10 Things About Being A Parent I'm Sure Someone Told Me....

But I was too busy to listen to. Or I didn't believe at the time. Or I was sure wouldn't apply to me. If only I had listened the first time when my photographic memory was in tact. It was all SO true, and I would have had a heads up!! Now that I have a memory the size of a sweet pea, I figured I should write them down for future reference. Here they are...

1. Your child will start to manipulate you around 4 months of age... or in my case at birth!:) You will find out you are not as smart as you thought you were.
2. Google will become your best friend. You can find any and ALL answers here! You realize quickly just how much you did not know.
3. Your boobs(or your spouse's boobs) will become the size of watermelons during pregnancy and stay that way throughout breastfeeding... and you better enjoy it while it lasts! As soon as the weaning is over the watermelons are flattened to pancakes. Yikes!
4. Grocery shopping is changed forever. There is never a moment of silence. A list and coupons are always needed.
5. Snot, urine, poop, spit or blood will no longer gross you out.
6. If you thought money was lacking before kids, you. were. wrong. Oh, and you can never borrow your way out of debt.
7. All of the things you learned from your parents that you swore you would never repeat... get ready. Repeat, repeat, repeat. I guess we're just creatures of habit! And they were right about time. You will have NONE. Zip. Zilch. It is gone forever.
8. You will have the equivalent to a masters degree in the subject of poop by the time your first child is 1 month of age. After all, the size, color, shape and frequency can tell you if your child is sick or not.
9. Your child will embarrass you on a deeper level than you have ever been embarrassed in your life.... and probably more than once. They are just little people trying to figure out this big world, and they say what they want when they want. Prepare yourself for it.

And last but not least...

10. You will do it all over again if given the option. The way you will feel for your child is unlike anything else you will ever know. It truly is unconditional love.

Aren't you so glad I jotted those down for you? Don't worry, I have a few pictures for those of you that couldn't wait to get to the end of that just to see if pictures were there. I finally got the pictures the church photographer took from Hayden's dedication, as well as some other random ones that somehow never got posted over the last few months. Enjoy!:)

Just the three of us...

The whole gang!

Auntie May's Birthday Dinner!

All dressed and ready for Michael and Maggie's Wedding!

20 Weeks and New Adventures!

Last week marked the 20 week mark in this pregnancy, and this past Thursday(a week late, at 21 weeks) we went to have the big 20 week ultrasound. Everything went great. We even got some pretty good pictures of little Sawyer! He waved to us, kicked me a few times and even crossed his little legs! Oh, and once again the ultrasound technician pointed out he's definitely a little boy!:) The doctor said everything looked great with him... he was about 1 pound at this point. Can you believe we're half way there? In 19 more weeks we'll get to meet our new little man! It seems like the time is flying by, and we are so excited for him to get here!

Profile pic... he's getting big!:)

These aren't the best pictures, but you can see the tiny hand
and foot! I can certainly feel them ALL the time!:)

We also took Hayden on a few new adventures this week. He had his first trip to Chuck-E-Cheese and his first trip on the Big Creek Greenway via a bike trailer! He seemed to really enjoy both. Well, he wasn't crazy about the little rides at Chuck-E-Cheese, but he loved the games. The ride at the greenway on the other hand, he loved. We weren't too sure he was going to enjoy being in the bike trailer, or at least not for long enough for us to enjoy a bike ride, but it proved to be a blast. He enjoyed the wind blowing in his face as we rode our bikes, and we got to go on our full ride! So fun! We'll probably be making little trips to the greenway more often now that he can ride along and enjoy it!

This is pretty much how Hayden looked each and every time we
put him in one of these "riding" games... he just wanted out!
Actually he usually let the big crocodile tears run down
his face, but somehow I didn't manage
to get a picture of that... oops!

He had so much fun at this game! He worked really hard
to knock out those rubber duckies... he was so into it!:)

And he especially loved getting to put the coins in himself.
He wasn't the best at it, but he let us know real
quick that he could do it himself!!!

As much as he loves the telephone at home, I figured he would
just talk and talk on this phone, but as you can see he threw
the phone to the ground and just pushed the buttons!
I guess the phone isn't that cool after all!:)

Now this was his favorite! He loved getting to throw the balls
at skee ball. Believe it or not, he was pretty close
to getting the ball all the way up to the
holes... he was just throwing it
instead of rolling it!

Eventually we had to let him do this so he had a better chance!:)

And this was my favorite thing at Chuck-E-Cheese.... the sketch machine!
As you can see, Hayden didn't exactly give the machine
a smile! Maybe next time!:)

Everyone enjoying their bike ride! I love how Hayden peeked his head around
the corner as I was taking the picture! Oh, and I can't believe I even let Matt
take a picture of me riding, so I figured I had to post it!:)

Do you think he had a good time or what?!?

Our Avid Reader!

This was just too funny not to post! I told you in the last post Hayden is not that into me reading to him at the moment, but he is REALLY into reading to himself! His favorite reading times seem to be when he is getting his diaper changed or when we are getting him ready for bed. It is like he craves getting a book during those times! Well, you know me, I just HAD to get a picture of this "reading" time...

Enjoying his book...

Every single page!

