Christmas - Hailey is getting it...

With Christmas just around the corner, obviously Santa Claus (Ho Ho) is being mentioned often. And it amazes me how much in a year things change for a child. Hailey actually gets Christmas this year, well kind of. She knows she needs to be a good girl or Santa Claus will not bring her any toys...and this one is SO nice to be able to use to get her to be a good girl.

All she ever wants to do is go sit on Santa's lap and tell him what she wants for Christmas. She is amazed by all the christmas lights and decorations. I'm not sure if it was a good thing but I pointed out to her all the ornaments on the tree that were her's. Kind of special seeing that this is now our 3rd Christmas together. However, when I was trying to get some work done, she later brought a chair up to the tree to try and see her ornaments up closer I'm guessing and yeah....she fell into the tree. Not a lot of damage done but boy was she scared! ha! Ahh the curiousity of it all...

I'm excited to start our traditions we will do as a family. I'm so excited to have so much time off around the holidays this year that I hope to get to spend a lot of time with her. I can't wait to see her reaction of when she sees all her presents under the christmas tree from Santa...that will probably be...no...most definitely it will be the best thing ever!

Last year she woke up at 5am with a fever and ended up doing Christmas right then but of course she didn't get it and didn't feel good so it wasn't exactly what I hoped for.

But this year...I know it is going to be great.

This past Friday (day after thanksgiving as though I wasn't already tired enough - up at 3:30am)....Hailey remembered that I said we might go see Santa and sit on this lap this weekend. Well not a minute passed after I got home from shopping did she want to go see Santa. Well...what was I supposed to do...so we got her all dressed up in her Christmas dress and her hair all pretty and we went off to find Santa. Meanwhile I'm praying that he is actually there...my luck would be that he isn't at the malls yet.

So we get there, obviously its insane with being the day after Thanksgiving and we get to the middle of the mall and through the crowd I see him...and guess what...there is NO LINE!!!!! We walked right up there...Hailey kind of freaked out at first but I went up to Santa with her. She gave him a five and told him right away...I want a baby Santa! haha this girl was on a mission and she knew what she needed to do! She sat on his lap after a while and we got a great picture! However, she would not give him a hug...no way no how! She sat on his lap, told him what she wanted and now she wanted the man to deliver! ha! She didnt' quite get that she had to wait until Christmas to get the baby she asked for. Hopefully she'll get it on Christmas Eve!

Kristina's wedding

Being quiet is NEVER a good sign...

So you would have thought by now with Hailey being 2 1/2 that I would have learned that her being quiet should set off alarms and bells and all kinds of red flags....but it doesn't...still!!!!

So last night, I'm in my room working on some stuff and Hailey is out in the living room and in my head I'm thinking she is playing with the cat or playing by herself. Continuing to do my work and I yell for her and ask what she is doing....no response....

A little while later I walk up to the room and I look around and I don't see her and I look down and she is hiding underneath my island under the bar stool with my PURSE, all contents out and with gum wrappers in her hand!!!! Made her spit it out and I took my stuff back and told her that mommy's purse is not a toy and that needs to stay out of it.

So I got back to my room again, working on the computer and again....I hear nothing for a while....yell for her again and she doesn't come....hmmmm??? Walk back out there and she is now under the END TABLE with my purse and all its contents out and now 3 peices of gum in her mouth!?!?!?!?!?

Needless to say, she was put in timeout....but man was it hard to not laugh at her hiding in the spots she chose....ahhh 2 year olds

Moving away from daycare...

So next week is Hailey's last week at KinderCare. My cousin Becky, who has always been my back up sitter and who I really get along with out of the blue offered to watch Hailey full-time if I wasn't really happy with daycare. This totally through me for a loop and had to really make me think.
I've never not been happy with daycare, Hailey's only been there for 2 1/2 months and so I didn't know if we gave it enough time. But after some consideration and talking over things with Becky we're going to do it. It'll save me some money, which will be great and I think Hailey will love going to Becky's every day.

