She is Crafty!

I realized that I have not posted anything lately about Hailey's craft skills.

For her birthday Gramma Linda and Grampa George gave her an art desk that stores all of her craft supplies and converts from a desk into an easel. (this was the second type as the first one had a chalk board that you couldn't use and she was not a fan of just standing). I have to say that this is the BEST art desk/easel out there and Hailey just loves it. She does crafts often throughout the week and it is set up in a way that she is very capable of being able to initate it all by herself which is her most favorite part of anything.

Her most favorite craft projects are stickering in her books, drawing, water colors, and glueing "cuts" (sheets of construction paper that I cut up for her in all stores of colors) to a sheet of paper.

On Wednesday she drew her first circle and made sure I knew it. Here is a picture of her circle, there are many others but I made sure to draw an arrow to the "first" one. She was so excited that she started jumping and clapping and said "mommy, I drew a circle, YEAH!"

This morning we painted with water colors and glued "cuts".

About a year ago I got her a notebook that she could color and do crafts in that would show the progression of her art, it is so fun to see how it has come along in a year from her first skills to her current skills. It tends to be alot of stickering but she is very particular about where these stickers are placed.

Hailey's first picture in her book (12/08)

Hailey recent stickering activity (11/09)

Family Fun Day - Tubing at Snoqualmie

This weekend we went up to Snoqualmie Pass with the gang to go tubing. Even though the snow did not cooperate, we still had a blast. Hailey did really well, except that she wouldn't let anyone but me hold her, ride with her, look at her, etc. She also wanted to ride up the mountain on the tow rope instead of letting mommy get in some exercise by walking up it and pulling her in the tube behind me. Have you ever tried to walk up a snow covered mountain pulling a tube with 30 lbs of a jumping, bouncing and whinning toddler behind you? I gave it two tries, NOT WORTH IT!

Riding up the mountain on the tow rope has changed since I was a kid though, now they have a hook that attaches to your tube so you don't have to hold on and pull your arms out of the sockets. It was actually almost more fun then riding down. Hailey loved the tow rope the best but could have done with out the super long line to wait for it.

She had a really fun time, but I think we will have to do the early morning session next year, she was a bit impatient and ended up getting SUPER tired. She would not let me me put her down by the end not let anyone else hold her. Trying to hold a little one in a snow suit with a helmet, walking through very wet/icy snow, and quite layered myself proved to be quite exhausting. I think I would have been better off in shorts and t-shirt - I was roasting!

Yes, I AM THAT Mom that makes my child wear a helmet. This goes back 25+ years when I witnessed a horrific accident at the very same spot. Greg says it happens everyday, well, we were NOT going to be today's. Lucky for us, Hailey loves her bike helmet and wouldn't let me take it off even after we were done. I had to bribe her to take it off so she could get into her car seat. I have to say that I am AMAZED at how many kids DID NOT have a helmet on and there were alot of kids that were just a bit older then Hailey.

Hailey and Mommy waiting for Daddy to bring us our tickets.

Hailey and Madeleine trying to make snow(icy)balls

No one in particular in this shot - just a shot of all the runs.

She was trying to say cheese and find me with the camera from under her helmet.

Here is a little bit of her "do it myself" attitude :) She HAD to pull the tube by herself and she was able to do it too. You can see the momentum in the second picture of her efforts. She really was moving it!

Here is "Gamma and Geampa Decter" Don't you love my mom's darling red hat! It was a great hat to find her by .... haha

I am going to get shot for posting this one, but I just couldn't resist, she has no idea that he is coming down right behind her. (no, he did not run her over) I just hope that she realizes that she should find a new hat!

Kristina, Ry and Arcani - Please note that Arcani is 6 months old - what troopers! No, he did not go down the slopes but he cheered us all on!

By the end of the session on our last wait in line for the tow rope, she started to melt down. She had a great time but I think the last time down had done it for her. When we got the top, she said "put the tube away mommy" in the cutest little crying, exhausted, stuttering, - I am done voice.

Stick a fork in her... she is DONE!

Our Weekend In Leavenworth at the Ice Fest

Last weekend we took a trip over to the Ice Fest in Leavenworth, WA. We had a great time even though there wasn't much snow to play in it. The picture of her in the sled above is at Steven's Pass, and no, she is not on top of a cliff, just a snow pile in the parking lot that was on a slight incline.

