Hayden for a few hours I managed to make this purse.


What do you think? I'm pretty impressed with myself. :)

I want to listen to this song every day! Maybe that will get me through the cold winter days! If you watch TLC like I do, you've heard it a million times already. :)

I watched Barack give his acceptance speech while Hayden smiled and cooed in my arms. Despite my apathy over the current political climate, I couldn't help but be moved by the magnitude of this historic event.
I did not vote in yesterday's election. There was a glitch in the system and my registration was not received. If I had voted, it would have been a half hearted effort at fulfilling my civic duty rather than a full fledge attempt to support one candidate over another. Rather than stirred and inspired by either of the candidates I was angered and frustrated by a political system gone crazy, but last night as I listened to Barack humbly accept victory and McCain graciously admit defeat I wanted to believe. For the first time since the campaign began I saw in each of these men what I believed to be a genuine love for our country and the people in it. For the first time in a long time I felt the warmth of knowing that whatever makes us different isn't nearly as important as what we have in common.
I was listening as McCain spoke of crossing party lines to work with and support Obama in his presidency. I heard Barack as he promised to earn the trust of those who did not vote for him and to be the president of us all. I heard and now I am watching and waiting. I hope that the words each of them spoke will ring true.

A Grandma Shower For Aola

Tons of love for Aola!
From Kristen
From Cara


Zoe (Peanut) will be here soon, and there is no better way for us to celebrate her arrival than by throwing a virtual shower for you, Aola!

Zoe is one lucky girl to have such a wise and loving grandma living so close by. She will be spoiled with all things pink and frilly, but more importantly she'll be given the room she needs to be herself.

"Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children." ~Alex Haley



A little something just for grandma!



A warm snuggly blanket for Zoe.


Something for the two of you to share!



Congratulations Aola!

Levi & Christi, I am so excited for the two of you. Your new little girl will change your lives in ways you never imagined. Babies are hard work, but they are worth every bit of it. Enjoy every second!

It's snowing here. The sky is filled with fluffy white flakes. Erin is beside herself in anticipation of playing in it, but despite her eagerness, it's not sticking. The ground isn't warm enough yet, but in time it will be. I hope we knew what we were getting ourselves into when we abandoned the sunny warm winters of California for the chilly white ones of Pennsylvania.
I took some new photos of Erin yesterday. I wanted to make sure she wasn't feeling left out with all of the photos of Hayden I've been taking. I also wanted to try out an umbrella light I got. I think the results were pretty good. My mom has been telling me for a while now that I need to venture into the professional side of photography, but I'm just not sure. It seems I always doubt myself when it comes to this type of thing. I'm going to give it a try and see what comes of it. At the very least I'll get a little more practice and I'll be doing something I love.

Everyone told me how little sleep I would get, but they never mentioned how much I wouldn't mind the lost hours of slumber. They never told me that seconds with him would be so delicious I'd gobble them all up and still not be full. Even when he is crying and fussy, which he almost never is, I love being with him. At night I pull his cradle as close to the bed as I can and fall asleep with my hand caressing his chubby little face. If I weren't so afraid of suffocating him he'd sleep next to me.

Today for the first time, I ventured out without him. It was only for an hour and we just went to pick up a few things from the store. I didn't worry about him while I was gone. He was with his great grandma who loves him like crazy.

Erin is working through some things, very difficult things. Life hasn't been easy or fair for her. I console her as much as possible, but let her feel what she is feeling. I'm trying to get her to see the full side of life. I want her to know that bad things happen, but that doesn't make life bad. I want her to see that bad things happen to good people so anything that has happened to her isn't a reflection of her worth or value. This is where she struggles the most. She wraps her value up in everything that has happened and she blames herself. I tell her it could never be her fault. She was young and innocent and perfect. She still is. It's so sad that adult actions have consequences that break a child like this. She is broken, but I think she is on the mend. She's talking about things and working through them. It's tough to walk through this with her. There are times when she lashes out and I forget that it has everything to do with all that has happened and nothing to do with me. I lose my cool and rant and rave. Then I remember and say I'm sorry. We hug and she opens up a little more about what she's really feeling. Each time it brings us closer to a day when she'll be whole again. A day when she can look in the mirror and know that none of this was her fault. I can't wait for that day.