4 Months Old

Yep, already, Hailey is growing like a weed. She now can hold her head up most of the day, without getting too tired. She has begun more tummy time even though she still hates it. She has begun to play with more toys, grab things, and recognize that it is actually 'playing' time. She smiles at you all on her own, she looks at you wanting attention, and she wants to make eye contact. It still amazes me, even though we have done this once, how fast they grow and learn.



She is laughing, yelling, and cooing. She just talks and talks. She wants to play so badly. She will swing herself while propped up on a knee. She chews on her fingers, not a big BINK baby. Her big blue eyes will follow you across the room. She loves her sister. She will try to jump forward to try to get to Ava. She knows her daddy, that's for sure. As soon as Kenny begins talking, her little head turns to his direction and she smiles so big. She is eating baby food, 4-6 ounces a bottle, and sleeping better. Not sleeping through the night yet but sleeping better.



She is 14 lbs and probably 24/25 inches long. I havent measured her, but we weighed her last night, so that is accurate. She has rolls in her arms and legs. She is starting to get interested in trying to roll over but only when a toy with noise and lights is out of her range and she trys to grab at it. Watching her learning to play is a joy, her smile is contagious, and her laugh is delightful.



Her love for Ava is amazing. In the mornings, she wakes up looking for Ava. Once they spot each other, there is a big smile by both. I always tell Ava to tell her "Good Morning, Hailey" with a kiss. Ava is always happy to do it. My heart melts watching them together.

Baby Food

Yes, don’t shoot me, Hailey isn’t 4 months old yet but YES I have begun to give her some baby food.  My little chunky monkey is hungry! She is doing great with it also. I started about the 10^th of February, at 3 ½ months.

I did it one evening, just to see, giving her some oatmeal, she isn’t a big fan of it so the next evening I put a little applesauce in it to flavor, and she gobbled it up. So I bit the bullet and decided she should start some solids. My wonderful Mamaw had given me some for Christmas as a present to Hailey. So we started with the basics: apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, pears. I am going to keep her on the yellow/orange baby food for a while and move her to others at a different time. I want to take it slowly since I have begun so early with her.

Yes, I know people will criticize but she’s mine. And I believe she was ready, she does great with the spoon and when she sees me getting everything ready while sitting in her highchair, she starts kicking her feet. I cannot believe how big she is getting.

She’s eating between a half a jar and a full jar depending on when she signals to me that she is done. I can tell when she doesn’t want anymore; she will begin to just let it drain out of her mouth.

My only big obstacle with feeding her has been her big sister, Ava. Ava is old enough to ‘help’. Most of the time she is good help with chores around the house but when it comes to feeding Hailey, she is in the way. She doesn’t always pay attention, she puts way to much on the spoon, and she will have baby food all over Hailey’s face and highchair. But despite all these things, I still let her help. She loves it and I love trying to keep Ava involved. It’s really hard sometimes because she is young but I love that she wants to try. Some nights are worse than others and I have to kick her out of the feeding process but most nights I try to roll with it, while holding my breath.

As Hailey grows I know it will get easier, one of the best things of already been there and done that. Cannot wait to watch her grow and become more coordinate with her hands to mouth movement. I know it’s all coming in due time, as sad as that is.

A Girls Day...

Today I did something that I rarely do, I left my babies at home with their daddy and went to lunch with the girls. It was really nice. I seriously need to do it more often. It feels like I do it once a year or so. It takes a lot to get me to do it. We all have our families now so we begin planning about a month or two out. It's the way it has to be. It's amazing how much work it takes just to get together for lunch.

I had a wonderful time. I got to talk to adults, get other views of other mothers, and eat a meal without sharing. I love the girls I went out with, one being my sister in law and the others being my cousins. We had a great time and there was lots of laughter and lots of story telling.

Once the girls get a little older, I hope its easier for me to leave them. I feel guilty even though I know I shouldnt but after working 40 hours during the week, to leave them is hard. They are my world. My husband is always telling me to plan something and to go. I think I might take him on it eventually but right now I dont want to miss anything. I miss too much as it is.

But if I could do it like today, I think I would do it more. We ate lunch, ate, shopped a little (formula for the babies), and then I came home and played with my girls. Ava and I built with blocks, Hailey cooed and yelled at me. Once the evening came, we cuddled up in bed and watched a movie.

A perfect day.

If you agree all mommies need a day, vote for me!

So many Kids....

This past weekend we had 2 birthday parties. A cousin on my side and a cousin on Kenny's side. When talking with Kenny this weekend we realized how much our little circle has grown since beginning our journey together 7 years ago. When we first started only my sister had a baby, Emily was born in 2007, we had been together for 3 years.

Now it looks like we have a birthday party or two or three every month this year including our two little angels. It is so different now. A good different.

Here are some pictures for our first weekend of birthday parties!

We have a couple in March and so on...its going to be alot of fun. I cannot believe how fast all these little ones are growing.



3 Months Old!

Hailey is 3 months old! Where has the time gone? Who knows? These 3 months have flown by. She is doing great. She is gaining weight, growing taller by the minute, and so alert. She can now hold her head up and look around the room, always searching for Ava, I believe. She smiles back at you. She sticks out her tongue. She has giggled but not really laughed but I think she is almost there. She is rolling over onto her side. She grabs for toys. She will take your finger and stick in her mouth to be chewed. I believe she is teething, her bottom gums are white and bumpy, she just drools and chews on her fingers all day. She is getting into a pattern, eating about every 3-4 hours, taking a nap or two in the morning before a long 3 hour nap in the afternoon, a nap in the evening, then bedtime.

She is so aware of everything going on. She loves her big sister. Ava got her first real smile at someone. Ava gets a lot of smiles when they are around each other. Ava is still doing well with her, she has been a little rough but we keep reminding her how small Hailey is. Now that Hailey can hold her head up and wants to sit up, Ava tries to get her to 'play' however we have to explain that Hailey just isn't 'big' enough yet. Hailey loves her play mat, staring into the mirror looking at that other baby. She is usually a very happy, pleasant baby. She is cooing, trying to talk. Vicky, their babysitter, has told me more than once that she is sure Hailey is going to be mouthy just like Ava.

At her last appointment she was 11 lbs, 12 oz, 23 ½ inches long. I am sure she has grown some since then. She had a little set back with her feeding this past weekend, she had a little touch of a stomach bug, but was up to 6 oz a feeding, we are slowly getting back to that, she is still at 4 oz and it satisfies her for the time being. She is such a joy.

I always said that I couldn't remember my life before Ava because she brought so much into my life, well now with 2 little girls in my life, I don't know how we ever managed with just one. It is so busy, so much fun, so frustrating, so entertaining, and happy. It's like it was always meant to be the four of us, together.