I made Greg leave at 6:30 am on Saturday so we could get over there early to enjoy the day. I think it worked out really well but I wasn't the one who had to drive over the pass after waking up at 5 am. We were able to go out for breakfast at the Waffle haus and then take the sled down the short hill. Hailey wasn't too sure about it at first but by the afternoon when we did it again, she kept asking to "go again mommy"

We did run into a slight obstacle on the way over though...

Luckily no one was hurt in this incident but it did cause us to take a 30 min detour through a town called Plain. It was a pretty detour at least. I wish we could have seen this rock that was the size of a bus, but they blocked the road. This was a picture that we found on the local news webpage.

The Ice Fest is something new that Leavenworth is putting on, they have a variety of snow type activies for adults and kids, we let Hailey do the kid activities and she had a great time. Here she is doing the ice cube scramble, picking up colored ice cubes with little trinkets in them. It took her a few min to realize that she was supposed to pick them up and put them in the bag but once we started singing the "clean up" song she started picking them up.

She then did the snowball toss. There wasn't any snow to actually make the snowballs so they had wiffle balls instead. It does look like a snowball though doesn't it?

Here she is enjoying a snack of a yummy homemade peanut butter and butterscotch cookie.

Hailey and "Ma" waiting for us to make up our mind as to what to do next.

Stephanie and Madeleine enjoying a dog sled ride. This was fun to watch, the dogs were amazing and gorgeous.

That evening we went out with the entire group to a very cool bowling ally/pizza restaurant. I unfortunally didn't get any good pictures, the lighting was not working and all the pics for some reason turned out really dark. But I had to show a picture of the first time that Hailey bowled with Daddy. She loved it, she would swing her arms with the ball, wait for it to go all the way down the ally, once it knocked over some pins she would put her arms up in the air and shoot "hooray! I did it" it was pretty cute.

Hailey and I walked to Starbucks the next morning as it was just down the road from our hotel, she is enjoying her "chocat milk" Everytime we drive by or see a Starbucks, she says "mommy's coffee" she has even been known to say "are you happy now" once I have one. WOW - I don't even have words...

I was told I had to take this picture, Hailey was ready to go home as she kept pulling my hand and walking me to the car so she is not very happy with me in that I made her stand under this sign on a bench to take this picture of her at the "Munchen Haus" Next time we will get a cute one - there was also people right behind me that wouldn't move so I couldn't get far enough away.

We are very excited for Gramma Liela and Gampa George to come visit

Greg's parents, who now live in Georgia, are coming out for a nice long visit in February and tonight Hailey and I made a countdown chart to mark how many days are left until they come.

It has been over a year since they have seen her and we are all very excited for them to come and spend some much long overdue time with us in the great Pacific Northwest.

We have a few things planned for thier visit like taking them to my dad's beach house in Suquamish (near Poulsbo) for a few days and hopefully see some family south of Seattle.

The main plans for the visit is to ensure that Hailey gets to spend as much time with Gramma Liela and Gammpa George as possible.

Today when we were in Levenworth sitting at Starbucks drinking our "coffees" Hailey pipes up out of nowwhere, I want my "liela" at first I had no idea what she was talking about until it hit me... she just named Gramma Linda LOL - she has been saying it all day so Gramma Linda is now named "Gramma Liela"

Can't wait to see you guys in 25 days!!!!!

Movin' on up!

Before and After - Above-last nap in crib and below - first time laying on her new bed

We have reached yet another milestone here in the Munchin Household. A couple of months ago we said "bye bye" to the crib rail and started using just a bed rail for Hailey's crib and she LOVES it! Being able to climb in and out has been great and she NEVER once climbed out when she wasn't supposed to, even during those trying times. It was just this morning that for the first time she climbed out and actually WOKE us up. It was quite sweet I must say.

When we made the switch to the bed rail only, she was just starting to attempt to get her leg over the crib and I was paranoid that we were going to hear things go bump, or thud, in the night. My friend Julie (Chloe's Mom) was ever so gracious and lent us their bed rail and Hailey has been sleeping like a beautiful angel ever since the switch (only a few middle of the night requests for Mommy's bed. I have to admit though, I do miss my cuddle bug that I got for the 2nd half of each night but I am thankful for full nights sleep without the 3 am wake up call.

