Pumpkin Fun

Although we knew it was coming, we are never really prepared for it....snow! It finally started snowing this week, and hasn't really stopped. It seems like it snows later and later each year. But for as long as I remember there is always snow on the ground on Halloween! It is still pretty warm outside so the snow is sticky and the roads are really icy. Which leads to the inevitable, really bad drivers. It happens every single year, people seem to forget how to drive on icy roads. That doesn't really work well with me because I am always running late, and with people driving 30mph on the highway I am now even more late!

My dad came over and we did our traditional pumpkin carving with Hayden (he is like Chris and hates getting his picture taken, so you get side shots of them both, two peas in a pod!) Chris is glad that we finally have the excuse of a kid because I used to make him do all of the holiday traditions. It was a lot of fun this year, Hayden was amazed at grandpa and what he was doing to that yummy looking orange thing (my dad gave him the top of the pumpkin and of course he tried to eat it!)

He helped his dad carve his pumpkin which was a little monster, i.e. Hayden!

It was a really fun evening and all of the pumpkins turned out great. Hopefully they will lure in the kids that are brave enough to go trick or treating, it is supposed to be -4 degrees out that night.

We are all getting ready for a big adventure this weekend. It is going to be a jam packed weekend of visiting with Auntie Amy and picking up Chris's new boat. I will fill you in once we get back, for now it is off to bed because we have to catch a plane in a few hours.

Mommy's Little Monster

It is amazing how much changes in just a few weeks, actually in just a few days. Hayden is almost to the point of sitting up on his own, although he thinks it is funner to lean forward and eat his feet!!

I think we had our last bit of fall this past weekend. We finished up our outside projects, including putting a wire fence in the ground for Tucker. He has been feeling left out lately and has decided to try and find other people to pay attention to him! So hopefully this will give him a little reminder of where his home his!!

We took Hayden to his first Nanook hockey game and he did amazing. He sat through both games and stared at all of the action. He enjoyed sitting on our good friend Skip's lap the first night and the next night he sat on Grandpa's lap! I had to quickly sneak a picture of the boys as we were walking out the door (because I am a lame mom and someone might have seen us!!!) Going to the game threw him off schedule because the game didn't get over until past 9 o'clock, it made him overly tired and he actually slept 8 hours that night....don't get too excited because the next night he was back to 4 to 5 hours of sleep!

Hayden actually enjoys tummy time now and has mastered head control finally. It is kind of weird to be able to hold him in one arm and multi-task without worry about his bobble head!! He loves to sit up and check out the world, but mostly he stares at his crazy puppy that likes to drop toys on his head.

We had a cardiologist appointment today to check on his heart murmur and it is still there, but the doctor said that he looked healthy and it wasn't affecting him. We have an appointment in 6 months to see if his duct has closed and if it hasn't then he will have to have a non-invasive surgery to block it. We were able to see how much he has grown in 5 weeks and he is now 25" long and 12.12 ounces.

Chris and I are doing well, Chris's jobs are wrapping up and things are slowing down for him. Soon he will be working 40 hours and week and will be able to enjoy playing with Hayden a lot more and his favorite season! I foresee a lot of trips up to the cabin snowmachining with Hayden bundled up with us!!

Chris bought Hayden a remote control snowmachine that looks identical to Chris's actual snowmachine. I have to point out the shirt he has on, it is Chris's favorite "Alaska Boys Got The Berries!" Sorry about the cleavage, I can't keep the girls under control :) Hayden loves to watch it zoom around the living room and when he can finally get his hands on it, he of course tries to eat it. He loves to put everything in his mouth, especially the ball below.

We hope everyone enjoys fall and the last bit of warm weather...soon we will have to bundle up!

Oh Happy Days!

It seems like every day Hayden grows up just a little bit more...time is flying by so fast. With time Hayden is slowly growing out of his colic and is crying less and less. He is becoming quite a happy baby, which makes for a happy momma!

The picture above is Hayden at 12 weeks, he loves to sit in his Bumbo chair when I am cooking in the kitchen and keeps me company.

We finally have a schedule down put so there is a little less chaos in our lives! Hayden loves to takes baths at night as part of our bedtime routine...which in turn leads to less crying in the evenings (we still have about an hour of fussiness, but I am not complaining).

