Somersaults!

I can't believe that a mere 10 weeks ago Hailey clung to my leg like a life raft when we walked into Little Gym and now she's asking me to do somersaults with her over and over again! I am SOOOOOO glad we are doing this class and that Hailey is getting more comfortable being out of her "comfort zone".



(Sorry for some of the action being cut off, the video reduced in size when I posted it to the blog. If you want to see a better version, you can watch it on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxGuzgWjk0k )

Dancin' Shoes

Sorry for the lack of posting recently... nothing very eventful has been happening over here, just the normal day to day stuff. The best thing about the everyday stuff is that I get to watch Hailey develop the cutest, funniest, sassiest personality. Bryan got Hailey these sparkly ruby slippers for Christmas and her teeny tiny feet are finally big enough to wear them. Apparently she thinks they're her dancing shoes because every time we put them on she starts tapping away. Boy, does this little lady make me smile!

Birthday Bash

Two weekends ago we celebrated two special birthdays around here. The first was my friend Ashley's son Colin's 2nd birthday and Hailey was invited over for some arts and crafts and ice cream cupcakes. Hailey has done a little painting at daycare but she still hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet. She had a lot of fun and even painted a little more than just the picture frame she was supposed to be working on ("Hi Mom, what orange stripe in my hair?"). Colin got really into his painting too!


Little kid birthday parties are so much fun because they are SO EXCITED ABOUT EVERYTHING!! Colin loved opening his presents (with a little help from Hailey) and wanted to play with them all rightthisminute! Ashley got ice cream cupcakes from Maggie Moos and they were so delicious.

The next day Bryan and I and several of our close friends went to Las Vegas to celebrate MY birthday! The first night we were there we went to see Cirque du Soliel Zumanity very risque but absolutely amazing! We really enjoyed it and I thought it was fitting that I saw a Cirque show for my 21st birthday and then this one for my 31st birthday. The next day Bryan gave me my birthday present, a massage at the AMAZING Ceasers Palace spa! I went an hour early and used the roman baths, dry and steam saunas, and the arctic ice room. The massage was truly one of the best I've ever had and it was much needed "me" time. That night we all got together again for dinner at Postrio at The Venitian and we had an awesome dinner. Afterwards we went and gambled at Bill's which is our all-time favorite casino because of the cheap tables and special 3 card poker table. Lady luck was on my side and I won $600!!

As if the trip wasn't already fabulous enough, I got the most wonderful surprise when I got home! My friend Brittaney, who is also our go-to photographer for all our special occasions, set up a surprise photo shoot with Hailey and Colin while we were gone! She coordinated with the grandmas, who were babysitting, to meet her out in the blossom orchards and got some truly incredible pictures. What a special treat to have such gorgeous pictures of my favorite girl!

Little Gym

Since Hailey spends 4 days a week at home with me and the other 3 days a week at Debbie's in-home daycare with only one other toddler, I thought it would be fun to find a Mommy and Me class. I wanted her to experience socialization with other kids in a fun and structured environment. Also, since she was so slow to walk, I wanted something that would encourage movement and balance. Unfortunately there are not a lot of options where we live, but I managed to find a place that met all of my criteria and more: The Little Gym!

Hailey is in the "Birds" class, which is for kids 10 months to 19 months. Hailey is the oldest in the class but she's also the only one who didn't take a class last semester, so she is the most hesitant kid in the group. The funny thing about Hailey in class is that when she doesn't want to do one of the activities, she fusses but does it anyway. No tantrums and no running away, just fussy while she does it and then back to being happy when she's done. Silly girl!

Today was our 4th class and I have seen huge improvement in Hailey's mobility, curiosity, cooperation, and bravery. While all of the gym equipment freaked her out during the first class, I could barely drag her away from it during today's class. She loves the other kids and playing with the balls and the bubbles are her favorite. When I ask her on Friday mornings if she wants to go to Little Gym, she says and signs "ball" and "bubble". It's sooooo cute!! I can't wait to see her growth over the next several months and hopefully this will be something we'll continue to do throughout the whole year!

Project Life

I am sooooo excited!! I found out about this product through another friend's blog (hi Kelly!) and after checking out the website, I decided to go for it! Project Life is essentially a complete photo organization kit that can be arranged in a variety of ways. It comes with enough materials to include a photo a day with journaling cards to accompany them, but it can also just be used to organize your photos by month or by theme. I've decided that attempting to do a picture a day is a wee bit ambitious for me, so I'm going to organize my photos chronologically by month.

I think the reason I'm SO excited about starting Project Life is because although I like scrapbooking in theory, I have decided I am just too Type A to do it. Unfortunately, it just doesn't come naturally to me and I end up agonizing how to design each page for so long it takes me an hour just to complete ONE PAGE! And with a 1 1/2 year old, who has that kind of time?? So, the result is that I have about a bazillion pictures held hostage in my computer because every time I think about scrapbooking them, I get overwhelmed and give up before I even start! With Project Life there is no cutting, gluing, designing, color-coordinating, or embellishing, and yet you end up with a beautiful album full of memories with a handmade touch.

Here is a preview of my first layouts:

I can't wait to keep it up throughout the year and if it's as easy as I think it is, I may even get ambitious while I'm off for the summer and make an album for last year's photos!

The Next American Idol?

Hailey got this toy from her Auntie Jennifer for her birthday. She wasn't quite ready for it at the time but we just pulled it out and now it's her favorite toy!! She has always been such a musical girl, she loves to listen to music and dances and claps every time she hears it. I love to watch her laugh and smile and explore new things!

Christmas Rewind

If I don't post about it now, I'll never end up posting about Christmas!! Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday and I loved sharing it with Hailey this year. We decorated the house and the tree while Hailey was asleep and when she woke up in the morning, she went around the whole house pointing at everything and saying "Ohhhhhh!" She learned to locate Santa on the advent calendar and cooperated perfectly when we told her she could only touch the ornaments with one finger. On Christmas Eve we went to my in-laws and Hailey got to open her first round of presents. Once she figured out she was supposed to rip the paper off the gifts, she went to town! She ripped the paper off all of her presents and then moved on to everyone else's! She didn't care what the present was one bit, it was all about ripping that paper. We had Christmas morning at home just the three of us and then we went to Bryan's grandparents' house for dinner with the rest of the family and more presents. The day after Christmas my mom and stepdad came up for....you guessed it, dinner and more presents. It's really too bad no one loves us around here ;)

Christmas Morning

Christmas Day at grandparents' house

More celebrations with more family and more presents!

I also just realized that I never posted any pictures from our Christmas card photo shoot (taken by the fabulous Brittaney) so here are a few of my favorites:

Here's looking forward to a fantastic 2011!!