Another great thing that Hailey also received from Chloe was a desire to have a "big girl" bed and she has been talking about one ever since she saw Chloe's in November. Lucky for us we have Greg's old twin bed in storage that was only a few years old when we met so it was practically brand new. I was just indecisive about picking out a theme for her room. She received a quilt from my Aunt when she was born and I said from the moment that I saw it that I was going to decorate her room to match. Pastels, with cute insects, flowers and butterflys on it. This proved to be a much more complicated effort to match to a coral wall then I was prepared for though. Note to self... NEVER EVER PAINT A ROOM AND THEN TRY TO FIND STUFF TO MATCH!

I finally decided on an adorable set from who would've guessed, but Target last week. It is more purple with a bit of pink so it matches really well. It has every color in it and the colors are a bit richer then true pastels, great for matching a variety of sheets too as I know that we are close to the time where we will be going through a sheet set or two a night.

For Christmas she received the Rose Petal Cottage that is purple and pink and this was where I got the idea to go purple and coral with a bit of pink along with flowers and butterflys. I stayed close to my Aunt's quilt but all the bug patterns out there were more for a nursery-toddler then for a toddler-big girl. I want this to be a theme that she will grow into and love for multiple years, I am also really hoping to bypass the entire Disney themes by changing it now.

I know that I am rambling on but this is really the first time that I have actually picked out a true bed set for her. (so I have an excuse to get a little excited) I never did get the traditional bed set for the crib as I knew that we would be out of the crib and into a twin bed vs. converting the crib into a toddler bed. For her nursery I had a theme (teddy bears with brown, white and coral) but I never found anyting that I liked well enough that would match.

But... on to the big news of the day! We have moved her into a real big girls bed. A twin size bed that fits her and the entire "entourage" along with a full size pillow. She absolutely loves it! When daddy was moving the crib out of her room, both her and I did get a bit chocked up but we were soon able to get super excited about her new bed that we have been talking about for weeks. I was really surprised that she seemed to struggle with the move at first, she grabbed onto the crib and said "I want my crib, where it going?" I then handed her the first new piece of her bed set (the bed skirt) and she held on to it until the box spring was down and she could take it out of the package and help me put it on the bed. It has to be hard seeing a change like this at 2 years old to something that has been a comfort for almost your entire life. I have always moved her furniture around in her room so she is very well accustomed to change so I knew that I didn't have to worry about that. It is really funny though when I move a piece of furniture, let's say a bookcase to a different place, and she makes a beeline for it only to realize that it has not been replaced with something else. It is like the brakes go on right before she hits it.

After her bed was all made she climbed right up on it with no problem (it is really high) pulled a bunch of stuffed animals up with her, placed them on her pillow behind and said that "youk mommy, I am riding" I didn't really get it until I realized that she was in front of all her stuffed animals and she was driving them all in the car. Her imagination is unbelievalble. She also took the cardboard packaging from the sheets and first folded it into a square a put it on her said and said "a square hat" and then put the same cardboard on the floor and said that she was riding a boat by holding onto the front of it between her legs.

Bedtime was really fun too, I was able to crawl into bed with her and read her books laying next to her, it was great! This is what I am really looking forward to with this new sleeping arrangment. It is not about what the theme is, how her room looks, or if the colors match perfectly, it is about being able to share in the laughter, giggles, and cuddles each and every night. That is truely what bedtime is all about.

Sleep beautifully my angel

Next Years Christmas Tree

Santa found a cute little Christmas Tree Growing Kit for Hailey. Hopefully it will be big enough for at least Hailey's room next year. Who knows what this will turn into but it was kinda fun and you can see that Hailey had a great time.

Drop the dirt ring in...

Add water and stir...

Pour the seeds in...

Now wait. (I got a very similar one too but it is a plant instead)

If was fun to do them together and hopefully Hailey will get a good hang of gardening as we plan on doing a lot in the up coming spring/summer in hopes of having a garden.

Mery Christmas!

Christmas was a blast this year. Hailey totally gets it and had so much fun exploring so many different shows, lights, events, shopping for others, etc.

On Christmas Eve we celebrated with my Dad, Step-Mom, and Sister as we usually do. It was fun, I hope though that next year we can take up our yearly tradition of going to the Christmas Eve Service at church. We have not been able to go since Hailey was born but I think next year we will make sure it happens.



