Hayden Greer

Hayden today is your FIRST birthday! I can't believe it!

Here are some things about my big ONE year old!

You weigh 23lbs (approximately)

You are about 29 inches long

You wear 12 mo clothes and size 3 shoes.

You wear a size 3 diaper.

You are all chunk, but there is nothing cuter than a roly poly baby.

You pretty much eat anything and everything. You like fruits, veggies (except peas), meats, and carbs.

You love the sippy cup, especially when it's your brothers ;) If someone is eating something that you want you will crawl to them and say "MMMMMMM" really loud until you get a bite. YOU.LOVE.FOOD. {Sorry bub, you come by in honestly}

You take bottles at bed and nap time and maybe occasionally throughout the day. We haven't started milk, I'm curious to see how that will go.

You are a good sleeper. You sleep from 8:30pm-7:30am. This is the opposite how your brother slept. Mama appreciates this about you! You take two naps-a morning (about 10) and afternoon (about 1:30).

You have THREE teeth! Two on top, one on bottom. That fourth one is working it's way out too ;)

You love patty cake, peek-a-boo and playing with your brother. 

You smile, laugh and clap pretty much ALL day. You are just the happiest guy!

You sign more and touchdown. You are babbling "ma ma" but haven't really associated it yet. You really aren't into talking yet and that's ok. Your big brother does enough talking for both of you. I don't know how you'll ever get a word in!

You LOVE bath time, the pool, dog water....aka anything WATER! You think it's so fun to splash and play.

You stand alone for a few seconds and occasionally take one step, but when you realize what you did you won't do it again. You will bounce up and down when we try to stand you up. You're a stinker :]

It's amazing what a year will do to a boy!

Hayden Greer, mommy and daddy love you more than you EVER could know. You have been the perfect addition our family and your brother adores you! We love the way you smile SO big when he kisses you. We love the way you clap and want everyone to cheer with you. We love the way you snuggle with blankets and are the messiest eater on the planet. We love EVERYTHING about you. You are the perfect example of true JOY! Every night mommy prays over you that God will use you for HIS glory. I can't wait to see what He has in store for my big ONE year old! We love, adore and cherish you baby boy. Keep smiling! 

Love, Mommy

Pumpkin Patch

The first time I ever visited Livesay Orchard was with a group of 9 Kindergarten classes a couple years ago. I immediately fell in love and we've been taking Hudson ever since. It's totally worth the drive!

Daddy taught Hudson to ring toss. 

Hud was so excited about the hay maze.... 

and even laughed when he got "booed" by Papa. 

He practiced his mad bowling skills lol! Notice he didn't knock any down.

I would have to say that this was his favorite toy of all. Why wouldn't he love digging in the dirt, he is a boy?! 

 

How tall am I?

These horses are a lot of work!
(And yes I did try it for myself!)

What was Hay baby up to? 

Just posing in a tree 

and ropin' calves with mommy.  

As I look at these pictures I am SO thankful for time as a family. We don't get a lot of time as a family of four and I don't want to take one minute of it for granted. 

I am so immensely blessed and undeserving. 

That baby down front ALWAYS keeps us smiling, I stood him there with no real intention of posing him for a picture, but he was hamming it up so I had to!  

He's just the happiest thing. He is my constant reminder of pure joy. 

We took a hay ride and both of the boys were so serious, they didn't know what to think!

He may or may not have snatched an apple right out of the basket and taken a bite. No worries, we paid for it. I mean how can you deny a home grown apple straight from the orchard? 

I am so thankful to see this boy's smile. It hasn't been shown often lately, but I am thankful for days that he feels well (or somewhat better). 

Cutie patooties! I have no words. 

Mom, I think I like this one. 

Or maybe this one? 

Hmm, let's look over there.

This one is real heavy. 

I'm definitely picking this one.

(and he did!) 

Off with our haul! Do you think that's enough?

Hayden Greer {11 Months}

Hayden this is your last monthly post before the big one! I can't believe it!

You weight around 22 pounds.

You are about 28 inches long.

You are wearing a combination of 6, 9 and 12 month clothes. Being short and chunky means you need a bigger size for width and a smaller size for height! But we love your chunky body, it's SO cute!

