5 Years

So...it's been five years! Ben and I just celebrated our 5 year anniversary and boy did we celebrate! We went for dinner and a movie! Amazing how before kids that would have been the lamest anniversary ever, and now after kids it's like the biggest treat ever! My parents came over and watched Hailey so Ben and I could have a night out alone! It was fun. We went to the 'Bucket list'...which I would highly recommend. I almost never recommend movies, but this one was so cute and so touching. Go see it! Anyway, Hailey had lots of fun with Grandma and Grandpa...who have now turned into full time babysitters. I'm just so glad they made the time to come out and play with the Hailey Babe. Maybe next year we'll do something really cool for our anniversary, so we don't sound so lame. But, Ben did score some serious brownie points last week.

On Tusday he bought me one rose:

On Wednesday he bought me two more...so total of three:

On Valentines Day he bought me three more...so a total of 6. (sorry no picture of that one...it's still on the camera)
And then on our Anniversary (the 15th) he bought me 6 more...a full dozen! Plus a cala lily -which was our wedding flower. (also no picture yet)

Serious Brownie points! Oh...he also got me a gift cert. for a mannicure, pedicure and a massage. Ahhh...I can't wait! Hailey and I made him a little album of some pics of Hailey and one or two of me. So we weren't really that creative or anything, and I definitely did not score any brownie points, but he thought it was cute. Here's a sample of what he got:



And finally, we decided to paint our wall. After much thought, and tons of feedback we decided to go with the brown. Our couches are a really dark chocolate and our carpet's on the brown end of things so it just made sense. We've also decided to move the art that was originally there and replace it with something like this picture, and to make new accent cushions too. This picture is sort of what it looks like. It's not an actual picture of what we did (I have to clean before I do that), so I just made some pics to put on the wall, coloured the wall and added the cushion. Cute hey? The actual brown on our wall is a very chocolate brown and is not green at all...nothing like this picture, but you get the idea. The paint actually looked like chocolate pudding in the bucket and it took all my will power to not take a bite. Seriously, it looked soooo delicious.



And the original art is now hanging above our bed...and it actually looks really great there. One day, I'll take a picture of it for you...but I have to clean first. And well, I just don't ever feel like cleaning. Oh...and some of you may know the paint story...so I have to fess up. We painted it brown all the way back in November. But, I chose the colour and I did most the painting. Let's just say I have been banned from colour selection and painting for the rest of my life. The brown I chose was more like something you would find in Hailey's diaper after a week of sweet potatoes and peas. Get what I mean? Not so nice. Also, I did half the cutting in of the corners/edges, and all I can say about that is that you really can see where I was working. Big thick streaks of paint. Sort of like a border of paint. Also not so nice. Anyway, we had to do a LOT of sanding and Ben had to choose the colour and paint the wall entirely himself this time. And I didn't mind one bit. Some may think I even planned it that way. I plead the 5th.

Randa...this one's for you

Ok, due to my cousin Randa's request, here are two vidoes of Hailey jumping. Neither are great quality...and definitley no real editing was done. The first video has her jumping to the music...it was playing in the background. I added some music to the second one just to make it more interesting, but it's not really in time with her jumps or anything. If I were my brother, everything would be perfect, but this was something I put together quickly (i.e. 2 minutes). Anyway, Randa, I hope this helps you out a bit and maybe adds a bit of variation to your day. Oh...please give Melia some hugs from her second cousin Hailey.

I lied

Well, sort of. Hailey really is a good sleeper, really she's great and I give all the credit to my babywise obsession. A babywise baby is a good sleeper - I promise...and I know lots of people that can back me up on that one. Believe me, it's the schedule. But I also think it has to do with the fact that we are just given the trials we can handle and losing sleep is just not something I can handle - I NEED to sleep. Some of you remember me from junior high and high school and you KNOW that I was grumpy and moody and difficult to get along with....I was sleep deprived. Ben can back that up as well...we get a long really great - as long as I've had a full nights sleep. But catch me on a sleep deprived day and you'll wish you hadn't even made eye contact. Seriously, sleep deprivation is just not a trial I can have. And I've had my fair share of heartache, so if I get a bit of sleep at night don't hate me. My life is far far far from perfect.

Anyway, onto my lie. I know what you're thinking...I have the perfect baby. Well here it is: Hailey does not sleep 12 hours a night straight. She gets a 'dream feed' about two to three hours into her night - so just before my bedtime. I feed her without waking her up and it works fine for us. She usually sleeps through it and will go back to bed without a problem. This works probably 85% of the time. Which means there is usually one night a week where she does not sleep all night. Like last night for instance...or actually the night before. Oh actually this whole week! She had a killer ear infection on sunday night and was up ALL night long. My baby does cry at night. So we got up with her and cuddled and rocked and tried everything to get her back to sleep. Then on Tuesday she slept great out of pure exhaustion...but Wedensday, well, let's just say I gave in. She hardly ate (drank?) anything all day long and she hardly had any wet diapers, so when I heard a little peep from her in the middle of the night I decided to feed her. She NEEDED her fluids. And then that's where it started. Thursday night I heard another peep from her and because I was having company the next day (Hi Laura :))I wasn't really up for spending the whole night trying to put her back down. So I fed her again and she went back to sleep....which means that last night she woke up expecting to eat again. So there you have it. Hailey's has a bad week...but to me this is just a glitch and not the norm (hopefully). Which is why I can say that she sleeps through the night, because when she's not teething and doesn't have an ear infection she sleeps well. I just have to get back to that way of life, and now that I've set a new precedent it may take some work. So please don't hate me for having a baby that sleeps. Cause she sure didn't this week.