Hailey woke up to a wonderful visit from Santa and was a bit overwhelmed. We got through about 2/3's of the presents. Once we opened her beloved tree house from Santa it was all over. I couldn't pursuade her to open any more and it was a bit challenging to even get out of the house as she wanted to take it with her. It was so cute when she opened it, she says "youk Santa brought me my treehouse" it was priceless. We worked very hard to make sure that she asked for the one special gift by scanning it in my phone, looking at it frequently, and showing Santa. Santa definitely came through :)

Picking out the first gift


In the afternoon we then headed over to my Mom's to celebrate with family. We had a wonderful time eating a ton of food and enjoyed our first white elephant gift exchange.



The first gift at Gamma's


We definitely missed my brother Brian and his Girlfriend Karrie, but we know that they had a very fun time in two feet of snow in Boston with her family.

Hailey was SUPER spoiled as she got 3 full christmas' with 2 stockings! It is all about the kids and the sparkle in their eyes. I also understand the full meaning of making sure that "right" present is under the tree. I just haven't decided if those should be from Santa or from Mommy and Daddy. I think the magic of Santa coming down the chimmney makes it all worth it even though Santa does get all the credit :)

On Saturday we called Grandma and Grampa in Georgia and opened gifts while on the phone. Unfortunatly the web cam has been down for a few months but I got a new laptop for Christmas and it is now back up and running for weekly phone chats with Grandma Linda and Grampa George. They are also coming to visit during February and we hope to come up with some unique names that Hailey will call them as she has started to name everyone in her own special way.

Thank you Grandma and Grampa for my ice cream parlor and espresso machine



Yes, of course my child has to have her very own espresso machine! Now mommy gets as much coffee as Hailey wants to make me :) It even makes real sounds - our house sounds like a coffee shop, ahhhhhh the life! :)

Some of her favorites was the "new baby" from Geampa and Grandma Lollie (Lori), the treehouse from Santa, a few new dresses (she loves to wear dresses with tights) from mommy and Gamma, the kitty piano from the Haley's, her cottage playhouse and all the accessories from everyone.

All in all it was a most wonderful holiday season and in some ways I am sad to see it over. It is such a special time to spend with family and friends and to see it through the eyes of child makes is magical all over again.


My only disapointment was that I had so much fun with my new FLIP video recorder, that I didn't take as many pictures :( I will have to figure out how to pull individual pictures off the videos and post later.



Happy Holidays to all and here's to an extra special 2010!

The most perfect day!

In how many cities could you enjoy a day in the 50's the day after Christmas, go on a bike ride and strip off your gloves because you are too warm in only a fleece coat? Well Seattle was just this lucky today.

We enjoyed a bike ride today in this beautiful weather and for the first time Hailey stayed on her bike the entire time and actually pedelled while I pushed her. I bet by summer she will be riding it all by herself.

I keep asking myself, why am I so excited for her to grow up? Because it just gets better each and every day! :) Today she told me that she wants a big girl bed... all I can think of is YEAH! Now I can cuddle you to sleep :)

Enjoy every minute of every day and never put off for tomorrow for what you could do today!

The sweetest little Santa picture EVER!

Here is Hailey's Santa picture this year - I am so proud of her

She was also such a good girl that Santa brought her just what she wanted - the little people tree house :) here she is playing with it. She played with it for over an hour on Christmas and tons more today. I just love how she is so imaginative already and plays make belive with the little dolls.

I will get a christmas blog post completed very soon!

A night out on the town

The three of us girls, Stephanie, Kristina and I along with each of our little ones Madeleine, Grei and Hailey + Ry went out for a night out on the town in Downtown Seattle on Tuesday evening. Next year Justin and Greg will have to go too and they will be held up to what a trooper Ry was as we went from mall to mall and store to store.

We rode the carosel which is one of Hailey's most favorite things to do. Her and Madeleine were so excited that they were dancing and singing in line and screaching when it was there turn to get on.

The kids had so much fun looking at people and the lights, listening to music, eating and running (and strolling) around the town. I have been in the holiday spirit pretty much since Thanksgiving but this really was the sugar on top. We had a lot of fun and hope to make it a yearly tradition.

I got this shirt for Hailey last year and totally forgot to pull it out until today, this COMPLETLY fit her attitude today too. It was a bit of a rough day but she proved that it is NOT too late and that Santa does pay attention up to the last point :)

Garden D'Lights

On Tuesday Hailey and I went with my Dad, Step-Mom, and Sister to the Garden D'Lights at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. It was beautiful. They use over 1/2 million lights to decorate the grounds. Hailey loved looking for the butterflys with Grampa.

