Hayden's ABCs

I jumped onto the Pinterest bandwagon several months ago and saw this custom print that I was dying to have for Hayden's nursery. I checked out the website and had been lusting after it ever since. Then on Mother's Day I was gifted a fully customizable ABC print with a custom color palette...SO EXCITING! It took me a couple of weeks to put together a fully relevant alphabet and I have just approved the final proof. Now I am anxiously waiting by the door for the finished print to arrive!!

THANK YOU Kristen at Hoot Design Co for being SO easy and fabulous to work with. I am in LOVE with the print and can't wait to see it in Hayden's room SO soon!!

Looking Like Daddy

When you look at my two favorite boys from this angled profile...it's pretty tough to tell who is who!

Stay tuned for a Looking Like Mommy post because now that he is starting to fill out in the cheeks and legs...it's becoming a little more evident that he's my kid too! :)

Twelve Weeks Old

Week 12 was a FUN one! It started off perfectly with Kristin coming into town to spend a long weekend and meet Hayden for the first time. She pretty much took over all Hayden duties as soon as she walked in the door AND took me out for a Melting Pot dinner to celebrate my birthday. How lucky can one girl be?! She helped me survive Hayden's first public diaper explosion...queue the transition to size 1 diapers!...and snuggled the little guy like a total natural. She even made him laugh out loud for the first and only time because, despite all of our efforts, we haven't been able to make him do again!

On Friday Lauren came into town and it was SO nice to catch up after 6 years! Then Tracey arrived on Saturday morning and Hayden was in heaven. He had 3 beautiful ladies swooning over his every move! He loved spending time with them ALMOST as much as I did and if I were Luke, I'd keep an eye on his wife because my little flirt definitely has eyes for Lauren. :)

KiKi and Poppy also arrived on Saturday and were more than thrilled to babysit Hayden while we all went down to celebrate at Christy's wedding!

We all spent Sunday back at the house and then said goodbye to the Florida girls. It was such a great visit and made me wish even more that they lived closer. T and Kris....I love you both so much and am so grateful to have such incredible girlfriends in my life. Tyler, Hayden and I loved every bit of the weekend we got to spend together! Xxo

KiKi and Poppy stayed for most of the rest of the week. It was incredible having extra hands around the house and they even cleaned and cooked for us as well. We got a second date night during the week and were left with a squeaky clean home from the inside out. A MILLION thank you's are not enough...we loved having you here to visit!

Hayden and I also survived his 2 month appointment. It landed closer to 2 1/2 months due to Tyler's new job/insurance. Now that the little guy is eating what he should, he is up to 11 pounds 6 ounces and in the 50th percentile for weight and length...YAY! He got stellar marks for his checkup and fell asleep while we waited for his shots. He took the oral vaccine first, to help wake him up, and then three shots on his legs. He SCREAMED and his face turned the color of the fire engine outside the window...but as soon as we were finished and the nurse said I could pick him up, he immediately stopped crying and fell right back to sleep...WE WILL TAKE IT!

All in all it was a fabulous week! 

Here are some cute iPhone pictures from this week worth sharing...

Smiling baby!

Hanging in his Mamaroo :)

3 generations of Key men!

Eleven Weeks Old

Tyler flew out to Kansas City for an event on Thursday...so Hayden and I packed up Tess and all of our HIS stuff, and headed to Greensboro for a long weekend! We went out to dinner with GiGi on Thursday night and excitedly welcomed Aunt Tracy home on Friday night. We visited with the whole family and even did some post-baby Birthday shopping! I also got a birthday treat to enjoy pedicures with my wonderful sister while Hayden hung out with GiGi and Pop.

Here is a picture of me (big cheesin') and the little guy to send to Tyler...we sure did miss him!

On Sunday we headed to a party celebrating the 40th anniversary of mine and Tracy's primary school. GiGi planned the party and it was quite fabulous! Hayden hung out with his Aunt Sandra and Cousin Haley while we were there. Then we packed everything back into the car and drove home to see Tyler.

On Monday we were back to work and getting creative coming up with ways to keep Hayden entertained so I could get some things accomplished. Nothing like a little improvising! Needless to say...this worked for about 5 minutes....

