Our Princess turns ONE!

What a year it has been! And the poor little sweetie has spent her first birthday not feeling so well. She woke Tuesday with a cough and hoarse sounding. As they day went on it got worse and by evening she didn't have a voice. It appeared she felt miserable, and so pitiful when she was trying to cry so loud. The night was long, but this morning she didn't seem so bad. Off and on she would be happy to play, and would smile when wearing her new Squeeky shoes. Her one year well check is this Friday so I was kind of putting off taking her in. By afternoon I had changed my mind but wasn't able to get her in to her dr and they suggested I just take her to the walk in clinic. They tested her for strep, which was negative, but her throat and tonsils are so swollen we were sent on our way with a 5 day liquid steroid prescription. Of course now she's sleeping in her car seat before I've had a chance to medicate her all up!

Birthday girl clapping wearing her tutu from Grandma Nadine. 

Chewing on the tag from her new clothes!

We canceled having a party since she isn't feeling good. I still want to make her a cake when she's feeling better :)

A Rambling Birth Story:
December 27th 2010 I made my way to bed about 10 I believe. Suddenly I was in extreme pain on the lower right side of my back. And at 8 months pregnant it was hard enough to get comfortable to sleep! I was in tears trying to find a way to lay that didn't hurt. Then I kept feeling like I needed to pee. I must have went to the bathroom 4 times in 30 min. Upon my last return to bed, I barely got situated and felt the gush. I laid there thinking there is no way I just peed the bed, but surely my water wouldn't have broken already! My baby isn't due until next year, for goodness sake! After the denial passed I went to the bathroom yet again and was fairly convince my water indeed did break, but still not positive I woke Kent asking what I should do. I called the hospital and of course they wanted me to come in to be tested. Really I should have just tried to get some more sleep at home! I called my younger sister Brittnie to see if she could come stay with Jaxon, and thankfully she was still awake and came right over. I was still in shock that I could be having my baby so soon! I actually made it that far without knowing the gender ;)

At about midnight we headed to the hospital. After sitting in the exam room for what seemed like forever, they confirmed my water had broke and they would be keeping me. Since i was only 35.5 weeks I hadn't been tested for the Group B Strep, so i had to get all three doses of antibiotic. Very annoying! Around 4 or 5 my contractions started picking up and they gave me something to take the edge off that lasted about a minute per dose it felt like. I don't remember details on how many cm dilated I was. I just know I was ready for it to be over with and they wouldn't do anything to speed it up until I had all the doses taken for Group B. It must have been 7or 8 that I talked to the anesthesiologist about giving me a perfect epidural ;) Well, it wasn't as perfect as the one with Jaxon, but I at least never lost complete feeling of my legs and feet! I was able to rest, and I was happy for that. At some point I was given pitocin to get things moving. I was ready to push at 10:30 or 11 but the Dr was no where to be found, so I was told to wait. How ridiculous! They're lucky I had an epidural! Finally the Dr came, unfortunately my regular Dr wasn't on call until that evening, and with two and a half pushes our baby was born! I was so caught up in the moment I didn't even hear the announcement "It's a girl!" as they whisked her away to the warming bed to make sure all was OK. I turned to Kent asking and then see he is pale about to fall over. I assured him I no longer needed his help and he should probably sit down! The next 18 years must have flashed before his eyes ;)

Hayden Grace was born at 12:00pm December 28th 2010- a month early and healthy weighing 5lbs 4oz.

We're still here...alive and well(ish)!

Phew! It's been some time since I updated. Not quite sure where to begin. I don't have much for pictures to show for it either, for some reason. The last couple months have been a bit of a blur with the baby of the house not sleeping much. After getting croup a few or so weeks ago, two doses of steroids never really cleared it up. Last Sunday she woke with a nasty snot nose, was a crabb-ier, feverish mess by evening. Kent didn't have work so he took her to the dr. for me on Tuesday. She had the beginnings of a double ear infection. Poor dolly. Glad for something to explain it, but didn't make it any better! Now that she's been on Amoxicillan for a few days she is perking right up and I've gotten a taste of freedom when she's napped the last couple days.