A morning at Jump Planet

On Sunday morning Hailey and I headed out for some fun rainy weather exercise at Jump Planet in Bothell. We had such a fun time just the two of us jumping, climbing, and slidding. We laughed and giggled for over an hour.

It was also a great way for me to help Hailey to understand how much I believe in her that "she can do it" I was not forcing her, but if she said "I can't" I told her that she could do anything and that I would show/help her. I want her to be a stong, independent young girl that can do anything that she puts her mind to. This is a great place to instill those values as a young kid and still have fun doing it.

She can now climb up all each and every slide in that entire building, including the tall 2 story one that she is standing in front of below, ALL BY HERSELF! She has absolutely no fear, she will just climb right up and head straight down with no hesitatin. Videos to post as soon as I figure out how.

A visit to Santa

Last week we made the yearly visit to Santa. For those of you who don't know, we have a very special Santa that we see. This is where you do not let any kids read past this point... Greg's father good friend is the Santa at the Bellevue Square Nordstroms.

We have gone each year and always have such a special visit. Last year was a bit trying and Hailey did not have fun AT ALL!

This year though I planned ahead. We had multiple discussions about Santa and we went to meet him at the various malls and stores in the area. We also saw him ride into Mill Creek a few weeks ago at the parade in Mill Creek. We talked about how Santa brought special toys and presents to good little girls and boys, and then we even got a few candy canes at some of our visits.

I was determined to get a picture of Hailey not crying on Santa's lap and I had worked really hard with her. What I was prepared for though was a screaming, determined, pissed off little girl that Santa was going to have to strap down to his lap with his belt. If you have been around Hailey when she does not want, or want, to do something you know exactly what I mean :)

What actually happend was something that I am still in shock over. She went into the special room that Santa was in quiet and interested, we walked slowly up to Santa who was bribbing her to come closer with a candy cane. She first said that Daddy should sit on Santa's lap but then she reached out to him and sat on his lap all by herself. Greg and I knelt next to her and we got what we think was a smile out of her for our family picture (we will p/u on the 23rd). We then backed away and got a smily picture of her by herself on Santa's lap. She then turned around, gave him a kiss and hug and showed him her wish list that is on my phone. Yeah for shopsavvy on the MyTouch! (we worked on this for 2 weeks as well, she is very excited and hoping to get the little people treehouse that she saw at Kohl's and said matter of factly "I want it mommy," picked it up and showed me. (Mommy spent 2 days looking for one, and then finally went back to Kohl's and found it, I have since learned to just figure out a way to get it out of the store when you first see it)

This is me at 2 - it lasted through age 4 :)

Greg just couldn't resist getting on Santa's lap either.

After pictures we headed out to dinner with my Dad, Step-Mom, and Sister and saw Snowflake Lane. Hailey had a wonderful time and is now dancing around our house with her drum hanging from her neck by a ribbon like the marching band drummers. Video to come shortly but I am still trying to figure out how to post videos taken with my new Flip camcorder.

A Family Portrait

So a about 2 months ago we went and got our family portrait taken. It was not a good day at all and unfortunatly this was the only one that turned out. Hailey was not in a cooperating mood but I have to say, for a rough day, I was happy to get this one. - Please keep in mind that this is a photo of a photo so we look a bit more round and squaty then what we really are :)

Now, if I could only get in gear to get Hailey's 2nd year pictures taken. I HAVE to get it done on Wednesday. I am already 2 1/2 months overdue. Lucky for us she hasn't changed that much :)

Hailey knows her stuff about Santa

A few nights ago I just happened to recording Hailey and I having a conversation about Santa :) I swear I did not have que cards with pictures on what to say in front of her, this was all on her own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqJ-nfV0f5E

Decorating Cookies with our friends Julie and Chole

Hailey and I went to a playdate at the Moss's on Friday evening. They had a great time as usual and even got to decorate cookies. It was the funniest thing ever to watch these two go at it with the spinkles and frosting.

These were taken with my friends Flip camera so I am hoping that they will work.

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/5831d5233cc21a8981157db20c59d5d9/video/7744426

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/5831d5233cc21a8981157db20c59d5d9/video/7744475

Santa comes to Mill Creek

Yesterday we went to the Santa parade and welcomed Santa to our little city. It was much smaller then I expected but it was very fun to see Hailey's face when he rode in on a horse drawn carriage.

