Changes Always Happening

Its crazy how fast things can change in a household with babies. Babies are amazing - they do more changing and growing in one week than adults do in months, maybe a year. No wonder their sleep is often so messed up; its hard work growing!

 

 

We have been a busy household lately, from Church, to basketball practice (Andrew is coaching), to cleaning, date night and everything in between. This week upcoming is even more busy! Our calendar is quite full for the next few weeks, especially with Christmas approaching fast.



 

 I officially deam little man a 'supported sitter' and he sure loves sitting up and playing with sissy. This boy is growing too fast and I want him to slow down. Looking back, Caelyn was supported sitting before him and sitting all by herself right at the end of 5 months. I was pushing her though because I wanted her to grow I was so excited. Now, I have learned to appreciate the current stage that my babies are in versus wanting them to get to the next phase.

 He loves to hang out in his high chair and play with the toys that came with it. (PS - its THIS highchair and we love it!)

 He made the recent discovery that he can reach up and grab his feet. Boy, who knew feet could be soo exciting ;-)

 Our little girl has been just as busy. After Andrew and I's date night on Wednesday, we went to Walmart, looking at toys and trying to decide if Santa had enough.
When we got there, I found the Fisher Price Nativity Set. I was soooo excited! I had been wanting to get this for Caelyn forever! She broke parts of my really nice nativity set.
Ever since then, she has played with it everyday. She likes to call baby Jesus baby Moses, but thats ok I suppose ;-)
Its a great tool/toy to use to teach children about the real meaning of Christmas.

 Speaking of the real meaning of Christmas, we decided that one of our Christmas activities this year was going to be making cookies for our neighbors - showing love and kindness during the advent season I think is so important.
We made sugar cookies. Brayden and Caelyn were my little helpers :)
Well.... Brayden ate some pears and Caelyn kept trying to get her hands into the batter to eat!

 What really excites me lately is the ever-growing bond between brother and sister. He is starting to interact with her more and its amazing (and tearful for me) to watch. I LOVE watching her with him and how much he looks at her with amazement and everything he does makes her laugh and then in turn he laughs.

And yes, he pulls her hair ;-) A LOT!

 We are introducing some foods over here. We have tried a few fruits (every veggie causes him to gag, so whatever.. there will come a day when he likes them). He is doing awesome. When he started grabbing food from us and crying and whining when we were eating, I decided to try and he is so happy!

But, boobs are still the best ;-) always to Brayden!

Nighttimes are changing as well. We are beginning new routines to get the kids to sleep better. With Brayden, we cosleep at night, so its a matter of getting him to sleep a few hours at first in his crib while we spend adult time watching TV, crocheting, playing video games, whatever we want to do. We are really trying to focus on his nap times the most. For Caelyn, its about creating a quiet, calm evening after dinner to lead her to an easy bedtime.
Before, we were going from hardcore playing to lets go to bed and thats a hard transition with lots of tears.

Whoa, thats quite an update!
Tomorrow will be grocery shopping day - we desperately need it. I will be posting our meal plan and grocery list ASAP!

28 Weeks!

28 weeks yesterday! Yay! Officially the 3rd trimester! 12 weeks to go and our little boy will be in our arms.

I had my OB appointment yesterday. I had a Rhogam shot and my glucose test, so lets hope for good results for that test!

*Weight Gain: 4 lbs total! Since my last appointment three weeks ago, I gained 2 lbs!

*Next Appointment: April 30th will be my 30 week check up. It will also be the last ultrasound that they measure my cervix! At this point, I have made it this far and we feel confident. (Cone biospy over a year ago could weaken my cervix, causing it to shorten too soon.)

*Sleeping: I sleep well, just having to make frequent bathroom trips gets old after awhile. Oh and 3am seems to be his time to dance because I wake up almost every night at 3am to him going wild!

*Any Problems?: My stomach seems to actually feel heavy. I was walking in the backyard and lifted my stomach up and it made a world of difference! Does this mean I need one of those belly bands? I hope not!

*Movement: He is an active monkey and is doing kicks, flips, and tumbles.

*Favorite moment: at my 28 week appointment, we tried to get a good 4D photo (she tried last week too during my routine ultrasounds) and he was not working with us. But, he was sucking his thumb and it was so precious to watch!

