Sharing the Swing

It was a very overcast and cool day, due to Fay, so we decided to go outside and see how Layne likes the swing. Hayden was very nice and shared her swing with Layne (we have plans to get Hayden a toddler swing for her birthday in about a month). Wait...that's crazy...my first little baby is going to be 2 in about a month!!!

Of course, Hayden just had to push her little sis in the swing. She did very well and was very gentle-just like mommy told her to be.

Back To School!!

On a different note-Hayden started school today! She is in the 2 year old class this year and she fits right in with the younger 2's class. They must have played and learned very hard today because she fell asleep on the way home! Lunch would have to wait because she was pooped! I am up at the church during preschool hours too because I am still serving as the interim preschool director. I am so blessed to have a flexible and understanding staff because I am allowed to have Layne up at the church with me every day!

I guess the swinging motion made little Layne sleepy.

When I was pregnant with Layne Hayden and I would come outside to swing. I would sit in this chair and push Hayden. Monkey see monkey do!!

Hayden is so big that she can climb the latter and go down the slide all by herself!

Daddy had the bedroom/office window open and he was watching Hayden count to three (which she does very well!) and then go down the slide. When she got to the bottom she would look for daddy and say "Hey daddy!"

Boppy Fun

Today we played on the Boppy for a little bit with Layne. Whenever Hayden is around Layne has all eyes on her. Not sure if it's because Layne doesn't know what Hayden may do to her or if Layne just looks up to her.

Kiss kiss!

Layne just hanging out on the boppy. Those hands are pretty crazy and out of control these days. She always manages to find my hair and get a good grip on it though!

Hayden had to try out the boppy since Layne did!

Later on during the same nap...

Something About Pillows...

As you can see, Hayden has a thing for pillows. Here she is during nap time today. Before she settled in for her afternoon nap she had to stack all of the pillows up, read her Bible book, and cuddle with her baby. We read her a Bible story every night, but I guess one isn't enough-she has to read another one on her own every afternoon.

More bath time fun!

1 Month Doctor Visit

Today the girls took a trip to the pediatrician's office for Layne's one month visit. Everything went very well! Layne is growing and healthy. Her height is 22 inches (which is in the 75th percentile). she weighs 9 pounds 11.5 ounces (which is also in the 75th percentile)!! And her head circumference is 37 cm (which is in the 50th percentile). No shots for Layne this visit...but she will get some at her 2 month visit. We couldn't find Hayden's 1 month old sheet so we aren't sure of her measurements and weight when she was this old. But I am sure that Hayden's weight was less and her head circumference was more!!

Bath Time...

(Oh how I've missed you!)

Ever since Grandma Milko left Hayden hasn't had a bath in her bath tub! Daddy and I take turns bringing her in the shower with us each morning. It just makes things easier-one less thing to do at night! Tonight, I let Hayden take a bath in her tub just to play. She had a great time in the bubble bath.

Grandma Milko brought this toy with her when she came about a month ago. It's a fishing rod that has a magnet in it. There are 3 little magnetic sea creatures that she can "fish" for. Pretty neat!

Peacock Feather

Aunt September sent a package of goodies! She went to the zoo in Michigan and got Hayden this peacock feather and got Layne a bib. At first Hayden wasn't sure what to do with it, but she quickly solved that problem.

Kickle kickle Gra-Gra: Tickle tickle Grady!

Kickle kickle Elo: Tickle tickle Elmo

Kickle kickle Mazie: Tickle tickle Mazie

This morning the three of us (mommy, daddy, and Hayden) went outside while Layne tried to cry herself to sleep. Hayden made a friend-Mr. Snail! She didn't really want to get close to him, but we managed to get this picture anyway!
Big Ball!

We also played with the big playground ball that Uncle Johnny got Hayden for Christmas last year. She loves to bounce it and then go get it. She even rolled it down the ramp and driveway and into the woods! Daddy to the rescue!
Just making silly faces while she bounced on the ball.
Silly silly!

1 Month Old Today

It's hard to believe that Layne has been here for one month today! We are so blessed to have her as an addition to our family. She is transitioning well-we had two 7 hour nights in a row this week. So, we are getting there. Check out Layne's little smile.

These two pictures were actually taken yesterday. For some reason I was convinced that she was 1 month old on Friday-I thought it was the 16th. So, I took the pictures and posted them yesterday! Then I looked at the post date and realized that she was not a month old yet! So, I took these two pictures off until today.

New Markers

(that we don't use!)

Jeremy and I are involved in a church plant team that is helping to start up a church about 15 minutes from us. They have weekly meetings and services once a month (for now). I haven't been going to the meetings since I've got Layne to keep up with. This Wednesday Jerm came home with gifts from the Jersey Church Plant Team. They gave us a gift card, candle, and these animal sound markers for Hayden. When you take the top off and put it back on it makes an animal sound. She loves them.

Pile of Pillows

Today Hayden decided to stack all of the pillows so that she could get comfortable while she watched "Bardy" Barnie on TV.

