Cold weather!

The latest cold weather meant we had our first snow of the winter, and Emmie and Daddy bundled up and headed outside, while mommy and Hayden stayed in the warm house. We've also been spending much more time inside lately, and today we made cookies - Emmie actually made the whole batch herself - quite the little baker!

Emmie's first play

I don't have any pictures, but I thought it was worth mentioning to anyone out there looking for cheap entertainment, we took Emmie to see Issaquah High School's production of Cinderella last week. She absolutely loved it, and it was great because it was a very laid back atmosphere, so we didn't worry too much about Emmie's endless questions, asked in a not-so-quiet voice. The play was pretty good, and the look on Emmie's face throughout it was priceless - she was enthralled!

Santa train

Last weekend we did our annual trip on the Santa Train out in North Bend - this year with the Walkers and Bergmans. We had a great time! Emmie of course would not go near Santa for a picture at the depot, but she was beside herself with excitement when Santa made a surprise appearance on the train itself, and even got close enough to say hi and take a candy cane from him!

Hayden is 2 months!

Well, the first month went by very quickly... the second month, well, a bit of a different story! We had quite a rough time over the last few weeks that started with Hayden getting a really nasty cold, which of course, is no good for a 6 week old! It was a rough time for all of us, especially poor little Hayden as she suffered through having a rough time breathing, enough to scare Nate and I to death a few times! Thankfully, though, she pulled through and got over the cold, but the extreme fussiness continued with nightly bouts of screaming for hours. Needless to say, Nate and I were EXHAUSTED after a couple weeks of this, so we finally took her in, and the doctor had us try medication for acid reflux, which has worked like a charm!! Yay!!

So after a very rough few weeks in which I was wondering if I was cut out to be a mom of two :), we have a very happy and pretty easy baby, which has been wonderful! She is sleeping 7 hour stretches at night, so of course we are thrilled about that.

Here are Hayden's stats at 2 months:

Height - 22 1/2 inches - 55%
Weight - 11 lbs. 4 oz - 70%
Head - 15 1/2 inches - 50% (a bit smaller than her sister's who was always in the 90th %!!)

Below are a few pics of Hayden at 2 months, and Emmie at 2 months at this link - Hayden is a bit more roly-poly than Emmie was! :) http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=35678135/PictureID=1036622291/a=25835724_25835724/t_=25835724

Thanksgiving

I've gotten a little behind in posting, but here are a few pics from Thanksgiving and great-grandma Shaha's visit. Emmie is also potty training (FINALLY!), so we have a funny pic of her running around with her last pull-up on her head!

Professional pics Part 2

We got our pics from last weekend's photoshoot, and amazingly enough, we got quite a few pretty good ones! We even got a cute one of Macy. :)

Emerson is 3!

Our girls are growing up so fast! It's funny to say that Emmie just turned 3, because in so many ways, it seems like she's been 3 forever. She acts so much older than her age in so many ways, that we have to remind ourselves sometimes that she is still our little girl! She had a fun and eventful year, with many fun holidays, trips to Mexico and Arizona, starting preschool, and of course, getting a new baby sister! She has handled it all so well, and have loved every minute of watching her grow, even though she acts more like a 10 year old than a 3 year old at times! We have so much fun having funny conversations with Emmie, her ability to grasp big concepts and be aware of others' thoughts and feelings is amazing to us. Of course, along with turning 3 come some not so fun, and challenging battles! Emmie has become quite the little drama queen lately, and we never know just what's going to set her off, but I suppose that comes with the territory, and we will get through it sooner or later. :)

We had her birthday party at Little Gym on Sunday - here are a few pics of her and all her friends and family enjoying the fun!

She was so exhausted after all the fun that she fell asleep in the car on the way home!

Hayden is 1 month old!

