Music Play to learn class

We went to Hayden's first music play to learn class on Tuesday for a preview. She was a bit timid at first and did relax a little bit after realizing we were not leaving her there. She still has a ways to go, but I think just a few classes and she will be romping and singing just like the rest of the class. She loved when the teacher was singing(she loves music) and clapping, and she really liked the bubbles. We will start going once a week tomorrow. I think this will be especially great for the social aspect. Hayden has never been in a room with so many children the same age.

**Yes I was the oldest(by far) mom there!! I felt very old amongst all of the very young moms.

What all 10 month olds should be doing...

Well we have mastered the stairs!! A gate has permanently gone up on both ends, and hopefully that will keep her off of them unsupervised. By the way she thought this was AWESOME!!!! This started because she was trying to get to YaYa's purse, and then she kept on going.

How Sweet it is...Happy Birthday Hsin-Hua

Our friends just picked up their daughter today and it just happens to be her first birthday!! They have waited a really long time for this day, and I am just without words to express how happy I am for them and for Hsin-Hua. Head over to their blog and leave them some nice words, I know they would appreciate it.

3 months ago today

3 months ago today my life changed forever

3 months ago today my heart swelled so big I thought it would burst

3 months ago today I learned a love that I can never describe

3 months ago today my wish came true

3 months ago today was one of the best days of my life

3 months ago today the word mommy became the sweetest word I have ever heard

3 months ago today all the despair and sadness of waiting disappeared

3 months ago today I was hired to do the best job in the world

3 months ago today I became in awe of all mothers

3 months ago today everything became brighter

Hayden, 3 months ago today I met you in person and held you in my arms for the first time, but you had been born in my heart long before that day. You are everything and more I could have asked for. You make me smile, you teach me how to love more deeply, you teach me patience and persistence, you make me want to be the best mom ever, but you teach me it is okay to not be perfect...we still get through the day. You are my heart and soul, and I love you more than I would ever be able to tell you. You are my wish come true, and I look forward to all of the memories we have ahead of us...

Thanks Sherry for the great pictures!!

Hurricane Hayden blowing through...

This was really our 9th month check up, but since we had shots the last time and needed two more today we had to delay this visit until now, so it really is our 10 month check up. Hayden was very happy but fairly subdued on our first visit. Today was a whole different story!! She was a wild woman. Both our doctor and her nurse were laughing at Hayden's VERY animated personality today....they said they were glad to see the "real" Hayden.

You can see the progression of Hurricane"Hayden" blowing through the exam room. She was throwing kisses, she was growling of course, she was yelling, she was examining every single thing in the room. I am so glad I had David meet me there to tag team with me...it took both of us to keep a handle on our wee little one. She cried for about ten seconds when Vanessa gave her the two shots. We are hoping that she bounces back from these shots faster than she did with the last round(that was a really long weekend)

She is perfectly healthy, has met and exceeded her milestone checklist, she is in the 77% for her height(29 inches, she has grown 2 inches in 3 months) but she did drop to the 8% for her weight(17 lbs, which is just one lb more since she came home) We went over what she is eating and how much formula she is taking, and we basically concluded that it is because she is moving so much, and so close to walking. She never stops moving, and she basically never stops standing up....she even drinks about half of her bottle standing up with me holding it for her. We are going to add one more bottle to her diet to just ensure she is getting plenty of calories, but they felt as though it probably would not be anything to worry about. Our doctor's husband is Taiwanese and she has 5 kids and she reminded me that our kids are Asian and are just smaller stature than their American counterparts. We will just see where she is when we go back at a year(Sept) Holy smokes people that is in just 7 weeks!!! 7 weeks our daughter will be a year old!!! Stop hands of time....I demand you to stop, this is going waaay too fast!

