Party Time!

The morning was filled with cleaning, preparing food, landscaping, buying treat bag supplies and so much more! My mom and step dad came over around 7:30 this morning and we were busy little bees right up until the party started. We had so much fun getting ready for the big celebration though! Here we are stopping for a quick picture.

One of the cookie bouquets.

The fondant flower cake. It was strawberry cake with an almond flavored fondant icing. The butterfly and bee were a last minute touch. This was Hayden's mini butterfly cake. The body is a twinkie! The wings are made out of strawberry cake.
Here's the other cake. It was funfetti cake with the almond flavored fondant. People really seemed to enjoy the cake which was good. I was afraid that nobody would like the butterfly fondant cake.
The birthday girlie enjoying her little cake.

Icing face
She got so many toys and clothes! We may have to put an addition on the house in order to make room for all of Hayden's stuff!! Pappy Howat got her the 2 in 1 learning kitchen to the right. It's crazy what toy makers think of!
Uncle Johnny sent a special birthday package that arrived just in time for the big day. ELMO!! Now Hayden has her very own Elmo to love.
Here are Hayden's new gardening boots that Gram and Pap got her. She's ready to get busy in the garden now. Another thing they got her was a camo outfit....that does not mean she is ready to go hunting in the woods though. It was for fashion purposes ONLY!
What a long day for such a little girl. Early bed for this sleepy head!

Happy Birthday Hayden Chenayi!

It was a year ago that this beautiful gift from God came into the world and our hearts. We have been so thankful for every single moment this past year. Hayden is such an amazing blessing and we couldn't imagine our lives any other way. Thank you God for the most precious child!

We had a busy day today! First we went to the pediatrician for the 1 year check up. And Hayden got 3 shots!! She also got a teddy bear from the doctor (pictured below). Then we went out to eat with Granpa Howat. Next we went to Toys R Us with grandpa. We picked out a great present for her! Then grandpa and grandma Ross came over to give her a few gifts. Next it was off to Bible study and finally time for the beauty sleep in order to rest up for the big party tomorrow!!

Falling....

Helping Daddy....again

Flower Power

Today was flower cookie day....as you can see. These are for Hayden's party on Saturday. They weren't too hard to make, just time consuming. We are going to create little cookie bouquets with these flowers. EVERYONE will be taking some cookies home when they leave the party.

Cutie Pie

Hayden has become quite the climber! She has found out how to go from one couch to the other without even putting her feet on the ground. We'll have to get some video of it for you. Here she is stopping for a quick picture before she shoot back over to the other couch!

This is one of the jumpers that Grandma bought her when we went fall shopping a few weeks ago.

Froggie Fun

Here's the little princes having some fun on our bed after a nice warm bath with mommy. Hayden has had a little cold since Saturday...so she is getting some extra special treatment.

Army Crawl...

I Just Love Her Clothes

I had to get a picture of her outfit today because I just love it! It's a corduroy skirt with a cute pink and brown onesie!! Baby clothes are the best!

Sleeping with My Peeps

This picture is quite normal. Hayden will all of her stuffed animals around her. When she wakes up from her nap she gives her animals kisses! It's really cute. We will have to get it on video some time.

Let's Get Movin'

Hayden decided that she would explore different forms of transportation today since she is refusing to walk. Hershey didn't want any part of it though.

Fruity Cheerios!!

I bought Hayden some fruity cheerios and she LOVES them. Here she is just hanging out on the floor eating the fruity o's.

Stopping to pose for a picture. She is so used to seeing the flash when she gets her picture taken that she has started to squint her eyes when she sees the camera!!!

Busted!

We are really trying to get Hayden to stop feeding Mazie. Hayden knows that she isn't supposed to feed her but she tries to sneak her food anyway. This is her busted face. She tried to cover it up by grabbing her foot really quickly.

Birthday Weekend!

Hayden had two first birthday parties to attend last weekend. She learned a lot about how to eat cake and open present!

Hannah's Lady Bug Birthday Party

We went to Hannah's first birthday party on Saturday. As you can see there was a cute little lady bug theme to it. Here are the cakes that Jessica made....impressive and VERY good!

Here's Hannah digging in to her cake. She LOVED the red icing. Check out her cute little lady bug hat! Those are her parents John and Jessica.

Here's Hannah opening up some of her gifts.

This is the present that John and Jessica gave Hannah. She just loved it.

Jennifer's Polka Dot Party

We went to Jennifer's first birthday party on Sunday. Jennifer is Jeremy's cousin's baby. She was born 10 days before Hayden.

Here she is trying her cake..and loving it!

All the kids had their own little party table! Hayden is at the bottom in the booster seat.
They even gave out little treat bags. Here are two of the toys that were in the treat bags.
Hayden was introduced to and fell in love with Elmo while she was at Jennifer's party. She just couldn't get enough of this strange furry little man.
Hayden and Jennifer had a little "discussion" about who's Dora the Explorer chair it really was.

We just had to do something special to let Aunt September know that we were thinking about her and missing her on her special day!! Happy birthday Sep, have a great day!

Hangin' with Hersh

Hayden has discovered that Hershey can be just as fun as Mazie. He doesn't move as quickly as Mazie does!

Early Birthday Present

Since Whitney is going to be away for Hayden's birthday party she came over and gave Hayden her gifts tonight. Hayden had a good time practicing opening gifts. She loved the tissue paper! She also loved her two shirts, corduroy pants, and learning pal. Thanks Whitney!

Hayden liked the idea that her new buddy had a leash so it could be pulled around. She quickly discovered that the easiest way to crawl and pull her new friend at the same time was to put the leash in her mouth!!

A Tisket a Tasket a Baby & a Basket...

Hayden wanted to play with one of the baskets that Jeremy got me in Zimbabwe. So, here are some pictures of her fun with the basket. To be honest, I was the one that was having fun with Hayden and the basket.

Peek-a-Boo...I see you!

All of a sudden it got dark in here!

Ok, we've had enough with the basket.

Found: Bottom Teeth

Hayden's upper lip has found her bottom two teeth and she love it! This is the face that she makes when she's concentrating or just trying to be silly (which is pretty much all the time).

I know, I know...her bangs are SO long. We just can't keep barrettes in her hair because she is moving around so much.

I Just Love Her....

Here's Hayden looking at a new picture of herself in a frame. The look on her face seemed to say that she recognized the girl but she wasn't sure where she knew her from.

Then it clicked!Hayden realized that the girl in the frame was her!

So of course, she had to greet herself with a kiss!

The New Look

Hayden was on the floor eating her afternoon snack. When she popped up this was what her barrette looked like. I'm not really sure how she got her hair to stick up like this, but she liked the look!