You drink several bottles throughout the day, mostly at naps and bedtime and a few others too.

You love your cups of juice and water that mostly mean soaked clothes!

You eat all kinds of food! For breakfast you have some combination of fruit, toast, eggs and yogurt.

For lunch you have cheese, meat, fruits and veggies.

For dinner you are starting to have more of what we are eating.

You finally broke through two top teeth! They are slowly, but surely working their way out!

You want to stand up and go so bad! You are holding onto everything you can push around the house.

You aren't afraid of climbing anything really. However you very slowly and carefully go down the one step into our living room as if it were a dangerous feat. 

You are not much of a talker. You babble a little bit and when you do talk it tends to be a whisper. You are working on mama, dada, and bye bye. 

You love to wave bye bye, clap (one fist and one hand) sign more when you're hungry and shake your head no.

Your hair was some kind of crazy mullet so we went for a trim. I was hoping to keep the shag look, but it turned into a full blown haircut. Mommy was so sad that it was all gone and you often pull at your hair, but it's not there.

You are always smiling and laughing. You have the most contagious smile and I love when you smile with your eyes. 

I can't believe you will be ONE next month my sweet boy. You bring us SO much joy. We love you to the moon and back.

First Rangers Game

As long as I've known my husband he's been a Texas Rangers fan. So taking his boys to their first game was SO fun for him!

They handed out these teeny tiny bats on our walk to the stadium, just Hudson's size! 

Hudson was so ready to get into the stadium and find our seats! He however was not very happy about high up we were. He had to be carried down the stairs in the stadium to get to our seats, he's definitely my child!

Hudson loved seeing his cousins! They were telling secrets ;)

The main reason we made the trip is because my brother in law had the honor of playing the national anthem. They sounded amazing! 

Unfortunately it wasn't an exactly great weather day for baseball. It was rainy and really cloudy. Thankfully the rain didn't fall the whole game. It came in small spurts, but it was definitely enough to keep us wet! 

I took a picture of our very cloudy view of the mega stadium that is home to the Dallas Cowboys! 

Ryan and his brothers attempted to eat the $26 Boomstick. It laid across 1 1/2 stadium seats! Talk about stuffed!

Unfortunately for my husband we didn't last the whole game; but with a three year old, ten month old and rainy weather it was to be expected. We had a great time anyway and really enjoyed getting to hear Legacy Brass! Ryan is one proud brother!

Hayden Greer {10 months}

Hayden you are 10 months!

You weigh 21.5 lbs

You are about 28 inches long

You wear mostly 6 or 9 month clothes, but recently we have moved into 12 month jammies. You wear size 4 diapers.

You don't wear shoes and aren't really a fan of things on your feet.

You are strictly on the bottle now and it was sad but thankfully it worked out perfectly. Mommy got sick after school started and I was on medicine and could not nurse you. Once I got better you were just really not interested in laying still long enough to nurse. It wasn't worth the stress or fight if you weren't interested. I'm so glad you made it 9 months though!! You love your bottle and have been on the bottle since you were an itty bitty so the transition was really easy!

You eat all kinds of fruits and veggies, mostly with your fingers. We are also starting to introduce you to some meats and cheeses. You love snacks like puffs, veggies straws, and animal crackers. You are drinking a little bit from a cup, but you love to sling that thing around and make a big mess!

You still don't have any teeth! I'm so surprised, but I love that gummy smile!

You are always on the go! You love to stand and you push any kind of furniture or toy you can around the house. You let go, but don't have enough balance to stay standing. I can only imagine how soon you will be taking off though, yikes!

You climb stairs, step stools and fireplaces hearths and anything else you can get to. You try to be sneaky and fast so you can get there before we catch you. Not gonna lie, sometimes you just are.

You're working on saying mama, dada, bye bye and papa. Sometimes you get sounds and sometimes it's just your lips making the motion. You coo and say lots through your laugh! 

You are trying to clap and wave bye bye. You also are thinking about saying "more" in sign language, but aren't very consistent about that yet.