Like usual, Hayden had to stop and pose for a picture! What a nut.

Sisterly Love

We took a trip to the store today and it was a rough one. Layne screamed a lot while we were in the store. She also screamed a little while we were in the car on the way home. She eventually stopped though. When I was getting the girls out at home this is what I found! Hayden had reached over into Layne's car seat and held hands with her in order to console her! I know I am Hayden's mother, but she amazes me with her compassion and sweetness towards her little sister and many other things. She has such a good heart.

We had to stop and say "cheese!"

A deer in headlights!

Pepperoni Pizza!

The Wheels On The Bus

Hair Dryer

Bubbles Everywhere!

Today while Layne was napping Hayden and I decided to go outside and watch Elmo blow bubbles. She loves to watch Elmo blow bubbles.

She wanted to look at the camera while she said "cheese" but she couldn't take her eyes off the bubbles. She really does say "cheese" when I take the camera out and tell her to smile....just like her mommy!

This is why Grady love to go out with us when Elmo is blowing bubbles!

He eats the bubbles! The bubbles smell SO GOOD-just like strawberries. I guess the combination of the wonderful smell and seeing Grady eat bubbles made Hayden decide that it would be a good idea to dip her finger in the bubbles and take a taste. Too bad the batteries in the camera were dead by this time because the face was priceless! It tasted so nasty that her eyes were watering! All she wanted to do was go inside and get some "ice wa" ice water.

Good Times

Layne loves bath time-well, except for the getting out part.

And of course, Hayden love to help mommy give Layne a bath. She is going to be such an experienced mother one day!

Holding the Little Sis

Hayden wanted to hold Layne today, so we tried it out-sort of. Hayden felt very responsible while she had Layne in her lap. Hayden liked it so much that she started to cry when it was time for me to feed Layne.

I didn't realize how observant Hayden was until.....

she stuck her finger in the binki just like mommy and daddy do!

Relaxing

Here is Hayden last night relaxing on the couch while daddy plays with her hair. Moo even jumped up to join them! The relationship between Moo and Hayden is a love hate. Hayden loves to pick on Moo constantly and Moo hates it!!

Fast Asleep

Like I said in an earlier post-Layne is a binki girl. She is very particular about the binkis that she will take though. This is her favorite, but she has a hard time keeping it in her mouth by herself. She has learned to put her hand on it so that it won't fall out so easily.

3 Weeks Old Today

Here are the girls on Layne's three week old birthday. Look at big sis all grown up! Today was quite an eventful day. Well, it all started last night really. Layne only woke up once last night! She did decide to start the day at 6:30am, but I can live with that! Now on to today's events-first, Layne's umbilical cord fell off! She really was hanging on to that thing. Then, the three of us went to the church to get a little bit of work done. Jeremy has been doing a really great job the past three weeks of getting important work stuff from the church and bringing it home for me. We went in for about an hour and things went pretty well. Then we headed to BJ's to get diapers and wipes. There were a few tears here and there from Layne, but nothing too bad. Last, we came home and gave Layne a "real bath" since the cord fell off. She enjoyed it.

Which is Which?

Here is a picture of Layne in her bathrobe after her bath (left) and the other is a picture of Hayden in the same bathrobe after her bath when she was 18 days old. And Layne is 19 days old today. Sometimes I look at Layne and think she looks exactly like Hayden with a little bit of a rounder face. Other times I think they look totally different. What do you think?

Routine Update

Well, Layne is slowly falling into her own little schedule. She has been doing very well at night. She is only taking one feeding to get down for the night (which is a change from last week), she is sleeping for a stretch of about 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours at a time, she goes right back to sleep in the middle of the night (last week it was taking us about an hour or two to get her back to sleep!)and she is only waking up twice during the night! She is also doing a little better with napping during the days as well. So, we are making progress and mommy and daddy are very happy about that! Before long we will all be sleeping through the night again :-)

Mommy's Maid

Hayden wanted to help me mop the floor today. Thankfully, we have two mops so she was able to jump right in and learn how to mop with mommy. Sorry about the hair in her face. She loves to take her Doorda (Dora) barrette out.

Crazy Girl

The other day some of the preschool teachers came over to bring us a wonderful dinner. They also brought Hayden and Layne gifts. Layne got diapers and a onesie. Hayden got the headband, mirror, and comb. The mirror has some characters from The Backyardigans and it talks. She just loves it! It was so sweet of them to bring us a meal and think of Hayden too!

Cry, Cry, Cry....

This is what Layne likes to do when we put her in her crib during naptimes. Well, she does fall asleep sometimes. She hasn't learned that after you cry for a little bit you are supposed to fall asleep. She just can't do it on her own-it took Hayden a while to learn it though so we're not worried. Normally, we just walk in her room after about 10 minutes and pat her on the butt or back and she'll fall asleep.

We have also started to give her a binkie and that works too-if she can manage to keep it in her mouth! Hayden never really cared much about binkies, but Layne really likes them.