We then walked through the Town Center and enjoyed a pony ride, listening to the Seahawks Blue Pride Drummers, sitting in Santa sleigh, and receiving a balloon at Central Market. It was very fun to start the Holiday season celebrating right at home :)

Sitting waiting for the parade to start

Santa riding into town

Blue Pride Drummers

Riding the pony

Watching the drummers

Sitting in Santa's Sleigh - we were well past nap time by this point...

Enjoying some of the early holiday festivities

This is the second year that we have gone to get our Christmas tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving and it makes for such a great way to end our nice long Thanksgiving weekend that we are going to make a point to make it our yearly tradition. This year we woke up early on Sunday to also make our gingerbread house. It took us all week to decorate but we have to say, it was well worth the effort! Hailey put each and every piece of candy on it and I did the tree. She is quite the little decorator and LOVED having a few tastes while she worked so hard :)

It is pretty special having a Grampa that owns a nursery that sells Christmas trees... you get to ride on the cool toys.

Walking through the "forest"

Looking for just the right one with Daddy

This one looks good!
And we cannot forget one for my room!

It is a lot of work picking out a tree

At home after nap, putting the first ornament on the tree

Me and my Gingerbread House

Dip...

Lick...YUM!

Decorating...
And the finished product!

A very merry early Christmas to all!

Bye Bye Paci - huge success!

Bye bye Paci mission is going extremely well and Build-A-Bear was so much fun. Hailey did great and didn't even hesitate when she put her paci's into the monkey. She did ask for her paci back once but was distracted by the small purse of make-up accessories.

I am so proud of her and happy that there will be no more pictures with the ugly green circle thing hanging out of her mouth.

My baby is growing up so fast.

We have also recently removed the bed rail from her bed and are using just a rail to protect her from falling out in the middle of the night. I am not sure if this is the reason that she is sleeping so much better through the night but she is. She hasn't even attempted to climb out once. She does love climbing in and out during the day though but knows when it is time to go to bed for either nap or bed time she stays put. We will be bringing in the twin bed for her probably after the holidays or when I can find a cute bedding set to match her room.

Next mission, POTTY TRAINING!


Picking out her animal - this was a bunny but we picked out a monkey


Putting paci's inside - we put in a total of 4, one in each arm/foot


Filling up with stuffing... she held the button the whole time!


Giving the heart some love, she did the whole thing, if you have been to build-a-bear before you know what I mean...

Picking out accessories, we pick out an outfit and a makeup kit

Giving out new monkey a bath

Paying for monkey

Already to leave with our new friend and coupon to complete the outfit with a scarf and hat after December 1st.

Running through the mall with monkey after we went and celebrated with some Red Mango frozen yogurt, our fav special treat.

A big day in the Muchin Household awaits Wednesday Afternoon

So as you all know, Hailey is quite attached to a few things... Ba (bear blankie), Alla (baby doll) and Pow (paci).

Tomorrow we will say bye, bye Paci and hello new Paci Bear!

For the past 2 1/2 weeks we have been slowly transistioning away from using a paci at various times during the day as well as using a paci sticker chart to mark our progress and countdown the days until "bye, bye Paci!"

• Leaving it in the car when we went in to a store of friends house


• Leaving it in bed or in Gamma's office during the day and if she needed it she knew where it she had to use it only in her room or in the office


• Putting it up so she could only get it if I or Gamma gave it to her during the day if she needed it (tantrums were pretty much the only time that this happened)


• Not using it in the car other then when she was asleep (AM only)


• Not using it in the car at all


• Only having it during naps and at bedtime


• And finally, Wednesday, November 25th 2009 - NOT HAVING IT AT ALL!!!!!

Tommorrow, Hailey and I will make a special trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop at Bellevue Square where we will put all the remaining paci's, I think we have 7, in to a bear or other stuffed animal of her choice and sew them up inside and say "bye, bye, Paci!" We have stopped in a few times to watch the process of how a stuffed animal is created and she is very excited. Just this morning she was talking about making a horse, so we will see what we come home with.

I decided that it was best to do this over a nice long 4 day weekend, I really do not know what I am getting myself into as we have quite the busy 4 days. With as far as she has come in the past 21/2 weeks, I know that she will do super.

Wish us luck!

This picture was taken back in May but it is the only one that I can find of her holding both "ba" and paci.

Her "bye, bye Paci" chart

Her "bye, bye, Paci" book and two paci's from her collection.

The Muchin Elves

I got a funny idea to play Christmas Music this evening. Instead I found the 2009 Jib Jab site :)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Who is the President...?

