Hailey is standing on her own...for a little bit anyways!

Hailey has been standing in her jumperoo and just playing with her toys more than just jumping, lately! It's crazy...those little legs are just strong! So, the other day, I decided to have her stand up and hold herself- amazingly, she did super well! She held herself for about a minute before she got bored and tried to play with something on the floor! :) I guess all that playing with Dad and standing on his legs is paying off!! If you call your 6 month old being able to stand for a little while a good thing...I'm not sure it is. I think I'm turning into one of those Moms who can't stand the idea of her baby growing up. I don't think I like it, either. I never wanted to be one of those Mom's, but I just can't help it. I look back at the sweet little baby she was when she was born and how she loved to just be cuddled and sit on my lap and I miss that. She doesn't really like to snuggle and cuddle anymore...sometimes, but not often. She does like to cuddle in the mornings and when we're reading and I definitely cherish those times, but to be honest, I really do miss rocking her to sleep. She is so sweet when she's nursing, but even those times are getting to be less and less and shorter and shorter!! I'm definitely going to miss that when she's weaned...I guess I'll just have to get used to it and prepare myself for the inevitable. And,I guess, with a face like this...who cares what age and what skill level she is- she'll always be adorable and sweet to her Mommy! :)

it's so sweet so sleep

Hailey has been sleeping so well, lately and I feel incredibly blessed! Isn't this picture sweet?? It's after 7:30 and she is still sleeping, so I went in to check on her and she was sleeping on her tummy, all of her blankets stuck underneath her and her arms and legs spread out...I can't believe that it is comfortable!! Crazy, huh?! I don't think I could sleep like that! But, I'm glad that she is. Korey's Mom and some of his aunts and cousins are coming up today and we're gonna hang out, so it'll be good if Hailey is happy and not cranky! :)

It's good to have good friends....

Photos of Hailey by Margie Berg!! She stopped by today and brought some photos that she had taken of Hailey for a class!! It's nice to have a friend who takes photos.

Hailey was about one month old when Margie had taken these photos of her! It was fun to see them! She is such an amazing photographer...I only wish I could take such good pictures! So, here are some pics of Hailey when she was a little younger. She does look a lot different- I really can't believe how much she has changed in a few months. I think it just takes seeing the pictures side by side to realize how much!

playing with my Kenyan Noah's Ark!

Hailey has started to really play with toys and honestly enjoy them, instead of just looking at them. She is really into bright and bold colors, so today I got out this toy that I've been dying to use for a while and she had a really good time with it! It is from Kenya, so it is homemade and it has a lot of bold patterns on it. It is all soft and made from different types of fabrics! She really enjoyed looking at and playing with the ark itself, even more so than the animals!

Thank You, Lyn and Lesly for such a fun gift! We love you both!! :)

Great Grandma's 85th Birthday Party

Hailey and I went to a big party that was put on for My Mom's Mom, yesterday! I think that Hailey had a ton of fun, but I'm not totally sure, since I didn't see her much that day. I got to feed her twice, but other than that she wasn't often in my arms! She spent a lot of time with her aunty fysh, who loves her dearly!! I guess she was playing this game with Justin's girlfriend, Elissa, called I throw the cup down and you pick it up. Everytime that Elissa would pick up the cup Hailey would giggle! Needless to say, she was a big hit at the party! For sure she was a good baby, she didn't really cry the wholetime and there were a ton of different people holding her- so, she held up remarkably well! :)

Playing with her bear and smiling at the camera! How do you like her cute bow?? She finally had enough hair to put it in. :) Yay! she finally looks like a little girl. :)

Hailey and her Uncle Phil! He is 70 years and 1 month younger than Grandma!

(he'll be 15 next month!!)

Dearest Grandma, I love you and I am so thankful for the time that I have gotten to spend with you. You have been so influential in my life and I love you for it. You have so patiently taught me to pick plums and make plum jam, to take down curtains and wash them, to rid every corner of dirt, to always fold the clothes as you take them out of the dryer, that it's ok to burn your cookies because you are too busy talking to someone else or doing something else to remember them- because you'll always find someone who likes burned cookies, to make each person special by remembering the one thing that he or she likes the best to eat, to make special treats and invite people over to share them with you, to never stop moving- because when you do, you fall into an exhausted heap, that it's ok to sometimes leave the dishes for the morning, that you can always find a friend to talk to, that family is important- even when they screw up and aren't so loveable, that babies are truly a gift from God and meant for loving and hugging, but most of all, Grandma, you have taught me that time is the greatest gift that you can give someone! You have modeled that and many other great truths my whole life and I would never have been the woman that I am today without you! I love you and I hope that I can spend many more years with you. I want Hailey to remember you and to love you as much as I do!!