When mommy gets home from work I have to pick you up immediately. If you see me and I don't come straight to you you will whine. It's really sad but sweet at the same time. You love your mama ;)

You and your brother like to make each other laugh. You will look at him and just wait for him to laugh  and then you laugh too. It's hilarious! 

We love you so much our chunky monkey and busy baby! We cannot imagine life without you! You are so happy and have so much joy! Happy Birthday sweet baby, we are so thankful for every day we have with you!

Love & kisses,

Mommy, Daddy & Hudson

Hayden Greer {9 months}

Hayden you are 9 months old!

 You weigh 19.5 lbs (50%)

You are 28 inches long (30%)

You wear 6 month clothes and size 4 diapers.

You LOVE to eat! You have a bottle or nurse every couple of hours.

You pretty much love every food you've tried but you are still not a fan of peas. You eat all kinds of fruits and veggies pureed or with your fingers. You also love puffs, yogurt melts, crackers and animal crackers.

You have had juice and water out of a sippy cup a few times and are still getting used to the idea.

You still don't have any teeth!

You are a movin' man! Always on the go! You crawl really well but mostly love to pull up and stand. You don't have much balance to let go, but you try.

You still don't talk much. You will move your lips to say "ma ma" but no noise comes out when you do. It's really cute though ;)

You wave bye bye and move your lips to try to say it, but nothing comes out.

You open your mouth really big and give sugars. It's a really sloppy wet kiss!

You love the dog bowls! You bang them on the floor constantly! I think it's your favorite thing to play with in the whole house!

You are still the happiest baby! You don't complain about much of anything! You have the best toothless smile!

Mommy, daddy and Hudson love you so much Hayden. You are so fun to be around. We can't imagine life without you!

Change

The few weeks after school got our were kind of a whirlwind! I was trying to wrap up all the normal end of year duties, but was having a hard time not knowing what was in store for the following year. My sister's school had a Kindergarten opening and she really wanted me to apply. I was hesitant. Really hesitant. I was in a place that I LOVED and why would I leave that? Well for the shorter commute and family time and working with my sister and the hometown comfort. But why would I leave the place that I loved? With coworkers that I loved. I put it off for awhile until she asked me enough and it was the last minute. So I sent her principal my resume. Granted I didn't have a resume so I had to make one. And was really torn about whether or not I wanted anything to come from it.

Then I got called for an interview. I hated this part. I hated that I felt sneaky even though school was out. But like I said I was having a hard time closing up my classroom when I wasn't sure of my future. So I prayed and prayed and prayed that God would give me peace about the right decision because honestly I wanted to bawl my eyes out just thinking about leaving my very favorite Kindergarten neighbor and the other twenty kindergarten people I worked with every day. This place was my home away from home and these ladies were like my sisters, teaching sisters.  

{old classroom}

So late one night I did the official application and read up on a few things and prepared for an interview. And mostly I prayed for that peace because my heart was so torn. And I just wanted to know that whatever decision I made was the right one. So I went to the interview it was great and the people were so down to earth and friendly. I walked out knowing that this was the place I was supposed to be. I had complete peace. Supernatural peace that only comes from above. 

{Side note-The same day that I interviewed Ryan also interviewed for a different position in his company. And I knew he definitely needed change so all of this what was best for our family all the way around.}

I had some unofficial news the next day, but had to wait several days until they could make it official. Once it was official came the really tough part-telling my kindergarten favorites what I was up to. And I did tear up a little lot while trying to share the news {poor principal is probably tired of me crying in his office, but that's a story for another time...}.

{new classroom-still very much in progress}

I cannot tell you how much more respect and love I have for those ladies after I told them. They completely supported me. They didn't want me to go, but they wanted me to do what was best for my family and they would support me in that no matter what it was. And for that I am SO grateful. Those ladies are definitely lifelong friends.

So I was finally able to pack my classroom up and say my "see ya laters" to the wonderful people of North. And my awesome family and in-laws came and helped me move in the rain! And slowly but surely I'm going to be prepared for a lot of new and a lot of change. But I have not been one bit hesitant anymore. God has given me peace and shown me that He always provides and He knows whats best. And how cool is it that I get to teach across the hall from my sister who I love & adore?! And who always has the BEST ideas! I know some great and fun things are in store for us this year!