It's a Birthday Day! ((VIDEO))

This post is for the man that's quietly in the background, the parent that is the fun one, the rough housing one, and the one that always has time to play.  This  post is for the best dad I could have wished for and the greatest "other have" I could have ever imagined. 

Happy 30 Something Birthday, Ethan!  

Every day (okay, almost every day) I am reminded how blessed I am to have you in our lives.  

As a daddy to our 2 sweet girls they absolutely love you and I love seeing you be silly with them.  

You've taught the girls so many inappropriate things...not sure I know any other girls that have the humor of 7th grade boys the way that our girls do.  

You're content to always play the part of the Prince, the Ken barbie, the one with stickers on your face and always the one to "fix" anything that's broken.  

And as a husband, I couldn't ask for more...you put up with my whims, my constant desires to change things up at the house, my crazy emotions, as well as being the calm when I need it most.  

God blessed us when he chose you for our family and i couldn't be happier.   

So for your birthday, we're gonna do our best (amidst Abbie's fits) to celebrate you all day!  

Hayden was excited for your breakfast cake and especially to put on the candle for you.  She keeps wanting to go out and buy you another present but with the freezing rain, I'm not sure we'll be getting out today.  But don't worry, we'll make something spectacular for you! 

                     

Happy Birthday babe...we love you. 

Hayden's 4th Birthday

This year for Hayden's birthday, she went all out princess-themed.   Per her request, she had a princess cake, princess decorations, pink and purple everything, her friends and presents.  

We had already semi-celebrated with family back at the Rufenacht camping weekend so this party was going to be more low key.  Hayden still had a blast as it was everything she had asked for.

Guests this year included Grandma Diddle, Aunt Heather, Ty, and Talyn, Grandma Rhonda and Papa Ronnie, and Josh and Andrea Mueller. She enjoyed having everyone there, even though she spent most of the time locked in her bedroom with Talyn.  Two days later and she's still playing with her new toys so I'd say they were a success ;-).

Hard to believe she's four.  Shell be going to preschool two days a week next year and is super excited.   

Happy birthday, sweet Hayden!!

This One is Dedicated to Hayden Lea-Ann

I know everyone says that kids grow way too fast...and it is sooo true.  Our little Miss Hayden turned FOUR last week!  Those were a fast four years and wow our lives have changed since back then.   It has been wonderful to see Hayden continue to grow into her personality and to see her little sense of humor just explode this past year.

Hayden definitely keeps us busy, entertained, on our toes, and our hearts full of happiness.  She was definitely an early walker and talker which plays into her busy-ness these days. Her creativeness keeps her busy while playing with her Barbies or babies (still a HUGE fans of pretend baby play).

These days she has a lot of "loves" when it comes to what she loves to play with or do.  She loves being anywhere we are, especially me. This summer she's gotten extra attached to me (again) and we're working through that chaos.  She loves Abbie, 90% of the time.  She loves when Abbie agrees to play with her and I know she can't wait for Abbie to grow more so they can really play together.  Hayden also loves being outside. We got her a full size trampoline this summer - HUGE hit. She's gotten so much braver and daring on it (thanks to Ethan). She loves for us to be out there with her and especially loves Ethan to do crazy tricks with her. It's those times that her laugh is the best!

Hayden also has gotten braver when it comes to trying new foods.  She's always willing to try anything new and most of the time finds she likes it...or at least likes the first few bites.  Just within the past few months she's discovered broccoli and cauliflower, tomatoes and sometimes pickles, and then pretty much any meat we give her.  She's also considering herself a salad eater - lettuce, lots of cheese and ranch. Everything is better with ranch she thinks.  

She has also started getting more sassy. Not necessarily talking back, but voicing her opinion very frequently and using a smidge of attitude in what she's saying.  Again, we're working on that (any suggestions??). She seems to think she knows it all, not sure where that comes from (no finger pointing now) and she's very adamant that she's right (again...no finger pointing).  It's been a difficult past few weeks trying to teach her the right ways to show what she knows and reteaching her how to respect and respond to adults.

I often joke that Hayden has the sense of humor of a 6th grade boy and that we have Ethan to blame for it. And it's true.  This girl loves to talk about all those gross things that boys talk about, and then she giggles. She and Ethan have a fun time, while I just shake my head, as usual.  I joke when I say I've spent all summer undoing all the things he's taught her, as we are preparing her to head into preschool this fall. I can just imagine some of the things she's gonna say or do in school...ugh. As a teacher though, I know it happens and as her mom I know it will happen.

Hayden loves her cousin, Talyn. She's become brave when talking to "approved" strangers and asking them appropriate questions. She has started singing back songs that we didn't realize she knew. She hates bedtime - still clings to us and eventually climbs in bed with us when we're not awake. She loves Sofia the First and all things princess. Favorite colors: pink, purple and sparkly.  She has an infectious laugh and loves to use it.

What can I say -- we love her.  So thankful that she's the big sister, our little HooBear, and definitely thankful that we get to see her everyday, watch her grow into the beautiful spark of light that she will be and to be a part of her journey.