As for highlights-she has 4 teeth, and is getting to be a brave little one taking many steps in a row! I am not, or wasn't, one to encourage this behavior. With Daddy rooting her on, not much I can do to stop it now! She'll crawl to get to something to stand herself up and off she walks. Granted crawling is still much faster and most often used to get around.

And Jaxon. Oh that boy of ours! He's too smart for his own good. At supper tonight Kent told him to go grab his plate from the pantry so we could put food IN it. Not that he emphasized while telling him, but Jaxon surely picked up on it and replied, "you don't put food IN my plate, just on it!" He is very in to detail, and if he is showing you something-you best be paying attention, as he won't let it slide!

Moving on to some pictures :)

Jaxon taking his Daughter shopping in the 'Moby Wrapper'

 Well hello, Dolly!

 On the move..

 Oooh look what I can do!

 Having fun chasing the balloon..

Miss Big Stuff...walked to brother from the bathroom doorway.

 Trying to get a picture of them together didn't work so well, she just wanted the camera. Jaxon caught her and said he was holding her like a bundle. Of firewood or what?!

Oh dear...

Poor Sister was apparently getting into his stuff. After hearing him hollar for me in a struggled voice I met him like this! (Had to snap a picture, of course!) Once I took her from him and explained to him he really shouldn't carry her, he hung his arms and said "Hoo! She's a lot of work!" That she is Buddy, but what a joy :)

Harvest Festival

On October 31st, commonly known as Halloween, my friend Shannon invited us to join them at their church for a Harvest Festival, in place of the normal Halloween trick-or-treating. I was thrilled for the idea, being I'm not so into the actual holiday since having kids and researching it's background. Kent wasn't going to make it home in time, so us ladies just took the kids. It was freezing cold and got dark in a hurry! But the toddlers enjoyed playing some games and getting candy. Naturally.

 Miss blue eyes loves being worn in the front pack.

Jaxon Willard and Shayla Jade

Baby Rhianna Alexis

 First things, first! Climbing the straw bale pyramid

 Quickly made his way to the top!

 Waiting to see if Shayla was going to join him...

 She wasn't coming, and then a guy randomly dropped a big scoop full of candy on the lower bales, then she came running ;) Jaxon was funny and didn't just take any ol' piece he saw, he made sure it was a kind he liked!

 You can see with his once piece and her bag full, who gets candy often and who doesn't :P Shayla didn't care a bit what kind it was!

 Begging them to pay attention and smile..I asked for them to show me their teeth. Shayla gladly pointed to hers :)

 And on to the games. Jaxon was pumped to get to use a 'shoot gun'. If they hit the target they got more candy than if they didn't. Of course he had to hit it!

 This was just a bunch of straw spread out with candy mixed in. Once again he was being picky, but did get a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup for his Dad!

 It had been advertised that there would be a bbq there, so we went hungry of course, but something fell through. We had to hit McD's drive thru on the way home! I was amazed at all the parking lots having trick-or-treating things set up sponsored by radio stations and such. Better than most neighborhoods these days!

 And I purchased myself a caramel apple for 25 or 50 cents, now I can't remember for sure!

Snickerdoodles

Last Friday I was in the cookie making mood, and snicker doodles just sounded like a good choice. Well, soft snicker doodles were my plan, but that deemed to be harder than I thought.

Jaxon is always wanting to get his hands into what I'm doing in the kitchen. This wild rice and popcorn seed mixture, a few kitchen tools and some monster trucks kept him busy for much longer than necessary.

 He can be a picky kind, so I was pleasantly surprised when he enjoyed them so well.

And sister was no longer content with her saltine cracker and came begging for my sweet cookie! She knows whats best ;)

Little Sister is 10 Months old already!

Fresh evening air! 

 She pushes this activity table across the kitchen while she walks behind it. Kind of looks like a little old lady using a walker :)

(Kaia-noticing it's normal for her to have one sock on, one sock off?)

 "Hi Sister!"

Check out that wild hair!

She ended up having her 9 month well check up a few days after she turned 10 months..oops! When leaving her 6 month and Jaxons 3 year check up I was just ready to get out of the place and didn't take the time to schedule her next appt. and then forgot to call until it was getting too late. Not that it really matters, they adjust all the stats to their actual age anyway.