Hailey has never complained about going to school (daycare) but she is always ready to leave, has never fought me on staying, which that makes me wonder because she has always fought me to leave a sitters that she has enjoyed. So this will be a good move...Becky is so active with her kids, going to the pool, library, parks and picinics with her kids. It'll be great for Hailey and I'll love her being with Becky.

With me working so much, I want someone who is going to care for her like I would and give her the attention she needs and yet allows her to be a kid too. So we'll see...

Hailey before her first dance class & Mya

2008 Trick or Treat

Hailey's first dance class

Hailey had her first dance class this week on Tuesday. All I can say is, it was the cutest most adorable thing i've ever seen!!! I think I had the biggest goofiest smile on my face the entire 30 minutes.

At first i was worried because it all happens so fast, the door opens and the previous students come out and then the next class goes in. But Hailey did well, she followed everyone and put her book bag along the back wall and then stood with everyone else. She at first was kind of off in the corner and then she eventually went in line with everyone and started doing what the teacher was doing. She's behind since the classes started in September but I think she'll catch on quickly.

She absolutely loved it though and cried when we left. :o)

I did take pictures but have been so bad about uploading them and getting them developed its terrible!

New family member

Well....this may come as a shock to some of you but last week we got a kitten! I know I so not a cat person but I've really been wanting a pet and I knew Hailey would love it. No pictures yet, I know I don't know why I haven't done this yet...I'm slacking! Her name is Mya and she is a gray, tailess kitten. I guess that there is a bread of cats that don't have tails, so she has a little fur ball where her tail would normally be, pretty cute actually.

Surprisingly though she is really into us. The first night she hide under the couch all night, mostly I think because Hailey was laying on the floor staring at her...can't say I blame her either. However she has since warmed up. She is actually really good with Hailey. Mya lets Hailey carry her around, in which every way Hailey feels like carrying her, from the neck, butt up in the air, etc. and she just takes it all in. I thought for sure Hailey was going to get scratched or bite but not yet. Hailey will sit on the couch and Mya will come up and sit on her lap or beside Hailey.

So for now it seems like this was a good move....Mya is here to stay! Will try to post pictures soon!

Ballet here we come!!!!

I am so excited!!! I have wanted to find a place where Hailey could take dance classes just for fun because she is so into dancing/singing right now that I know she would love it. Plus with it getting cold out it'll give her something to do in the winter so she doesn't get bored.

Well this past Friday night I was having a jewelry show and the hostess was telling me that she was busy with her girls dance classes. I was like AH! Where do they do that at and she is like oh my aunt owns a dance studio in Troy!! Oh my gosh I was so excited to here this. This lady has a daughter who is 3 and loves it and she said her aunt would probably take Hailey since she is over 2 1/2 years old!

So hopefully they will have classes at a decent time that H can go and it'll work in our schedule! I asked Hailey last night if she wanted to take dance classes and she said YES!!!! So hopefully it all works out!

Another crazy week...

This week has been absolutely crazy. Monday evening/Tuesday Morning Hailey had her first rough pick up and drop off. No idea why see cried when I picked her up on Monday, and it wasn't a she didn't want to leave cry either. Lately she's been real clingy with me at the drop offs in the morning at daycare. Feel bad for her because we've been running late in the morning so I haven' tbeen able to stick around as much as I normally do. But she is still doing great with school. Yesterday she got skittles because she was the only one who would pick up toys. she was pretty proud of herself.

A little boy at school has also declared her as his girlfriend. I guess they were walking about holding hands and the teacher asked him if Hailey was his girlfriend and he said yes and then they continued to walk around holding hands for a while and then didn't talk to each other the rest of the time they were outside. Sounds pretty typically....hahaha!

I got new glasses which I'm adjusting to them finally. They really bothered me the first day or so that I had them but my brain seems to be adjusting to them finally. I like them! Should be getting my second pair either today or tomorrow hopefully!

Just updating...