As you can tell Tucker was really enjoying me torturing him with picture time!

This is my favorite face ever, it is Hayden giving me a giant shit eating grin! I need those big grins lately because it has been a busy couple of weeks. I have had to train a lady at work for about 6 hours a day. Because Hayden is on a schedule, it hasn't been too hard because he takes a solid 2 hour nap in the afternoon. It has been hard for me to train because a) I don't like to give up control of things, b) not everyone is a perfectionist like me so they don't do everything as perfectly as I want them too, c) I want to give Hayden as much of my attention as I can so I only want to give directions once, and d) if I am training then I can't get my work done which means I have to work twice as hard. But it is a good reminder that I am very fortunate that I don't have to go back to work full time and I need to work smarter not harder! Chris has been home these past few weeks and has had a good glimpse into what my life has been like for the past few months. He would never admit to how much work it is to take care of a "fussy" baby, but he gets exhausted after a few hours with Hayden; I can't help but laugh and think geez try all day and night, I don't think we get enough credit for what we do as moms!

Fall Fun!

We finally had Hayden's 2 month appointment today (only a few weeks late!), and he weighed in at 12lbs 2oz (50th percentile) and 24in long (75th percentile). The doctor said he was happy and healthy and was quite a flirt. He kept smiling and cooing at her, I'm glad that someone likes going to the doctors! And of course we couldn't go to the doctor without finding something wrong, it just wouldn't be Hayden's style!! He has eczema, so we have to bath him with special soap and use special lotion, geez. I think I have mentioned before that he screams bloody murder whenever you put him in the car seat as well as at night for a few hours and the doctor just thinks he is a little colicky and gassy from his medicine...and it will get better before he turns 1. Ugh, I think I will be admitted to the loony bin if I have 10 more months of screaming car rides. I have to throw in the picture below, it is classic Hayden giving me attitude!

Chris and I went to the cabin last weekend and had an amazing time. It was so nice to get out of town and it was a beautiful weekend. Hayden did wonderful and had a great time. The boat was a mini heaven for him, it had lots of shadows, made a loud noise, and vibrated (if only life was that simple for us!) I was trying to take a picture of him and Chris driving the boat, and Chris kept talking to him and trying to get his attention, and as you can tell he was amazed by his dad.

We took him on lots of 4 wheeler rides down on the river banks so that Tucker could go swimming. Tucker had a blast chasing sticks for two days straight, and got quite a workout. By the way I love Alaska falls and the beautiful colors, I just wished they lasted longer.

Chris finally wore the baby Bjorn (which he claimed he would never wear in public), but he said it was okay because they were 4 wheeling! Boys and their egos :) As you can tell it was a good opportunity for Hayden to nap!

Despite all of our bumps in the road, there is nothing like the love and happiness a child brings to your life. I could be having the worst day in the world and when Hayden looks up at me and smiles, I seem to forget everything and remember what's important in life.

Milestones

This is Hayden at 8 weeks, he has almost mastered holding his head up. We have actually reached a few milestones that have made life a lot easier! He sleeps over 5 hours a night, hey I will take what I get and it is a heck of a lot better than every 3 hours. He was sick last week and was waking up every 2 hours with a stuffy nose and let me tell you....I was exhausted. I bought white noise Cd's and put them on during the day when he is napping and he will sleep for hours in his crib. This is a huge step for Hayden because he would normally wake right up the minute you put him in his crib and not go back down.

We are enjoying are days at home and I feel very fortunate that I am able to spend all day with him. Although I still work, just from home whenever he naps, we still get to play and enjoy this peaceful stage of life.

Hayden is getting big really fast, I will be interested to see how much he has grown; we have his 2 month appointment next Friday (although he will be over 10 weeks). He has already grown out of his 3 month clothes so we have had to move onto 3-6 month outfits. He fits them length wise but is skinny and can't quite fill them out!

It is fall time in Fairbanks and the leaves are changing already. We have had a few freezes already but lately the weather has decided to cooperate and stay in the 60's. I am trying to sneak in as many walks as I can with my boys before it starts to get cold. We have to keep our first baby happy as well has Hayden! Tucker's new thing is to act like a jealous big brother and instead of getting in your face when you play with Hayden he likes to put the attention on Hayden so that you'll play with him as well!!