Well that is where we are at this week. It is incredibly hot here, I think we are on day 10 or so of 100' plus. The beach weather was so incredible, and almost makes it feel even hotter. We are hanging in there, and we are getting really excited because we are getting ready to watch some of our friends go pick up their daughter Hsin-Hua in Taiwan, and then hoping our other friends will be following close behind to pick up sweet Paige. We can't wait for both of them to get home so we can head to the Northeast to visit them both in the fall!!

Last day!!

Well we are packed up and almost ready to get in the car to head to the airport. We have had a WONDERFUL vacation. Hayden has loved getting to know her uncles and the beach. We are so lucky that we have this amazing place to come and visit. We love spending time with Jay and Rick, and now it means even more to start creating memories with Hayden and being at the beach with her uncles. We are so sad to leave, but we have to get home to daddy!! we miss him terribly, and we wish he could have stayed the whole trip.

Last post from cool Cali, but we will see you when we get back home!!

Hayden's beach buddy

Yay, Abby and her mommy and daddy came to the beach to visit us yesterday. Sara and I have emailed back and forth for almost a year, and love that we finally met in person. They traveled to pick up Abby just 2 weeks before us, and our girls are about 6 weeks apart in age. It was so fun, and we hope we can always visit with them when we come out to the beach. Hayden was a bit loud, so hopefully Abby will want to come back to visit:)

Thanks Wetmore's for coming out!!!

Strawberry Season

Went to pick strawberries and well Hayden decided that she would help herself to the bucket and really enjoyed her first berry. Her white t-shirt did not fare so well.
Yes, I do know that strawberries are on that list of what she shouldn't be eating yet!!

For the love of my uncles!!!

Hayden is totally smitten and in love with her uncles. It took a lot of work on their part, a lot of talking, a lot of playing....but now she can't wait for them to wake up, she can't wait to give them big smiles, and I am pretty sure she will be asking to fly out by herself next summer!!

I wish they all could be California girls

Beach baby is just that....she loved, loved, loved the water and the sand.
yesterday when we went down to the beach. We are going down again in just a little while for a little more fun and sun.

Flight time will be a long 2 hours and 34 minutes

Let's just say that the flight west yesterday really didn't go quite like our trip home from Taiwan... this is our first experience traveling with Hayden since we returned home. I purposely scheduled our flight so that it would be around her bedtime, and planned for her to have her bottle on take off and was hopeful that it rest of the flight would be a bit similar to our trip home from Taiwan....a sleepy little Hayden. Well let's just say it was bedtime, she had her bottle on take off, but then the plan went awry from then on. She sat in her daddy's lap, then mama's lap, she played peek a boo with the child in the row behind us, she sat in Ya Ya's lap and checked out everyone that was standing in line for the lavatory, back to daddy, then to mommy, back to daddy, did some crying, had some more of her bottle, she growled at the business man sitting in front of us. This went on for 2 hours and 34 minutes(I felt every single minute) and by the time we landed I looked I had been to war and back, David was looking a bit disheveled himself. YaYa and everyone sitting around us were just laughing at us, and commenting what an adorable little baby!!

It didn't get much better once we arrived at the beach. She slept most of the way and then woke up and was ready to party like it was 1999.....when she realized that we were wanting her to go to sleep.. things turned ugly. It was a really long night. I was prepared for this part, and hated that it was such a big transition for her. Today she was feeling much better and was very relaxed, she seems to be adjusting to the new environment and new people(we are being very careful about bonding, David or I have held her while she has explored everything and everyone~which of course~so that has helped her with the transition) Bedtime tonight went much better and happened much earlier!!

Here is Hayden completely fascinated by the mountains out of the window when we were on our decent. I love this picture, this is Hayden's typical curiosity about almost everything.

Beach Baby is headed on her first vacation

We are headed west to Uncle Jay and Uncle Rick's beach house for some fun and sun.
We are excited about cooler tempetures, seeing Hayden's reaction to the water and sand, and just having some down time with our family. We will update you with pictures of the beach baby in action. She refuses to keep her sun hat or her sunglasses on....so a lot of sunscreen applied frequently will be in order.

Hoping everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July!!