Greg taught Hailey who the president is...

3 days worth of Halloween

Halloween started on Thursday this year for Hailey. I wasn't sure how she was going to react to her costume (ladybug) so we decided to plan a few extra events to get her used to it.

This is our family picture taken at Bellevue Square. Too cute to post it with the rest of the pictures though.

On Thursday we went to the KidsQuest kids museum in Factoria for their Halloween event. It was great as there was no candy involved, instead they had little prizes and crafts. We went with our friends the Mendonca's who have a 1 year old girl, Genny, and a 6 year old girl Madison. Greg grew up with Mike (Dad) and my mom babysits Genny. It was great to be able to spend some time with them. Madison was a Southerbell and Genny was a Seahawk Cheerleader.

Hailey and Madison walking to the musuem





On Friday the Marketing team at work put on a Halloween event and I couln't resist bringing her. We were able to see our friends the King Family and check out the darling Mouse with cheese and cat costume that Kathy made for Ollie and Evan which was the cutest thing ever.

We ran into another ladybug and met up Superman. Aidel is one of my co-workers little boys who is just a few weeks younger the Hailey and they had a great time together trick or treating and playing the games. I forgot an pail so we made due with an interoffice mail envelope. :)

After the work event we went to visit Grampa Ken at Bellevue Nursery and pick out a pumpkin. After that we trick or treated at Grampa Ken's, Grandma Lori, and Auntie Kara's. Here is a video of her knocking on the door.

On Saturday (Halloween) we headed to Bellevue Square. BIG MISTAKE but we got some cute pictures and were able to at least see our friends the Moss Family and the Mendonca Family. This picture of Daddy and Hailey was right before the madness began.

Hailey and Chloe

After we got smart and left the mall, we headed to Greg's old neighborhood in Woodinville to let Hailey experience a true Halloween. We saw my friend Danielle's parents (the couple she is with in the picture as it is her first ever true trick or treating house) and a few of Greg's old neighbors. Hailey wanted to go inside each out and lucky for us we knew all of them so they invited us in for beer, chili and some great conversations :) There is a video of her at our friends Nick and Karrie Lyon's parents house at the bottom.

All in all... we had a FANTASTIC Halloween. It was full of pumpkin patches, activities, spending time with family and friends and of course trick or treating! Hailey loved the candy of course but did so well by not eating any during the trick or treating. The first time she asked, I told her when we get in the car and from there on, she said "candy when we get in the car".

2nd Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch with the family a few weeks ago. This time we went to "The Farm". It is just West of Downtown Snohomish and has all sorts of fun kid activities. We got a family pass so we could enjoy it all.

There was a hay maze, corn pit, hay pit, corn maze (in the shape of Washington State), cow tractor pull, hay ride, kids play area, petting farm, pumpkin patch and all sorts of tasty fall treats.

We had a blast and hope to make this our yearly fall tradition. Greg wasn't able to join us this year due to work, that is why we went just the three of us a few weeks prior.

Here are some pictures of our adventure.

Happy 2nd Birthday to our Little Munchkin!

Hailey turned 2 on October 4th and we celebrated by having our friends and family over for a BBQ. It was so much fun and we enjoyed celebrating with everyone.

Here are some pictures of the party, it was a gorgeous 70 + afternoon and all went according to plan. It was a very special day. The theme was "Safari" as Hailey is very much into animals and can name each one along with what sound that they make. She picked it out and has enjoyed playing with the decorations as they are still up around the house. She also helped me make her sign that she is holding in the birthday card and made one of her own.

My Grandparents (Hailey's Great-Grandparents) even showed up, which was quite special as it is a long drive up for them.

What I learned from this party is to take twice as many pictures or have a dedicated photographer as most don't turn out, and have a plan for the entire cake process prior to party festivities. I could not have done this with out Stephanie's help. THANK YOU! What I learned from the 1st birthday was to make sure that we take the time to get a family shot. (we didn't get one last year,but we did this year!)

We ended the evening by opening a few presents with family. She had a great time and was quite spoiled. She received a kitchen from "Gamma" and trike from Grampa Ken and Grandma Lori, Kitchen Stuff from Grampa Dexter, and an easel with art stuff from Grandma Linda and and Grampa George.

It was a perfect day! Happy Birthday Baby :) Thank you for making life special.

This is a picture of Hailey right before bed, she crashed at 7:00pm. (Bedtime is usually 8)