Things have been crazy lately. Hailey's had to go with me to a lot of things with jewelry stuff but she's had fun doing that. Had my new jeweler's training show this past Sunday and Hailey saw a lady there who looked like a grandma I guess and she sat on the lady's lap the entire time. :o) She had a blast and was so good.

Seeing Hailey play with other kids really shows me that she is not an aggressive kid. Another child there saw Hailey had a sippy cup that looks like hers and just walked up and took it and Hailey didn't fight back she just cried and was heart broken that her cup was taken away. All was fixed but it just really shows me her personality.

Last night had a jewelry show for a friend and she went with me too. She was the only kid there but she ruled the show. She helped me pass out the jewelry and was telling everyone to try on rings and how cute they were.

Her knew thing now is to look at pictures of herself. Now when we go to bed she wants to see Hailey! We lost our electric this past Sunday and didn't get it back till Monday afternoon and that's what we did was look at pictures of her instead of watching a movie before she went to bed. Now its a big thing to do. Any time I am on my computer she wants to look at pictures of herself.

Hailey is also becoming much more pickier about the clothes she wears. I'm going to have to start picking out 2 outfits at night that she can pick to wear in the morning. Today I was about to walk about the door and she decided that the dress/leggings she had on was the most uncomfortable thing in the world and she couldn't get them off fast enough!

Roseola this past weekend

Well this past weekend was an interesting one. Hailey Friday night broke out in a 102 fever with no other symptoms and it was gone Saturday morning!! very weird. But Sunday she broke out in rash like spots, very faint like and it was Roseola. felt bad for her but she seemed to be fine. Kept her home from school on Monday just to make sure she was fine.

But half way through the day she is taking all of my laundry baskets and using them to climb on and to make forts. She's become quite the climber lately.

I was also sick this weekend, was horrible had the flu or something like that, and also had a jewelry show to do but I did it and felt better afterwards.

Now we're back to work/school today, hopefully she does ok and gets back into the routine of school.

Favorite Moments with Hailey

The whole point of this blog was to help remember all those little memories or things your child does when they are little that you just don't want to forget. So here are a few:

- On the rare occassion that Hailey will sleep in bed with me, I love how if I sleep on my side she cuddles right up against my back and lays there all night long.

- I love that she has the heart of gold. She doesn't like to see people sad and loves to give hugs and kisses.

- I love that she tells me she loves me and sometimes even says it out of no where.

- How bedtime = time to bring up every excuse in the book to try to drag it out even longer. She needs a band-aid on, she's gotta go potty and wash her hands, we have to turn the fan off...no ON! How we have to read as many books as she can try to get away with and say our prayers before bedtime. that she's gotta be covered up just right. so frustrating and really pushes my patience but its a nice memory to hold.

I'm sure there are more but for now this is all that I can think of...

So Far so Good...

Well, Hailey's first week of daycare (school) has gone well. She gets excited to go every day but she still wants me to hang out with her a little in the morning when I drop her off. which I can't blame her either, I'd want mom around for a little bit too. But she's had great reports every day. She's only been napping about 1 hr a day, which is short for her and you can tell she's dragging by the end of the day.

She's also had no accidents at all so far and her teacher says she seems advanced compared to the other kids. Which I thought too, she doesn't move up to the next room until she is 3. She's taller than a lot of the kids and just seems more "mature" if you can even use that term for a 2 1/2 year old. Her teacher even says that she listens so well.

I'm glad things have went well, I still can't get there fast enough after I leave work. I just can't wait to see how she's doing and how her day went.

Hailey's 1st day at School

Love picture first thing in the moring....she cooperates so well

This is better!!!

Well, I guess I should know by now that Hailey handles things waaaaaaay better than her mom ever did. I was a mess this weekend, just so nervous about the whole thing and wanting to make sure she is prepared as possible for whatever she may need at daycare. I think she could sense something was changing but she was great.

This morning she woke up at 5:15am! Brought her in bed with me hoping she would go back to sleep but no luck. We got ready for the day and took her first day of school pictures...I almost cried...almost!