27 Weeks With Number 2!

I kinda cheated - I took this yesterday, but I figured... eh, I won't change literally overnight, so its all good.

Since I'm back to blogging, I want to do an update weekly!
*Weight Gain: last time we checked, which was two weeks ago, I had only gained 1.5lbs, but I figure I must have gained another 2lbs by now. I was steadily losing weight and Brayden was gaining, so I was glad to see an increase in numbers.
* Next Appointment: Next week, the 16th, is my 28th week appointment. I get ultrasounds every two weeks for my cervix issues (I had a biospy which could potentially cause it to be weaker and shorten prematurely). I will get an ultrasound, my 2nd Rhogam shot for this pregnancy, and glucose test. Fun!
*Sleeping: I am sleeping pretty well, minus having to pee like every 2-3 hours. Joy!
*Any Problems?: No problems, just starting to actually FEEL pregnant. Bending over is harder, I need to take things slower, lifting needs to be done with my legs, not back..
*Movement: Oh, he finds my bladder and kicks the crap out of it. He is a mover, pretty frequently, and has a set schedule most days.

All in all, this pregnancy is pretty amazing. I had minimal sickness, I'm not gaining too much weight... Overall, life and pregnancy is feeling good. 13 more weeks til we meet our little man! I can't wait to see his face and squeeze him!

A Vacation Is All I Needed

Oh boy.. I sometimes pull a disappearing act and I did it again. I sometimes forget that I love to blog and I get distracted with everyday life. But lately, I've been feeling that drawing to going back to blogging and wanting to expand - wanting to expand into things I love such as gardening, home decorating, and my favorite - saving money, oh plus that little thing called parenting :)

But.. I wanted to give you all an update on how we are over here in this world.

Andrew and I are doing great. I don't think I ever updated this but in the beginning of September, we got engaged :) - my ring is perfect and lovely. Our wedding date - well its always up in the air, but I will explain why very soon ;-)

Caelyn is 26 months old - *cry* - my baby is growing into this little person all her own. On a daily basis, I am in awe of the wonderful things she does and says.
She is just as stubborn as I am, not that I expected anything less. She is beyond smart, loves to play, loves the outdoors, and her parents :).

Today, we went to the annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Pottery Addition Volunteer Fire Department - Andrew recently became the new Assistant Chief. She had a blast!

She played on 'Daddy's Truck' for awhile and later this evening, he took her back over because she had such a blast playing on the truck - future firefighter? Maybe!

We bought a home! I will give you a tour soon :) Its a 3 bedroom home sitting on just over an acre of land. Currently, we are in the middle of adding an addition/sunroom area/family area over top of the garge, so it will look a bit different.

We had a lot of reasons to move. Our other home was just too small, it was a box basically. It was beside a bar and who wants that? Weekends were a nightmare... Plus this leads to one of the biggest announcements....

Our family is expanding as well!

That is right :) We are expecting! This is why our wedding is currently up in the air. We found out at the end of October, right when I found the dress of my dreams - God works in funny ways, right?

My due date is July 9th, 2012 and we are expecting a little BOY - Brayden Joseph. We are so excited. A bigger home was definitely needed for our growing family and we are so happy to welcome him into our home and grow as a family. I can't wait to see Caelyn meet him! I get teary eyed thinking of it.

In this picture, I am 26 weeks 3 days.

So, that is why is going on in the Hayes' house.

I am happy to be blogging again. I want to document the rest of this pregnancy.

I have been student teaching since the end of January. My last day in the classroom is April 19th and I am so ready. Student teaching has confirmed that...

- I am meant to be a SAHM - at least for awhile

- We will soooooo homeschool ;-)

- Teaching is definitely one of the hardest, yet most rewarding careers one could pick.

I know, some people cannot believe I have student loan debt but want to be a SAHM and thats right, I darn do. Andrew recently picked up a second job at Lowe's - its seasonal but we hope it'll become a part time job afterwards or I will apply for subbing after i graduate... I just am meant to stay home, as much as possible! Its God's calling for me.

Happy Easter! I will be back tomorrow evening with some lovely photos from our day ;-)