Lions and Tigers and Bears...

Guess where we've gone 3 times in the past 3 weeks?? The ZOO! Hailey just can't get enough! (And to be completely honest, neither can I!)

A few weeks ago the weather finally reached the 70's so Bryan and I thought it was the perfect time to take Hailey to the zoo for the first time. She has lots of animal books and had been watching the Signing Time "Zoo Train" video a lot lately so we thought she was probably old enough to enjoy going to the zoo. We all had such a great time!! Hailey was completely fascinated with the different animals and we heard a lot of "Oh WOW!" throughout the visit. Even though she enjoyed looking at the animals, she was a little intimidated by the size of them and wanted to be carried around the whole time. It was so much fun to watch her expressions and excitement and make this memory as a family.

The following weekend my mom and stepdad came up for a visit and we decided to head back to the zoo so they could get in on the fun. Hailey was like an old pro this time, she ran around the zoo like she owned the place! After each animal she'd say "Next!" and point to the next enclosure. We were having such a great time I decided to sign up for a membership so that Hailey and I can take advantage of my time off during the summer! My parents had so much fun watching Hailey experience the zoo and we even got a traditional picture with the flamingos like we used to do when I was a kid.

The week after my parents were here was my spring break from work. On Friday my friend and co-worker April and I decided to get our girls together and head to... you guessed it, the zoo! Hailey had just as much fun on the third visit as she did on the first! April's girls were such good helpers with her and it was so cute to watch them each want to be holding her hands at all times. It was a really fun day and I hope we get to go back with them again.

I can't believe my baby girl is getting so big so fast! I am having SO MUCH FUN with her every single day and doing these types of adventures and making these memories with her is my Mommy dream come true!

Hippity Hoppity, Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!!

Easter hasn't been a big holiday for me in my adult life and because it bookends Spring Break, Bryan and I are usually on vacation during that week. Even last year, Hailey's first Easter went by pretty unnoticed because we were in Hawaii (don't you feel sorry for her?) About a week ago I finally realized that not only would we actually be in town this week, but Hailey would be old enough to get an Easter basket and hunt Easter eggs! Obviously she's not old enough to understand about the Easter bunny but I knew she would have fun finding the eggs and putting them in her bucket. She had the BEST TIME! She looked so pretty in her Easter dress and was so proud of herself for finding the eggs. And when she found out there were graham cracker goldfish inside? She was in heaven!

I love experiencing these moments and milestones with Hailey. It's what I always dreamed of when I envisioned being a mom but so much better than I ever imagined!!

Hailey's First Haircut!!

Hailey has reached another major milestone! Her first haircut!! For the last few weeks her bangs have been really bothering her because they were down to her nose. She was repeatedly pushing them out of her eyes and becoming quite disgruntled with them so I decided it was time for a little trim. Bryan gave me permission to do the haircut without him provided I PROMISED not to cut her curls off. Why on earth would I want to cut her curls off?!?!? Promise made, Hailey and I headed off to Cool Cuts 4 Kids where they specialize in kids haircuts. It's totally awesome!! The waiting area has toys and a movie playing so the kids are entertained while they wait. Once it was her turn, Hailey got to pick a movie and sit in a race car. She wasn't too sure about the whole experience (You may have noticed she's a little bit leery of new experiences. Especially ones where she doesn't have Mom or Dad to hold onto.) The staff were really great, distracting her with bubbles and singing silly songs. The stylist just trimmed a little off her bangs and then evened out the back and layered it a little to make her curls extra bouncy. It looked soooooo cute! They even gave me some of her clippings with a "First Haircut" certificate for her baby book. I will definitely be going back!
(You may have noticed there is an older gentleman in the background. It turns out they only charge $10 for an adult haircut so he got a smokin' deal. And he got to watch Toy Story during his haircut!)

Here are some pictures from later in the afternoon. It was after her nap so the curls got a little mussed, but I think she's pretty impressed with her new haircut, don't you? :)