On our way to school we saw several school buses and so she of course got excited. We walked into school hand in hand and we got her things settled in her cubby (locker) and she played with all the cool toys while I just kind of went where ever she wanted me to and allowed her to warm up. She even had to go potty and was so thrilled when she saw that they had a real potty for little kids. She could even put her feet on the floor!!! AH!! She loved that! :o)

And after being there for 30 minutes with her, I thought I would see how she was doing and tell her I was going to go to work. Well I did and she came over and grabbed her blankie from me and gave me a kiss and I told her I would pick her up tonight after work and she went back off to playing!!! I was shocked!!!

I even called later in the morning to see how she was doing and they said she was doing great! I'm so proud of her!!! Now I can't wait to see how she is when I pick her up tonight. I'll post her first day pictures later on tonight!

When I went in to pick her up she looked exhausted!! I felt so bad her. She was quiet but said she had a good day but was ready to go home. Hopefully tomorrow will go just as well!

Slim Shady

Pictures of Hailey's last day at Sandy's

Hailey's last day at Sandy's

Hailey's last day at Sandy's (our babysitter) was this past Friday. Kind of sad. Hailey's been in a home daycare environment ever since she was born so it's going to be an adjustment for both of us for her to be going to an official daycare center. I know she'll love it. I just get so nervous when it comes to changing things with her, especially when its something unfamiliar.

But I know she'll love it, eventually, if not right away. It'll be so good for her and she'll learn so much. Plus maybe it'll help us learn more people here in Troy with kids her own age.

I'll try to post some pictures of her last few days at Sandy's.

Darke County Fair

Again this year we took Hailey to the Darke County Fair. She loved it. Loved the animals, could not get enough of them and the rides. Here are some pictures of what all happened.

I'm so proud of Hailey :o)

So this weekend I thought I would be brave with Hailey. Thought I would see how Hailey did if she wore underwear to bed. I made sure I told her and explained to her that she has her underwear on so she can't pee in bed.

She has DONE GREAT!!!!!!!!! Saturday morning she woke up dry and from her nap she woke up dry!!! Of course I made sure that as soon as I heard she was up I went in there and we went straight to the potty!!! I was so proud of her and kept telling her that over and over again. She was proud of her self too!!! So we'll see how this goes!! I'm so excited for her!!!

More Pictures

Being a single mom...

Being a single mom is probably the hardest thing I've ever done. Being pregnant you have to deal with everyone's "looks" and stares. Your never really able to enjoy your pregnancy because your "not supposed" to because your not married.

Then after the child is born, you have to deal with the last name issue. Hailey has her dad's last name, which is fine, but again just another hassle to have to correct people when they look for your daughter with your last name and then you get the pause.

You deal with everything yourself, even if the dad is involved, its all on you. Everything from deciding which schools, daycares, how to discipline, everything. You don't really have anyone to bounce ideas off of for a second opinion. And when times are rough, you have to be tough no matter what because you never want your child to see you cry, you don't want them to know anything is wrong.

Then you start to think that maybe you would like to meet someone again. But that is just so scary in itself. Because no longer are you having to just think about yourself in dating but now you have to consider how it is going to effect your child. When is the right time to introduce the guy into her life, will he be good for her, does he fit, does she like him. What if it doesn't?

Then you find someone and everything is great, better than its ever been. You think you've finally found that "perfect" family. You enjoy all the times together, everything from dinners together, to the grocery store (even though it is probably one of the most stressful trips to do with a 2 year old). Even when things are not great they are still good because you've found someone to connect with, to have a person to bounce ideas off, to help you and to lean on.

You just keep praying that this is it, we're happy, this is the way its supposed to be. God has finally brought someone into my life that I'm supposed to be with. You've never been happier. Then out of no where, it comes falling down. Either they are not wanting a "pre-made" family, they just aren't ready for it, or whatever else the case may be.