Actually, I'm a little behind in posting - she's five weeks now, but these were taken at exactly one month. Hard to believe it's already been a month - in some ways, it's flown by, and in others, it feels like she's been a part of our family forever! She continues to be a champion eater, everyday we continue to be amazed at much she can put away in one day! She is already up to 10 lbs. and at this rate, we are going to have a pretty chunky baby on our hands soon. :)

It's been alot of fun to see the differences in our two girls already - Emmie was our mellow baby who could have cared less about holding her head up and moving around, she was very content to just 'be,' except, of course, when it came to sleeping, which she was never much good at! Hayden, however, has proven to be quite the strong and active little baby, always holding her head up and trying to look around, trying to climb up our shoulder when we are holding her, and never really wanting to be put down. But so far, she is definitely the better sleeper of our two girls!




















For a fun comparison of Hayden and Emmie at one month - http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=33740559/PictureID=974212659/a=25835724_25835724/t_=25835724

Professional pics

Well, we attempted to get our first professional pictures done now that Hayden is here, and let's just say it didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped! In fact, I'm sure we were the photographer's worst nightmare:

- Hayden cried anytime we attempted to lay her down
- Emmie would not put down her teddy bear or blankie for any pictures
- When it was time to get pics of the whole family, Emmie would not move, and insisted on laying down on the couch in the spot where she had been previously watching Dora while we tried to get pics of the previously mentioned screaming baby.
- The last straw was when Emmie decided to escape the family pics by climbing onto the back of the couch and crawling along it, which ended with a loud fall to the floor between the back of the couch and the wall, which of course, was followed by much screaming. Fun times!

The photographer just posted a few of the pics on her blog, and amazingly enough, it looks like we may have ended up with at least a couple of decent options! http://www.deenahofstad.com/blog/

Visit from great-grandparents

Nate's grandparents are visiting this week to see their second great-grandaughter for the first time and of course, Emmie, too! We went to Snoqualmie Falls Sunday.

Auntie did Emmie's nails before her pizza and pajama party at her preschool Saturday night.















Don't worry, that's just Emmie's baby doll Sarah that's getting her diaper changed!




















Daddy's little football...

Halloween fun!

We celebrated Halloween all week long, and Emmie loved it all! She was a very proud butterfly, and was very happy to wear her costume all week long!

First, we went to the Issaquah Highlands fall festival on Saturday, where her favorite thing was the pony ride - quite a sight to see a pink butterfly riding a pony!

On Thursday, Emmie's preschool had a Halloween party, and Emmie was so excited to see that her best friend at school, Bebe, was also dressed up as a butterfly!

And finally, the big night came and we went trick or treating with our neighbor Jordyn, who was the cutest little princess! Hayden came along for the ride, even though mommy couldn't find a costume small enough - she had to settle for wearing a pumpkin hat that was too big for her!

First doctor appointment

Hayden had her 2 week doctor appointment last Tuesday, and everything was great! Dr. Hiegel said she was perfect, which we already knew, of course!

Her stats at 2 weeks:

Weight - 7 lbs. 9 oz. -- 55th%
Height - 21 1/2 in. -- 95th%
Head - 65th%

Fall fun at the park

We met grandma Betty and grandad at the park for a 'last nice day of Fall' picnic last weekend, and Emmie had fun playing in the beautiful fall leaves.

We made it through Week 2!

Here are a few pics from the last week - we are still settling in and adjusting to life with two, but so far all is going pretty well, and Emmie continues to be a great big sis - she loves Hayden and is so proud to show her off to all who visit. We are also so impressed by how independent and outgoing big sister has become in the last few weeks - she is so much more outgoing and not so much the shy, reserved little girl we have been used to for so long! Now everyone is getting to know the 'real' Emmie like we do, and it's been alot of fun watching this change!

Hayden continues to be a really good baby who LOVES to eat!! She is sleeping pretty well, though of course, we could always use a few more hours of sleep, but not much to complain about so far - we are already in love, and it feels like she's been here forever.

Hayden Elizabeth is here!

Hayden Elizabeth arrived on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 2:54pm, weighing 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 21 inches long! We've had a fun and busy week getting settled into our new life, and big sister Emmie has been just great - she loves helping take care of her little sister. Here are a few pics from our first week with the new addition!