Easter April 15, 2013

Again, not really sure where to start since we haven’t written in so long.  So Easter it is!  We went to the neighborhood Easter egg hunt, as we like to do each year.  Thought we would miss it this year as we were scheduled to be out of town, but had to cancel that trip at the last minute due to predicted snow.  So had to quickly go get Layla an Easter dress for the occasion to peak out from under her coat (since it has taken FOREVER for spring to get here!).  Layla was scared of the Easter bunny and wouldn’t sit on his lap, so bit of a bummer that we couldn’t get a photo of the kids together with him.

Easter weekend we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s on Saturday.  Normally we have a big Easter brunch with the whole family, but everyone was out of town except us and Grandma and Grandpa, so we had a little get together with Chinese food.  We were able to

throw together a post-Easter brunch with the rest of the gang the following weekend though (by now it might be apparent that the kids had PLENTY of Easter time this year).  They also had an Easter egg hunt at their day care center.  Then Sunday we went to Grandpaman’s and Grandma G’s.  Our friends the Carter’s joined us – they are here from the UK for 3 years, much to our delight.  My dad and Gretchen were kind enough to invite them over, and we had some wonderful food and play time there.

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Christmas January 5, 2012

What a wonderful Christmas!  Hayden was at the best age for the holiday.  He was so excited all month long about everything to do with Christmas – the lights, Santa, presents, Christmas songs, “candy train” (our advent calendar), Christmas cartoons…  It was really a blast to go through the Christmas season with a 4 year old – it made it feel magical, the way it did when I was little.

We tried to make the most of Christmas time by taking advantage of all the special events.  We went on the “Polar Express,” which was a train ride from the neighboring town of Fishers up to “the north pole” (Noblesville, one town up) to pick up Santa.  We did our annual neighborhood Cookies with Santa, and Hayden got to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas (trains, trains, and more trains, because he “really loves trains” – as the month went on we were able to convince him to ask for some other things since he already has a truckload of trains).  Meanwhile, Layla got to show that she is at the exact right age to want to have nothing to do with the big, strangely dressed man, even if he does wield candy canes.  We went to a big Christmas model train exhibit at the Eiteljorg museum in Indy which was really remarkable, and right up Hayden’s alley since it encompassed his two very favorite things – Christmas and trains.  We went to the Children’s Museum “Jolly Days” Christmas experience.  One night a couple of days before Christmas we did what I hope is becoming a tradition since we also did it last year – ordered pizza and ate it on the couch while we watched the movie Elf.  Yes, a 4 year old eating pizza on the couch, I am a wild woman!  I couldn’t bring myself to let Layla loose with pizza sauce and furniture, so she was in her high chair, but I moved it so it was aaaaaalmost in the family room.  🙂

Hayden would have a lot of fun listening to Christmas songs in the car.  He would always ask for Christmas music if it wasn’t already on.  He liked to sing jingle bells or Rudolph – my mom was babysitting for us and I got a text that she was enjoying listening to his sweet voice singing Rudolph and jingle bells over the monitor while he was supposed to be sleeping.  Even Layla started doing her own singing along to jingle bells after a while (her version of singing is mostly singing “eh eh eh” to the tune, and every once in a while throwing in a word that sounds about right).

We spent Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa and Dusty and Andy and their respective families.  Christmas morning we spent at our house unwrapping presents and eating cinnamon rolls.  Hayden was really quite good with it all considering the amount of waiting for other people to open and not really being able to play with everything right away.  I remember last year it really became too much for him after a while.  Then in the afternoon after Layla’s nap we went to Grandpaman’s and did some visiting with Grandma G’s family.

The whole Christmas thing was really great.  John and I also had nearly 2 weeks off work, and it was such a joy to just spend tons of time together as a family.  It was really hard to go back to the routine this week.  But, I guess if we could do that all the time it wouldn’t feel as special.

First tooth! January 6, 2011

Layla got her first tooth on Monday, Jan 3!  It was her lower, middle left.  She’d been a little drooly but not too bad or overly fussy so I was surprised to see it was already breaking through (well, I should say I was surprised to feel,  as I could feel it a couple of days before I could lay eyes on it).  Although, the afternoon/evening before she and Hayden had been at Grandpaman’s and Grandma G’s while we were at the Colts’ game, and when we picked them up she was crying and had been for about an hour. 😦  But she hadn’t seemed to be suffering up until then.