To be rejected because you have a child is probably the worse pain ever. Because there is nothing you can do. Of course your child comes first, they always will, its just hard to let go of that person you leaned on, you counted on, someone who even just being there made your life easier just by knowing someone else was there. That you weren't doing it all on your own anymore. Then your back to being both mom and dad, having to being the handyman around the house and the cleaning/laundry lady again.

Everyone keeps telling you that everything always works out for a reason. I believe that, just hard to loose that someone who you loved so much. But again, you just have to pick up, because no matter what, you've got someone so small and helpless and who depends on you for everything that makes you keep going. You have no choice. You just cry in the shower and come out with a smile on your face ready for all the hugs and kisses that you need to give.

Being a single mom is the hardest job I've ever done. It's not about you, and that's ok, but you have a lot on your shoulders and its hard to do it alone.

Pictures of Hailey at the park and bible school

Potty Training

Hailey is actually doing really well with this, considering how long we've been doing it. We started really working at it a week before I went back to work around the beginning of July. Since then she is ONLY wearing big girl underwear except for when she sleeps.

She is doing great. She has finally caught on to doing #2 on the potty and that is AWESOME!!!! Wow does it feel good to not have to change diapers!!

Hailey being potty trained makes things interesting to say the least. We go to the bathroom before we get anywhere and depending on how far we go, we go again when we reach our destination. So needless to say public bathrooms have become an adventure for Hailey. The automatic toliets (very scary!!!) and the FOAM soap. yes very exciting to a 2 year old.

In addition you have to love the times that they tell you when they have to go potty and it is not always in the most appropriate places?!?! 2 weeks ago in Church I took her potty right before we went inside, BIG MISTAKE, now she knows there is a potty at church too. So in the middle of the mass, she tells me she has to go poopie. Well I tried to distract her because I knew she really didn't have to go. She knows how this all works. Well next thing I know she is almost yelling that she has to go poop and won't have it that I won't take her. So needless to say we go potty just to get her out of there so she'll stop saying Poop in church!!

At least the people around us found it funny.

ICE MOMMY!!!

Hailey's new thing is to have ice cubes in her drinks, like mommy. Well she doesn't quite understand that ice melts because she will leave her water and come back to her later on and the ice is gone and she yells at me and points in her cup. Ice Mommy!? My ice!!

I would put more ice in there and she would give me a lecture about not taking her ice. I quickly caught on that she didn't get that ice melts. :o) Ahhh the life of a 2 year old....so much to discover!!!

The very beginning...

It has always been me and Hailey. We've been through a lot together. I knew from the moment that I found out that I was pregnant that this was going to change my life forever. I knew I had to succeed because then my baby would as well. I was in my senior year of college when I was pregnant with Hailey. I took off the spring semester to have Hailey, she was born in March and then started back up in May.

Come December I finally graduated with my Bachelor's Degree in Accounting. It was probably the proudest day ever because after all the hard work and stressful moments of juggling a full-time job, going to school full-time and being a full-time mom. The best part was to look up in the stands and see Hailey, clapping along with everyone else during my graduation ceremony. I wanted to prove to her that no matter what your education is a huge thing in life and you need that no matter what life throws at you. I knew that me getting my degree would make our life better and allow us to have that good life.

Hailey and I have a very special bond. We know each other pretty well and know exactly what buttons to push to drive the other one nuts or what battles to not fight with each other. I hope that over the years our bond stays strong and that we keep the communication lines open and who knows maybe someday we'll be the Gilmore Girls.

I just know I am so blessed to have Hailey. She is my guardian angel and I adore her. She has made me the person that I am today. It's amazing how much love you can have for someone. And I always want Hailey to know that I will always love her no matter what. She is going to make mistakes in life, that's how she learns. I can't be everywhere with her, I just have to help her know how to handle each situation. I hope that someday she'll be able to share everything with me. I will always be an ear for her to talk to.

Just exciting and nerve racking all at the same time to see where life is going to take us, we just have to pray and that no matter what God is going to be right there with us every step.