20lbs~60th percentile

28 inches~50th percentile

She waves at anyone who will give her a glance. Crawls and pulls up to stand at almost everything. Jabbers, dadada, ahhhh, and many other noises besides mamama! Loves bath time-if she hears the water going she can move quite fast, yesterday she pretty much did a burn out coming around the bathroom door :) Despite her obnoxious seeming to never end teething, she loves to play with toys and is often found in her brothers bedroom emptying baskets of toys, or underwear.

pumpkins and apples

Kent carved Hayden's pumpkin and I did Jaxon's. We're so creative, right? :)

J still wanted to sing happy birthday to the pumpkin like last year, and when I wasn't sure if we had any candles he was sure to remind me that I had mentioned earlier maybe there was some in the attic.

I like how H looks as if she's considering eating the pumpkin and J is making sure to hold on to her.

 Testing out some fresh apple cider from Grandma and Grandpa Rhoades.

Daddy giving lessons on how to core/peel/slice apples for dehydrating..

Even if he wasn't watching, he did a pretty good job!

 And this is how I make my way around the kitchen lately..with a couple extra legs :)

Love

Just barely enough hair to hold a snap clip! Oh. So. Cute!

Sick with a puke bug Monday last week :( That was not fun to witness, poor baby girl!

Oh the love!

Last Monday (same day Hayden was sick) Kent took Jaxon with him to the grandparents for two days and a night. Upon their return, all he cared about was seeing his sister. He asked if he could hold her and ran straight to the couch. I could tell she was missing him on Tuesday, too. I must be boring :)

hunting season=visiting Big Sister time!

When Kent mentioned wanting to go hunting, my first thought was "Sweet, the kids and I will go to my sisters!" Maybe it was more than a thought, because I'm pretty sure I said it out loud! My Mom joined us, well actually we joined her beings Kent took the Mini, she drove.

Auntie M(istie) and Baby Hay Hay

Sampling a pear.

So last weekend that's where we went! Hayden slept almost the whole drive, except waking just in time to drink a bottle and finished it as we pulled in their driveway.We got there in time for Enchiladas and peach smoothies Friday night. With all the excitement of being with cousins the kids went to sleep late. Saturday morning the kids headed to the tennis court around the corner while we finished getting ready then picked up Jaxon on our walk downtown. After checking out some stores, getting a coffee  hot chocolate and delicious sugar cookie, Jaxon spotted a hill he wanted to climb-remember he's riding in the stroller. We accomplished the hill on the way back to the house to eat lunch. Then we were off to the pumpkin patch! Jaxon loved all the little squash things, and had to bring some home-which now sit nicely in my wicker pumpkin basket on the counter for decoration! A trip to the grocery store and chowder for dinner rounded off the afternoon. First thing Sunday  morning we were preparing for the 3.5 hour trek home. Kent beat us there, and we were all quite happy to see him :)

Apparently we also took Uncle Luke and Uncle Marky along. More than once Jaxon made sure I left the pickup door open to let them out. And he hung out with them in the back while waiting for us to get more pumpkins at the patch. Maybe he misses them? :)

Food for Brownie

Jaxon is getting more creative with entertaining himself, and with it getting cooler outside-keeping him in, it's sure a bonus for me! After my shower this morning I called for him to see what he was up to. He replied with "Just playing with my race cars." A new fascination of his. And this evening it was his horse Brownie, named after my Dads horse, that kept him occupied.

 "He's nice Mom. You can pet him right here. But not his tail."

"Here's some nummys for you!"

He really wanted to put water in the trough, but settled on getting to pick some grass for food instead.

Little Princess

My mom joined us for a Target run to get Hadyi some food today. Upon our return we were chatting in the kitchen and I turn to see her sucking away on a pacifier! Looks funny to see her with one, since she barely took one as a newborn. 

But I must admit, I think it's pretty cute! Maybe because it seems like the only 'baby' thing about her these days..

Rock Washer and Castle Builder

 And what do you expect me to do?

 Well this looks interesting...

yum!

After practice with Daddy, he made his very own sand castle!

Of course hard workers need to come in for Freshie. More commonly known as coffee, but in this case spiced cider.