I can't imagine what this next year will be like but I'm excited to see!

Happy Birthday Abbie!!

It was a beautiful day to have Abbie's birthday party. The weather was just perfect. And we are all very thankful for those that came to celebrate our little Abbie's first birthday.  We had friends and family from Kansas City (Aunt Cheri, Aunt Di, Gabriel and Ryan & Alisha Naylor), family from Joplin (Aunt Heather and Talyn), Grandmas and Grandpas (Grandma Diddle & Papa Tractor and Grandma Rhonda & Papa Ronnie) as well as our local friends (Matt, Heather & Benny and Josh & Andrea).

We had a watermelon themed birthday party with pink and green and black. Abbie's smash cake was a really cute watermelon cake that my friend had made.  We also had cupcakes and cookies and watermelon.

Abbie got a lot of fun gifts, that fit her personality perfectly. She got several toys where you can put objects into them, a few dolls, some little people, I talking puppy dog and a little art set. The big present this year was a water table, which all the kids loved.

Abbie wasn't too crazy about her smash cake. She stuck in one finger and them looked disgusted. We tried our best to help her smash it or to try it and realize how yummy it was, but it didn't work. We ended up giving her a watermelon cookie what she thought was the best.

After we did cake and cookies we all went outside to play. The weather was perfect.  The kids (big and small) were able to get out in the backyard and play with the trampoline, sprinklers and the water table.

It was really a great birthday and a wonderful way to celebrate Abbie. I still can't believe she is one!!

Thank you so much to those that were able to come!  

Sorry the pics are in a random order...its hard to manipulate and move them on the Tablet.  When we get back from Cozumel Ill try to remember to hop on here and fix it. :)

This One is Dedicated to Abbie Reece

 Today is our little girl's last day being a "0"... her last night before she turns 1....I can't believe that a whole year has gone already.  Wow.

*Bear with me on this one...I'm not writing for an audience, just writing as I think.  It could get sappy*

So much has changed this past year. Abbie is a beautiful compliment to our little family and definitely brings some punch to the calmness we once had. She has already grown into such a little person, fully of feisty personality, and a very curious mind.  It's hard to believe that at this time just last year, we were a little family of 3, unsure what Miss Abbie would have in store for us.  I've been thinking back to June 8, 2012 all day...the events leading up to her delivery, those few hours afterwards, the 2 nights in the hospital - just me and her, and then our coming home.  Wow. It's already been a year. 

I honestly thought she wasn't a pretty newborn, and it's true. She was a wrinkly, bald baby...and I thought she looked like an old man. Funny though, others thought she looked like Grandpa John, haha.  She took all morning on the 8th to get here but when she was ready to meet us, she didn't waste any time at all.  I still remember calling Grandma Rhonda to come watch Hayden at 3AM, walking around the hospital for TWO hours, being dismissed, crying in the car not knowing what to do, Ethan grabbing breakfast but the thought of eating made me nauseous, getting out to walk at the park and knowing it was a bad idea, returning to the hospital - barely able to make it to the check-in office, then it's a blur but there was Abbie....  She was different from Hayden already, so different.  

Since then, she has definitely made herself a part of our family.  I can't imagine our family without her.  She is, for the most part, easy going and very content as long as she can see what everyone is doing and you give her what she wants.  :)   She really is stubborn and "strong willed" (to say the least) and has learned to throw her own little pity party recently .  

Here she is at one year: 

• weighs rougly 20#
• seems to be right-handed
• still no teeth (no shock there)
• sooo close to walking; seems to think she has to hold onto your fingers in order to walk
• LOVES Hayden and wants to be wherever Hay is and play with whatever she's holding
• she loves music
• too stinking smart: knows how to turn on/off her cd player, brush hair, tries to put on necklaces, can work the fridge ABC magnets, 
• can say momma, dada, go, bye-bye, almost says up
• signs bye-bye, all done, almost has "more"
• loves to be outside and especially loves the slide right now. 
• not a big thrill seeker as in heights...doesn't like to be up high without support yet
• however, really good at climbing...both up and down safely.
• nicknames: Abbie-gator, Abbie-cakes, Abner, HooDabs, PooDabs, DabDabs, Slabbie (grrr, Ethan...and Slabner...more grr), 

Hayden loves Abbie (thankfully). Although she's getting to the stage where she realizes that Abbie wants her stuff at inconvenient times so there is a lot of "teaching" happening in the house.  Hay loves to go into Abb's room and see her after she wakes up, singing silly songs.  She will entertain Abbie or distract her when we need a good distraction. Hayden wants Abbie to be big enough to play with her and it can't happen soon enough.  She wants to help Abbie walk - loves to sit across from me and get her to walk back and forth.  Hay is fairly gentle with her -- it's adorable hearing her talk or sing or read to Abbie when no one is listening.  

 

Tomorrow we're having her birthday party here at the house.  It's a watermelon theme and should be pretty cute. Definitely stay tuned for pictures from the party --- but it might be late Sunday night before I get a post up.  

Until then, here are some of our favorite Abbie pics taken June 3,2013. 

Happy Birthday to our sweet Abbie Reece!