You Picture Me Photography

When I met Roon a few years ago, I had no idea what a treasured friend of mine she would become.  She is not only an awesome chick but an inspiring mom and photographer.  Yesterday we were so lucky to beat the storm and get some amazing pictures taken.  She took us to a beautiful eucalyptus grove near our house (somewhere we have always wanted to go) and captured a beautiful morning on film.  Thanks Roon, you are amazing!  Check the photos out on her blog.

...also check out the link to Roon's website to see more of her photos (it's on the left)

Halloween

Halloween this year was an all day event.  We started our day picking out pumpkins at a vegetable stand down the street from our house.  That night, Hayden dressed up at the "Red Barron" or "Biggles" bringing back many memories of him in his microwave after he was born.  We finished the night decorating our pumpkin with crayons.  Thursday we will be turning our prized pumpkin into a pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving.  Hope everyone has a wonderful feast! (we will be enjoying surf and turf here!)

Election Day 2008

I am so excited to be able to say that the election is finally over and Hayden's voice was heard!

Hayden's First Birthday

Moving up!

The last week of September (I know I am a little behind), Hayden took his first steps!  He was so excited and I could not have been more proud!  He was so cute, looking down at his feet, taking a step and then looking at Jeff and I while we cheered him on with the biggest smile on his face.  It was  an amazing moment and I am so glad both Jeff and I were there.

Finally!

When Hayden started crawling, he became my independent baby.  If his needs were met, he was not interested in being held.  Sometimes I wonder if he would even notice if I didn't follow him.  At the beach, he will crawl towards the waves with no fear.  Even when the water comes towards him and the wave (if you can call it that because it is only the last bit of water, an inch deep, that comes up on shore) hits him, he does not stop and squeals with delight.   At restaurants, he will crawl away from our table and not look back.  I love his independence but sometimes I think I might find a little hesitation comforting.

Looking at his record, I don't think I will be finding that comfort anytime soon.  When learning to crawl, Hayden was determined.  Not even his multiple faceplants on our tile floors discouraged him.  In the books, they call him the "accident prone baby."  One day at Devin's house, I left Hayden to go upstairs to get Devin after he woke up from his nap.  On my way out, looking down from the hall, I could not see Hayden in the living room.  In just a few seconds, he had found his way half way up the stairs (the gate had not latched correctly).  I was terriefied, running all the terrible scenarios through my head.  Hayden just looked up at me, so proud and with the biggest smile it was like he was saying, "Look at me mom, I'm almost there!"  His confidence and determination makes me so proud, he is such an amazing little baby.

In the past few weeks, Hayden has become interested in cuddling again.  He will bring a book over and sit in my lap while I read it 10 times.  Or sit at my feet raising his arms to be picked up and rest his head on my shoulder.  He will lay there quiet and still for a few minutes.  Then, he pops his head back up and reaches down and after I set him back down he crawls away and goes back to being independent baby.

Photo takes August 19, 2008

Out with the old

Unfortunately, I was never able to take official before pictures of our nonfunctional box they called a kitchen, but here are some pics from our insurance inventory to give you an idea.  

We opened up the wall where the TV was to make room for a breakfast bar, moving the refrigerator to the opposite wall.  Then extended cabinets into the dining room to create more storage space and bring the two separate spaces together.   We mounted our new TV (happy father's day Jeff) above the fireplace and added a new love seat to our living room furniture.   The old lighting that looked like it belonged in a classroom was replaced with recessed lighting.  The box for the old light in the dropped ceiling was dropped a half a foot, made into an octagon and finished with crown molding (I cannot think of how to accurately describe this, but it looks beautiful).

We could not be happier with the result, it is a completely different house from when we moved in just over a year ago.  I cannot believe this all started with a wet spot I noticed on the sidewalk outside the kitchen.  It has been a long and stressful six months that will be over today when our hardware is installed.

While the house was under construction, Hayden and I spent many of our days at Devin's house.  For those of you who don't know, Devin is 2 months younger than Hayden and I take care of him 3 days a week.  When I started taking care of Devin, I never could have imagined how attached the two would become.  Everyday, they are so excited to see each other.  They squirm out of our arms to start playing each morning, so cute!  