Caught on camera!:)

How funny is this? I just can't believe he wants a book that bad. I mean he crosses his legs and everything... a real MAN!:) And trust me, this is his normal position when reading his books. I actually took these pictures on different days! I guess he just enjoys relaxing and reading a good book! It's actually good for us because it can be quite a task to get a diaper changed or get him lotioned up and ready for bed otherwise!! The books keep him company I suppose! I hope he always enjoys reading and I can't wait until I can understand all those words he is saying while he is turning those pages!!! Happy Reading Hayden!

Hippity, Hoppity

Easter Egg Extravaganza!

Easter came and went! When I first started writing this post Easter was still on its way so the title actually rhymed, but that's what happens when life gets busy... you don't have time to post!:) We had such a great Easter! We did so many "Easter" things before Easter even got here. We made some Easter themed rice krispies, Easter eggs of course, went to see the Easter bunny, went to an Easter petting zoo, broke out the Easter PJ's, read lots of books on the story of Easter and even practiced hunting eggs! We were Easter happy around here! I had a feeling Hayden was going to love getting to hunt eggs because of all the practice we had done, and sure enough he seemed to enjoy it. He got a little more into it around the house, but I think that is just because he didn't have 5 or 10 people hovered around him trying to assist him in the "hunting!" We hunted both indoors and outdoors and he really didn't care where the eggs were, he just wanted to pick them up and see what was inside!:) It was so cute to watch! We had a little hunt with our neighbors on Saturday and a BIG hunt with the fam on Easter Sunday. It was so much fun! Oh, and getting the eggs ready for the hunt was fun as well. Matt and I spent more time trying to get Hayden not to dye his clothes than actually letting him dye the eggs, but he still got the idea. Next year he'll be a pro! The not so fun part of Easter for Hayden was... the Easter Bunny! He was terrified. It was much like Santa Clause.... tons of crying! You'll see what I mean in the picture! Needless to say, he was ready for the Easter Bunny experience to be over! He really didn't even get that into the petting zoo we took him to. He did pick up and hold a baby chick, but other than that, he didn't want much to do with the other animals. We took him after we had seen the Easter Bunny, and I think he was still traumatized from that!! One thing he really enjoyed that we did was making rice krispies. He loved both making them and eating them... yummy! We might just have to make us Easter rice krispies every year! That can go right along with our PJ tradition... we have to get dressed for the occasion! He hasn't really been into me reading him books lately, but he has on the other hand enjoyed getting cozy in his PJ's and reading ME Easter stories!:) I must say I enjoy his storytime!! And I thoroughly enjoyed our PJ photo session(rabbit ears and all!) with Gigi! Gigi and I laughed so hard I thought both of us were going to pee in our pants before it was over. The funny thing is, Hayden enjoyed it just as much as we did. He was cracking up at us cracking up... so cute! All in all, the preparation as well as the day itself was perfect. We couldn't have asked for a better Easter and can't wait until next year!:)

I wasn't lying when I said he wasn't a fan of the Easter Bunny!:)

Please let me hold the baby chick Momma....

OK, but please don't kill the baby chick Hayden!!!

That's better... let Momma help!

Learning how to pet the chick very gently!

Learning to dye eggs! So much fun!:)

The finished product... ready for the Easter Egg
Hunt(and Daddy to eat... he loves these things)!

We had fun making rice krispies too...

Some of the neighborhood kiddos getting ready for the egg hunt...
next year I'm certain they are all going to sit on this same
curb and pose perfectly for the pre-hunt picture!:)

Having fun at the hunt!

If only Sydney and the sun would have cooperated... maybe next time!

All ready for the Easter Bunny to come!

While taking these PJ pics, this happened(where you
could see the coupon attached to his ears!)...

This happened...

But funniest of all was when THIS happened!!! Poor boy...

But at least he did get a visit from the Easter Bunny!
Hayden could.not.wait. to get over to his basket!

And dig everything out of course!

He even wanted the stuff up top!

I tried my absolute best to get a picture of both of them together...

They just do better alone! Wasn't the Easter Bunny so nice to them?!?

Time for the family hunt... maybe next year they'll
all line up so I can get a real pic!

And he's off...

Trying to decide which eggs to go for!

Look Grandaddy, there's one!

This one hidden in the tall grass was a little trickier than the others!:)

He had so much fun picking them up and putting them in his basket!

I tried to get a picture of him with his second cousins, but it didn't work too well!

There was a little more cooperation for the family photos!

And after ALL that was said and done, Hayden
ended up with his very first skinned knee!:(

That did not however keep us from having a photo session when we got home!!!

Or Hayden from eating a few of the things he found inside his eggs!

How many more are in here?!?

So funny!:)

The half smile...

One more time, but on Daddy's face this time!:)

Having so much fun swinging! I love Sydney's face in this last one...
she was so tired from chasing us around the yard!:)

So cute!

Oh, and one more thing... Auntie Tiz got engaged! Yippie... we can't wait to plan another wedding! Welcome to the family Uncle Brad!

How funny is this pic? I just had to post it because I thought it was so cute!

One happy engaged couple!

So, as you can see we have been really busy lately. Had tons of fun, but been very busy. Easter was everywhere, and it was eggcellent!:) I have to get un-busy again(maybe I should say a little less busy, seeing as I am a busy body!) so that my next post doesn't have to be 45 minutes long to tell my story! I just hate having to leave something out!!! I hope everyone had as great of an Easter as we did. Only one more year until we get to do it again!!