So it’s been three days since the first one came through, but I don’t feel the other one yet.  I remember with Hayden they seem to appear in pairs.  She has been really drooly this week and gets pretty fussy when the pain reliever wears off. Hayden teethed quite early at 5 months, which was good because he had all his teeth including 2 yr molars by about 18 mos.  So he was constantly drooling and wearing bibs for the first year and a half of his life, but then he was all done early.  The good thing with her starting later though is that I can give her Motrin since she’s over 6 months, which lasts longer and thus she can sleep longer before the pain wakes her up and it’s time for another dose.  It’s very plain to see when she’s hurting because she is typically such a happy girl, but when the relief has worn off she changes into a little fuss butt! 🙂

Rolling Rolling Rolling October 18, 2010

Layla rolled from belly to back on Sept 25!  I had her on her belly with her arm underneath her a little so she didn’t have to figure out how to get her shoulder out of the way.  It took a lot of encouragement, leaning over her and talking to her and jingling toys just out of her line of vision so she’d have to keep turning her head further and further back to see and then… bing! Onto her back she went.  She did it few times that night, but she hasn’t done it much since then.  She moves around so much when she’s on the floor.  She’ll go on her side and lift up her legs so they are parallel to her body, then move her torso to straighten herself out, so suddenly she’s at a 90 degree angle from where she was just a moment previously.  She’s done that for a long time.  Yesterday at Grandpaman and Grandma G’s she was on a blanket on the floor and she kept rolling onto her side so far that we thought she might end up rolling onto her belly.  But not yet, so far!

Easter April 13, 2010

We had a fun Easter!  Hayden helped me dye some eggs.  He really enjoyed putting the color tablets into the water, but apart from that he lost interest in the actual egg coloring and was more interested in all the stickers and other things that came in the egg coloring kit.

Saturday we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s and he got to play with his cousins Jesse and Robby.  He loves going there and playing with all the different toys.  We were able to coax him outside to play some soccer with the boys for a while, but as everything outside-related is with Hayden at the moment, it only lasted a short time until he was lured back in by the thought of all the toys that weren’t being played with.

Sunday when we woke up we saw the Easter bunny had been to our house while we slept, and he left Hayden candy and presents and hid the eggs we had colored!  He had a great time finding the eggs and was very excited about his presents.  He got a scooter, soccer goal (not sure if that was more for him or Daddy?), and a couple of little cars.  He really enjoyed his scooter and soccer goal that day, but it’s been difficult to get him outside again to play on them since.  (I’m shaking my head in disbelief as I type that.)

We also planted some seeds for Hayden’s Sesame Street garden.  He has three little Sesame Street kits to grow tomatoes, watermelon, and peppers.  They are actually doing really well so far in their starter kits!  We’ll see what happens once they are transplanted.

Later in the day we went to Grandpamans and Grandma G’s for Easter dinner.  We had a lovely time and great food there.  Toward the end of the visit Hayden tripped and banged his head on a low ledge.  It seemed a pretty hard hit and we all felt really badly for him (I think we were all ready for a bit of blood when it happened), and somehow he got away with only a small bruise.

Thanksgiving December 8, 2009

We had a fun Thanksgiving holiday!  Hayden’s Grandma Goodwin (Nanny) was here with her friend Dave, and we did our usual routine of going to Grandpaman and Grandma G’s on Thanksgiving Day and Grandma and Grandpa’s on the following day.  Hayden was a pretty well behaved boy during both events, although he did find it hard to sit at the table for too long at Grandpaman’s house.  He was starving by the time we sat down to eat, so in order to keep him from going crazy we were feeding him as the dishes were still going around.  There were 19 people there (!), and by the time everyone’s plates had food piled high and we’d said our thanks and cheers, he was just about done eating.  Luckily, the way the room was arranged he could not get out of the dining room because people were blocking the exits, so he stayed near enough that we didn’t have to run after him too much.  My cousin Mandy and her parents, Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Bill, came down from Chicago as well as Grandma G’s brother and his family and her aunt and uncle.  Add to that the five of us and Grandma G’s parents, and it was certainly a full house!

Grandma’s was fun, too, and Hayden had a great time as always playing with his cousins.  There was a kid’s table set up, so he got to sit off with his cousins for dinner.  He did a good job with that.  Jesse and Robby actually finished their food much faster than Hayden, so John sat with him for a while as he felt badly he was sitting by himself. 😉

Harfst family reunion September 14, 2009

Better late than never, I guess!  We had a Harfst family reunion, oh, a month ago now up in Saugatuck, MI.  It was a great time!  We had really nice weather, the area was very cute, and we had 100% attendance!  Even my cousin Greg was able to make it, and I haven’t seen him for about 18 years or something crazy like that.  John obviously had never met him.

The first day we hung out at the pool while we waited for people to arrive.  Uncle Bill and Aunt Marilyn had made a fantastic gumbo that we had for dinner (and consequently one of the cottages retained the delicious smell for the rest of the weekend!).  There were 3 cottages side-by-side that we were pretty confined to in the evenings since Hayden had to go to sleep in the early evening.

The second day we went to the beach.  I was really perfect weather, and we all enjoyed catching some rays and shooting the breeze.  In the evening we took a cruise out into Lake Michigan, then had another delicious meal prepared by Uncle Bill and Aunt Marilyn.  Sunday we went out to breakfast and headed home.

It was about a 3 hour drive for each family (apart from Greg, who had flown in from New York).  Hayden did pretty well on both journeys.  We had gotten him a little portable DVD player in the hopes that it would entertain him the whole trip.  He would be into it for a few minutes but that was it.