I also made my first attempt this week at capturing a daytime picture of Hayden and Tess. We got one that I love...and LOTS of outtakes! I did not get a single picture of Hayden and Tess both in focus and both looking at the camera. Not to worry, I have not given up! I have found that Tess gives me great eye contact and cute ears if I hold a treat in my hand. Hayden is a completely different story. And so the mission will continue. :)

My favorite!

The best of the rest... :)

Ten Weeks Old

Week 10 was a huge turning point - we are SO glad to have our happy baby back! He is getting all the food his little tummy needs and he is so much happier...I don't blame him! His little face is starting to fill out...the cheeks and wonderful baby rolls have arrived. :)

Hayden started drooling and blowing bubbles this week! We don't have documented proof just yet, but I can assure you it is on it's way. I've been pretty good about keeping his little mug clean, but I'm certain I will get to the point where I just give in and say "Bring on the DROOL!"

We celebrated my birthday ALL weekend long! We grabbed lunch at my favorite restaurant on Saturday, went to brunch in my favorite little town on Monday, had cake at the Lange's Memorial Day cookout on Monday evening and went out for Mexican for dinner on my actual birthday. I also got to enjoy some champagne that night with almost all of my favorite Whirlie girls (we missed you D)! AND, my sweet little family is treating me to a full spa day...I'm a VERY lucky mom!

Big guy before the cook out.

On my Birthday!

Peeping toes at the Mexican restaurant. :)

And some of my favorite images from this week happened in the dark. I grabbed the pictures below with my phone. They are not the best quality, but they are the most precious moments.

Tyler and Hayden reading the interactive books on the iPad before bed. Gotta love that iPad glow!

And my two babies together...I am determined to capture this in the daylight!

Nine Weeks Old

We continued our week in Florida with a trip to the beach! Tyler REALLY wanted Hayden to be able to brag to all his friends back in NC about putting his toes in the ocean for the first time. :) So we packed up and off we went. We rolled the little guy in this great beach wagon. It has a canopy, and we pinned up a towel on the side to keep the sun out of his eyes.

He LOVED having his toes in the water!

 

We continued our Florida vacation by visiting with friends and eating out across the island. Then Hayden was great on the drive home on Saturday! GiGi came over on Sunday night and stayed for the next few days. Tyler started his new job on Monday and I started back to work, from home. Hayden and GiGi enjoyed long walks outside and we even had time for two 2 month old photo shoots! This is what we got from the chair in his room.

Then later we moved down to his new favorite post...the corner of the couch. He looks like such a big kid when he sits up here. It's the best place for him to sit while I talk and he smiles back at me like I'm crazy. It's my favorite part of every day. :) He's still so very serious in most of his pictures...but we are really getting lots of smiles. Now it's just a matter of capturing them on film! Luckily, we are going to be the proud new owners of a Flip Video Camera thanks to an anniversary gift from Tyler's parents. So stay tuned for videos on the blog!

And this is one of my favorite pictures that I've snapped so far. I know my opinion is completely skewed...but that sweet face just makes me melt. 

Eight Weeks Old

Week 8 was a LONG week...following a long week 7. So I'm happy to be getting caught up on blogging! Luckily this week, after a trip to the Pediatrician AND the Lactation nurses, we finally discovered the reason our very happy baby has been so very unhappy recently. He was not getting enough to eat...not even close! And it was finally catching up to us. So the first half of the week was spent solving this mystery and the second half started our devoted efforts to fix it as quickly as possible.

Somewhere in there Tyler and I changed our original plans of a weekend away for our 3rd wedding anniversary while Hayden spent the weekend with GiGi and Pop, to a night down in Charlotte for dinner at a restaurant we've been dying to try while GiGi babysat at our house. We were bummed to give up on our weekend away....but REALLY enjoyed our night out at Cowfish. And after all, it doesn't matter where you are...only who you're with. <3 So here's to an incredible 3 years that have been filled with so much love and so many smiles and cheers to forever more.

We also left town this week for Hayden's first road trip to St. Augustine. This is only the first of many to come and he was a great car companion! Tyler is starting a new job and I am preparing to go back to work as well. We had a week before all of this got started, so down to Florida we went. Tess stayed in NC with GiGi and Pop...definitely a great option for our first family trip with baby gear. :) We enjoyed the start to our week in the sun with fried shrimp, a visit to the fresh market at the pier, oysters at Oasis and meeting Florida friends.

The camera didn't make an appearance this week until later in our Florida trip, but luckily the sweet gem above was caught on my phone.