It's hunting season in Alaska, although the warm weather makes it difficult because the moose don't get around much when it's hot out. Chris went hunting during the Labor day weekend, but didn't bring back anything...thank goodness because I am not a fan of moose meat. I think that we are going to take advantage of the nice weather and let Hayden experience the river and cabin this upcoming weekend.

Roadtrip

Hayden is definitely a morning person, which is the complete opposite of Chris and I! He is all smiles when he wakes up and instantly puts you in a good mood, even when it is 4 in the morning. I was really excited and thought we had reached a milestone on Friday night when Hayden slept 6 hours. That is until the next night when he decided to remind me that he is in control and woke up every 2 hours.

Chris has been working down in Ft. Greely these past few weeks. It is a bummer, and we miss him desperately (okay to be honest I miss being able to hand Hayden off to him and have a few minutes to myself). It has been a little frustrating at night because Hayden gets really cranky and then cries, which triggers Tucker to get all excited and drop all of his toys in my face. But we only have a few more weeks of it. I give single moms (especially Sally Brown, who's husband is currently Iraq and didn't really have a choice of being alone) all the credit in the world, I could not do it.

Well we decided we needed to get out of the house and go for a little roadtrip to visit Chris. I was a little nervous because Hayden hates his carseat and screams for the majority of the time he is in it. So my mom watched him for a little bit while I got everything ready to go and she kept him up all afternoon. He instantly fell asleep in his seat and slept the entire way down. Chris and I played with Hayden all night, he stayed awake for a good 3 hours, and then we hopped back in the car and made the hour and a half journey back home...tear free!

Chris gets to come home on the weekends, and this is what our bed looks like on Sunday mornings. Hayden likes to lay in his arms, which then means that Tucker has to lay in Chris's arms. As you can tell the dog and the kid are daddy's boys, and I am the picture taker and buffet!!

Time Flies

Wow, I can't believe that Hayden is already a month old. Time has flown by and my days of pregnancy and even labor are a big blur. Hayden and I stay busy working from home, taking care of the house, walking the dog, and most importantly playing together. Then, when dad comes home, I actually get a few moments to do time consuming chores like make dinner and fold laundry. Who wants to do that boring stuff when you have big beautiful blue eyes staring up at you all day long!!! Hayden is such a daddy's boy and Chris has a magic touch...it is priceless. If he starts crying you just give him to dad and he instantly calms down!

He is starting to form quite the personality, and cracks me up every day. It is amazing how much they change from day to day. I love the picture above, it is Hayden kicking it on the coach...legs crossed and his head propped up on his arm!!

He finally got to take his first bath...a long awaited event because his belly button didn't want to fall off. 18 days after birth when we were at his weigh-in appointment the doctor finally decided to use silver nitrate to get rid of his stub! It seems as though I am seeing a pattern of Hayden continuing to do things on "Bunch Time"!!!

His bath started out great, and then it turned ugly very quickly. He wasn't to happy with Chris pouring the water over him and scrubbing him down. He gave me the most pathetic little faces, it just breaks your heart doesn't it!

Then he got over giving the sad faces and just started screaming bloody murder. Even after his bath he gave you little whimpers to remind you how miserable it was! Little attitude at such a little age :)

He's getting big, and weighed in at 10lbs 11oz at his 1 month appointment this week. So apparently his medicine is working and he is digesting my milk just fine. Although we couldn't get away without something going wrong...they found that he has a yeast infection, so on top of his squirts of medicine 2 times a day, I now have to give him more medicine 4 times a day. Oh well, it is fruit flavored so he eats it up and licks his lips afterwards! I don't know if you can tell, but I was trying to capture the smoke in the background. It has been horrible and there is an advisory to keep old people and children in doors. You can barely see a mile in front of you. It stinks because we can't enjoy our final days of summer. Hopefully it will clear up soon. We were supposed to make a road trip down to Delta tonight to see Chris, he has been working at Ft. Greely, but we will have to post-pone it until the weather gets better. Until then, he is coming home to visit us!