Last night as I was rocking little Haylee to sleep, I just sat and stared at her perfect little face and thought about how grateful I am to finally have her with me. Most of you know that Cameron and I tried for four long, grueling years to have a baby, and to have her here with us now is an amazing blessing. I sat and told her how special she is and how long I waited for her and dreamed of being a mom. I can't explain how grateful I am for this little angel...
We got these cute pics of Haylee with Daddy this morning! She posed herself with her little hand under her chin (the classic portrait pose!!!) and just melted our hearts! We believe she is practicing her model poses. And here I was sooo worried I'd have an ugly kid! Lucky me!
While we were up north for the Thanksgiving weekend, we made some visits to relatives and spent time with good friends, too. This is Haylee with her great grandma Sam. Poor Haylee was fed up with traveling and sporatic napping, hence the fussy face in this pic! I love that I got a picture with these two...:)
This is my aunt and uncle, Rozella and Leo who live in Winslow. I love these two! Rozella has made some really cute blankets and a beautiful quilt for Haylee that I know will be a keepsake for her. She is an amazing quilter! And my uncle Leo is the best! He's funny, sweet and just the good kinda guy who will do anything for anyone. Gotta love him!
Brennon, you had to know this pic was goin' on the blog! We went out to a chinese restaurant on Saturday night with Brennon, Danica, Kathy, Sean, Penny, Kendall, April and Tyce. At chinese restaurants you always have that issue of whether or not everyone is gonna share their dish with the group or just get their own thing. Brennon, we learned, is NOT a "sharer" (can't blame you, Brennon, I'm usually not either!). But on this occasion, he opened up to the rest of us and shared his beef and broccoli! What a guy!:)
This year we did a little Thanksgiving dinner at Kendall and April's house with Cameron's parents, Kendall and April and Tyce! It was sooo nice and relaxing and enjoyable. Sometimes smaller is better, ya know?? I love that Haylee can wear her little Vans--even if they are way too big for her! They still look cute! And no, I didn't buy this bib for her--that was a gift from her Aunt April, but she better be thankful for her mommy!!:)
Here is cousin Tyce waiting for his food! He can be doing ANYTHING and will stop and smile anytime a camera is put in front of him! I had to laugh that his mom was bummed that his Thanksgiving bib got food on it---hello! He's 7 months old!! Love you April!:) Thank you for the bibs!
Here are the cousins at their very first Thanksgiving ever! It's so fun having them so close in age. Tyce adores Haylee and loves to kiss her head! It's sooo cute and sweet! He gets super excited whenever she comes around!
Friday night Cameron and I took Haylee to the Show Low-Blue Ridge football game at MCC and witnessed a miracle--Show Low beat Blue Ridge! It was such a good game and we had a lot of fun with friends who were there too. Haylee did sooo good and slept a lot of the time. We thought the noise might bother her, but it didn't at all. I think she was more curious than anything! She loved looking around at everyone! I mentioned in an earlier post that Haylee WILL like football...we're just makin' sure that happens--starting her young!
Haylee made my day today! As I was putting her in her carseat (which she usually hates) to go run errands, she smiled at me and even giggled a little!!! Oh man--it melted my heart right there! I was so mad that my phone was already in the car so I couldn't get a picture of it. But then later this afternoon as I was changing her diaper, she did it again! I grabbed my phone so fast, thinkin' surely I'd missed it, but I didn't! I was able to capture her in all her cuteness! This will forever be a favorite picture of her for me! Love my little girl...:)
Okay, I have my 6 week post-baby checkup today (yes, Cameron is very excited!). That means I get clearance to exercise again and to start the journey of losing all this excess weight that I found during my pregnancy! I would put a "before" picture up, but all the pics on our blog are the "before" pics! I am very motivated to get skinny and to start eating better. I have lots of help from my hubby, who has offered to cook or watch Haylee while I cook, and who is also motivated to eat healthy. I've never minded cooking--I actually feel very accomplished when I'm done and I never eat as much when I cook it. Does anyone else do that? It's like, by the time you're done cooking, you're not hungry anymore! Anyway, I am very excited for this new venture! Please help me stay motivated if you're out with me!!!:) I'll need all the help I can get!
The other day I was holding Haylee on my legs while she slept and was able to capture these adorable shots of her smiling! Thank goodness for cameras on cell phones! She smiles all the time in her sleep and is just now learning to smile when she's awake! People say babies smile in their sleep cuz of gas--I don't fully believe that. Yes, Haylee does smile when she lets a good one rip (which she is very good at--she's the gassiest baby we know!), but she smiles constantly when she's not tooting! Who knows...any thoughts???
Our little family on Haylee's blessing day! Thank you, Mom, for the adorable blessing dress--she looked absolutely beautiful.:) Doesn't Cameron look so handsome--I'm such a lucky woman!
Sean and Penny (Cameron's parents) with our little one...
Grandma and Grandpa Orvin (my mom's parents) came from St. George for Haylee's blessing. I felt so lucky to have them there.:) Haylee is their twenty-first great grandchild!
These sweet girls are two of my young women that I love! They made that cute white quilt for Haylee! I saved it special for Haylee's blessing day.:) They are such great girls! If Haylee acts HALF as good as these two, Cameron and I will be lucky parents!
Mom and little Haylee--love this beautiful girlie.:)
Another good shot of the beautiful blessing dress.
These are our good friends Jared and Bethanie (Cam's mission companion) and Jared's cousin Kenny and his wife Jessica. We have great friends!
Cameron's family after the blessing--we are so loved! At least Haylee is!:)
Love the look on her face in this one!