But she still is the perfect baby...aren't they all? She's just perfectly our baby and she's just perfectly Hailey.

6 Months

Ok, it's time for Hailey's big 6 month post. Well, she's actually going to be 7 months in a week, but I still think I need to do this. It's the least I can do. I'm not one of those moms who takes lots of pictures of my baby (well at least not lots of good pictures), I don't scrapbook her pictures at all, I haven't made a baby book for her and so on. I just feel like I need to do more, like I need to be one of those crafty Mormon moms...she is my first baby you know. So if this is what I'm like with one kid - imagine what number 3 (or dare I say 4?) is going to have to deal with. At this rate, that kid will get one picture in the Hospital and one for each year of his life and that's it! My poor posterity. Anyway, here is a little collage I put together of Hailey and a little update on what she's doing. The collage idea is stolen from Ben's famous sister Rebecca Cooper (many of you know of her). My collage really has nothing on hers since she actually has some photography talent, she has a real camera, she has photoshop, and she's creative. Me on the other hand...I just plain old think my baby's cute - and that's good enough for this collage. So you won't see any pro pictures and you won't see any real editing, but you will see lots of one cute little girl. Does it work for you?? It does for me. So here it is:

Hailey, at 6 months you:
-love to roll over (but only from you back to your tummy...you still haven't figured the other direction out)
-are still not a fan of tummy time, but...you definitely are getting better at it
-have started to pull yourself up onto your knees, and almost onto all fours
-like to stand up and can do it all by yourself as long as there's something to hold onto
-L-O-V-E your jolly jumper, you just adore it
-also LOVE your exersaucer
-can sit up...not just a little bit, but really really well
-have 5 teeth, and two more on their way-they should be here by tomorrow
-weigh 17 pounds (50th percentile)
-are in the 75th percentile for height...tall little girl
-are in the 95th percentile for your head size...lots of brains
-are very very curious...you want to see, touch and hear everything
-sleep 11-12 hours at night and take two 2 hour naps a day
-you still nurse a few times a day, eat solids a few times a day and take a bottle every once in a while
-You say 'mmmmm' every time you eat anything
-you still love your thumb
-have had one awful ear infection, poor baby
-smile all the time
-brighten your mommy and daddy's lives more than anything else

We love you Hailey babe...thank you for being so perfect.

Flashback

Remember these two?
They would be: Hailey and her Friend Jocelyn. They are 6 months apart and boy did that seem like such a huge difference then. Hailey was just barely two months and Jocelyn was a fun 8 months. I remember thinking that day how I just could not wait until Hailey was as old as Jocelyn and could do tons of fun stuff - like smile on demand, sit up and basically just be the perfect baby. Well...they are still 6 months apart (surprising?) but it seems like less of a gap now. Well at least as far as their size goes. Hailey now smiles more...but not on demand, she does sit up too...but I'm not sure what a perfect baby is though. I thought for sure by 6 months I'd have it all figured out...turns out it just gets more confusing. Who knew? Anyway, Jocelyn turned 1 this month and we went to her Birthday bash last weekend. It was so fun - especially watching the girls together. They are going to be good friends one day. however, right now all they are to each other is soft-squishy things they can pinch and poke and pet and prod. Fun times. Here's evidence that babies do eventually grow:

Hailey still looks at Jocelyn with wonder...she really is amazing.

I'm pretty sure Hailey just stole that toy from Jocelyn and is avoiding eye contact so she doesn't get in trouble.

Awww...best buds

So Jocelyn's a petite little girl (i.e 10-15th percentile) and Hailey's a monster kid (i.e. 75th percentile - at least her height, her head size is the 95th percentile - she's definitely a Woodruff). So that kind of explains why they're so close in size.

On to other news...Hailey's top teeth came in. Turns out they weren't her fangs...but just her side two (totally don't know the 'real' terms here). Here's a little peak of them...and her new smile.


The close up

What's with the squinty eyes? We KNOW she does not get that from me.

Oh, do you like her bedding? I made it all! The crib bumpers are my favourite...no pattern or anything. Pretty cool hey? I started them in June, so it took me only...oh...7 months? not bad. You'll notice they're really floppy and flimsy...that was on purpose though. I wanted them there so she would stop hitting her head on the crib, but I wanted them thin enough that you could breathe through them...and I tested it out. So they work, they're not the best, but good enough for me. Oh and please disregard the puke on her sheets. My mom saw these pictures already and told me to wash her sheets next time I take pictures of her...to which I responded with 'I'll just edit the puke out'. I kind of don't think that was her point though. Anyway I still haven't washed the sheets and I didn't edit the puke out either. What's wrong with me? At least she now sleeps with her head at the other end...until her sheets are washed that is. Oh, and I need to justify that bathroom picture from my previous post a bit more...that's a our second bathroom (or third, depending on which order you're counting) and it never gets used. So it was clean. And I had just washed the mat she was on, oh and that floors. It was clean, I swear!

That's it for today. I do have a bunch of pictures of Hailey and a little '6 month old' official post to make. But I have to upload my pictures first and then edit them a bit, and I have to do some cleaning (and obviously laundry) some time before that too. But soon, I promise.