Dripping.. August 4, 2009

Recently Hayden is getting in a habit of overfilling his diapers!  A few weeks back we were at Joe’s Crab Shack and he was just starting to get fussy at the end of the meal.  While Kara paid up I took him out of his chair and outside so he could look at the boats and the water.  He felt a little on the heavy side as I picked him up but I was just concentrating on getting him outside so he didn’t start to go crazy in the restaurant.  As we got outside I suddenly felt that warm feeling against me that  you just can’t mistake!    I pulled Hayden away from me and suddenly realizing he was dripping like a tap and his entire trousers were cover top to bottom in pee!!  Poor little guy was just bursting out of his diaper.  We didn’t have a change of clothes for his so he had to walk around in his diaper until we were ready to go – which made me laugh (which considering I was covered in pee was pretty good of me!!)

A couple of weekends back  on the boat I was standing next to Hayden and then that warm feeling came around again…..this time the warm liquid started to roll down his legs on to my feet!  It was a cold weekend so things could have been worse I guess!!   Larry’s boat might have a funny stain on the carpet for a couple of weeks though!

Things come in threes right…. so while my dad was here we went to the Monon Center swimming.  Hayden and I were enjoying a nice tour around the lazy river when I got that feeling again!!!    I notice there weren’t many boats around us at the time – probably because we were leaving a yellow trail behind us!!!  Thanks Hayden!!

So just to show it’s not totally personal last week while we were at the Fisher’s Summer Concert Hayden was sat on Grandma G’s lap listening to the music and hanging out when she got to experience that warm feeling!!!  At least she is now fully initiated as a Grandma!!

Auntie Michelle January 2, 2008

Hayden finally got to meet Auntie Michelle!!! He loved that she came to visit with her boyfriend Stuart.  Hayden seemed to like both of them very much!  He smiled lots around Michelle and even fell asleep in her arms a couple of times and he hates falling asleep as he is always worried he is missing out on something!!

We didn’t do too much crazy stuff while they were here, more about spending time in chilling and getting Michelle and Hayden acquainted.  We made sure we got a good quality steak in while Grandpaman and Grandma G babysat.  Made sure we went in the hottub and drank champagne.  Did some retail therapy when they got to make the most of the weak $!!!  Had a wine party, chili night!  I guess we did quite a bit after all when you mix in Christmas and presents in all that!!!

It was really nice to have them here, they’ve got off to Vancouver for a week now before they head back to the UK.  Hopefully they’ll come back again soon 🙂

Happy Thanksgiving! November 27, 2007

Boy did I have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I actually got four Thanksgivings.  That’s not bad for my first time!  The Sunday before Thanksgiving one of Mommy and Daddy’s friends, Hollie, had some friends over for a Thanksgiving meal while watching the Colts game.  (Speaking of which, what is going on with Adam Viniteri?  When did he become such a lame-o kicker?)  Then on Tuesday my day care had a Thanksgiving lunch and parents could come have lunch with their kids.  Mommy and Daddy came to the lunch and they sat in the infant room with me and ate their meal.  It was funny because they had to sit in these little kid chairs at a little kid table.  So silly!  Then Thursday was real Thanksgiving and we went to Grandpaman’s and Grandma G’s.  Mommy’s cousin Mandy came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  I love when she comes to visit because she has these fun nursery rhymes that she sings to me.  She brought all these photos of Mommy’s and her grandparents when they were young adults.  They had a great time looking through them all with Grandpaman and hearing stories about what my great grandparents were like.  It turns out my mommy looks a lot like my great grandma!  Mandy gave Mommy a beautiful picture of Great Grandma Harfst that she is going to scan in and put on this site soon so you can be the judge.  Daddy thinks Great Grandma Harfst was a hottie!

So back to all my Thanksgivings… Friday we went to Grandma and Grandpa Hammond’s for my final Thanksgiving.  I got to see my cousins Jesse and Robby and my aunts and uncles.  I had a lot of fun.  It won’t be long before I am causing all kinds of trouble with my big cousins!

Mommy’s friend Emily is in town from San Francisco, so last Monday she and Daddy went out to dinner with her, Reena, Sunil, Tom, and Tracy.  I stayed home and Grandpaman and Grandma G came over.  Mommy put me to sleep before she left, and I stayed asleep for about 45 minutes.  Then I woke up and it was time to PARTY!  Oh, they tried everything to get me to go back to sleep, but I laughed at their feeble attempts.  They thought I was going to sleep when I had my grandparents over?!  That is far to exciting for sleep!  We hung out; I made sure they didn’t steal anything.  It was the best!

This weekend we put up the Christmas tree and decorations.  I love looking at the twinkly lights on the Christmas tree.  Mommy says I have to be really good so Santa brings me lots of presents.  I said to her, ‘Mommy, haven’t you been paying attention?  I’ve been the best baby for nearly 4 months now!’  Sheesh — what is she like! 😛