Being in a new house meant new toys and new places to get into trouble.  Devin had a stuffed dog that would play music and each time a song came on, Hayden would start dancing.  I did my best to get it on video, enjoy!

With fall just around the corner, that means Hayden's first birthday is almost here.  I cannot believe it, this past year has just flown by.  When he was first born, I would look at him and think about how I never wanted him to change but looking at him now, I feel like he was always this way.  Our time in the NICU seems like a lifetime ago, looking at pictures, I cannot believe that was less than a year ago.

Photos taken October 9-10, 2007

I cannot believe summer is over and it has been a busy one!  We have just finally settled back into our new kitchen.  We are almost done with the remodel, only missing the cabinet doors and a few finishing touches.  Having open cabinets filled with items that are very tempting to a curious baby have kept us busy during Hayden's waking hours.  

This combined with not being hooked up to the internet for 2 weeks while we were out of the house have kept me from keeping up on postings.  So I have lots of pictures to share.  

Summer for us consisted of as much time outside as possible, at BBQ's with friends, concerts in the park, days at the beach and tasting lots of sand, grass and the like.  Throw in some wine tasting and croquet and summer is complete.

Photos taken July-August 2008

a future olympian?

Hayden has just finished his first summer of swim lessons and is a natural in the water.  He took a 5 week class with other infants and toddlers and loved it!  He never cried once, even when dunked under water.  Considering the fact that he crawls toward the waves at the beach with no fear or intention of stopping, I should have known he would love swim lessons!  My favorite part is when we dunk him under water, he comes up with his eyes as wide open and looks at me in shock, as if he was asking me, "Why did you do that to me and when can we do it again?"  

Photo taken August 16, 2008

A boy and his ball

When this started, I couldn't believe it.  Background: Hayden was playing with a ball and it rolled away from him.  It rolled over to the table but not underneath.  In order to get the ball back Hayden began crawling over the chair's footrest and under the table.  And so it continues as the ball rolls away again.  He worked his way all the way around the table, and then got stuck when climbing over the last chair.

Photos taken July 23, 2008

That camera looks interesting...

When I catch Hayden doing something especially cute, (like sitting in his musical instrument box hitting the morracas against a chair).  I have to try to get a picture before he notices.  And if he does see me, it goes something like the sequence above.

Photos taken July 23, 2008

Hello...

So, ever since Hayden was born, and even before that, I have been struggling to find ways to stay in touch with friends and family and share pictures (the most frequent complaint).  A friend of mine, invited me to see her blog, and the first thing I thought of was what a great way it was to share updates from down here.  I tried the mass email of pictures on Kodak but have only  managed to achieve that once since Hayden was born.  Almost 10 months later, I decided this was probably not working.  So, here is my new attempt to stay in touch.  This is my first time blogging and I'm sure I will be learning more about what I'm doing as I go, but I think I will be able to figure it out...

But first the update:

Jeff and I just celebrated our 1 year anniversary and after the wedding we thought life would slow down, but it has just continued to speed up.  After the flood in March, we had the floors ect. replaced and thought we were done the with clean up.  Then, a month later, we discovered mold in the cabinets.  This lead to a full mold remediation and a kitchen quarantine.  After having half a kitchen for over 4 months now, we are finally ready to rip it all out and start from scratch.  We are so excited for this to be over, especially now that Hayden is mobile and getting very interested in the holes in the wall (literally, I have holes in my wall!).  Now we will be moving out of the house for 2 weeks while the kitchen is completely remodeled.

Hayden will be 10 months old next month, I cannot believe how fast time goes!  He is crawling across the house so fast I cannot keep up.  He talks all day, non stop in his own baby-babbling language.  Baby watching is my favorite past time and he never stops amazing me.  Hayden is now begining to stand on his own, but only until he realizes he isn't holding onto anything and then he quickly sits down.

Just recently, Hayden has started smiling with his teeth (this is the only way I can think of to describe it).  Before when he smiled, it was a big open mouth, grinning ear to ear.  

Now, when he smiles he will only flash his teeth and the rest of his face gets all squinty.  It is so cute, I just want to pick him up and squeeze him every time.

Photo taken July 20, 2008