6 months old!

Hailey turned 6 months yesterday! It was almost a sad day for me, I kind of miss the little tiny baby that wanted to cuddle and be held all the time. She's learning so much and growing so big that I feel like she's a whole different baby than the one I brought home from the hospital. I went to the hospital to visit my friend who had her daughter yesterday and it really struck me how much Hailey has changed in 6 months!! Here's a little bit of what she's learned and what she can do:

-sit up for a few seconds...sometimes a little longer, but mostly just for about 30 or so.

-giggle and blow bubbles

-say mamamamama (that's my favorite one!)

-recognize her Mom and Dad's voices, even when they're not in the room

-recognize us even when we're gone for a little while

-eat a lot of food, she prefers peas, but eats pretty much anything! Her friend, Josie, doesn't even eat as much!!

-stand and jump as long as you're holding onto her, but she can even hold herself up when you just hold onto her arms or her little butt!

I think that Hailey may be getting ready to wean herself soon, it's hard to think about...I'm just not ready for it, yet, but I really feel like it might be coming and I know I should prepare myself! She just seems to be pulling away a lot when she's eating and getting super distracted while I'm feeding her. I'm hoping that we can just keep going and plug away at it for a while longer!! :)

farmer's market tuesday!

Our Farmer's Market buys...

Hailey and I walked down to the Mosinee farmer's market, this afternoon. I was a little nervous about the rain coming while we were walking, but it never did...in fact, it still hasn't come!! But, it was a lot of fun to look at all the yummy produce. The only problem with farmer's markets is that I always feel bad and I feel like I should buy something from each vendor...so, I end up with way more stuff than I really need. There was a super nice lady there, though, who really liked Hailey and was getting her to talk to her. That makes it all the more fun to buy from her. Unfortunately, she only had potatoes, a few cucumbers, some zuchini, and a lot of peppers and onions! (and I only needed some potatoes...I don't like peppers or onions, haven't been able to eat zuchini since I threw it up a few times when I was pregnant and I did buy a cucumber to make a salad with for dinner tonight!) So, all in all we had a productve day and hopefully the corn will be good, I'll bake the squash good enough to make some food for Hailey, and the raspberries will last until Korey gets home. They are so tasty, though, that I'm gonna have a hard time not eating them all by myself! Yikes! I might have to practice self control- what a concept. ;)

camping with Justin and Christy Nelson!!

We spent the weekend vacationing with Christy and Justin Nelson! It was a blast...we first had planned on camping, but the campground was full and it was freezing cold and raining out, so we ended up going to Christy's parent's little camper on some land by Minocqua! It rained and was pretty cool on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday was a nice day and we ended up doing some fishing! :) Korey was super happy!!

Hailey in the boat under the little blanket that I rigged up for her for shade!
hanging out on the porch with Daddy!

trying to wear Justin's shoes...they were a little too big!

Good Morning Daddy!

look, I'm sitting by myself on the camper floor!

25 weeks and so grown up!

wow. what a genius, she's reading already! :) ha,ha,ha!
oh yeah, that's what she likes to do with her book!

Hailey's new jammies

Today we found a tote of clothes in the basement that were all 3-6 or 6-9 month sizes...I can't believe that I had forgotten about them. All along I had thought that I needed to buy her some more 6-9 month things, but I was way off!! She now has a ton of them. :) These jammies, though were the cutest little jammies that I think I have ever seen. They are adorable, they even have little doggies on them!

Don't you think that Korey and Hailey look alike?? When she was first born she looked a ton like me, but now I think that she is looking more and more like Korey! She has my eyes and my mouth, but the rest of her is Korey-through and through-especially her ears. Her personality is even getting to be more and more like him. She has this little goofy side to her, but she'd just rather sit and smile than anything else. :)
There is so much love between these two! I love seeing them together. We went out for ice cream and Korey was feeding Hailey on the side...her whole mouth was coverd in chocolate ice cream, but she really didn't like it! (good girl, Hailey!!) :)

I just love this little face! I can't get enough of it. It makes me smile, even if I'm sad...it makes me laugh, even when I don't want to and it makes me laugh out loud, even when there's no one else around!

I'm sitting...well, sort of

bathtime fun

I bought Hailey a little bath tub thing at a garage sale earlier this summer, but she really didn't like it...good thing we kept it, though, because I tried it again tonight and she loves it. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that she can sit if she's supported, now and before she really couldn't. Isn't she cute, though?? I just love it! She had to take a bath because she pooped all the way up her back. It was pretty gross...I was going to pick her up and take some cute pics to celebrate her being 25 weeks on Thursday, but we never got that accomplished!! All I got was a handful of baby poop!! Pretty gross! I should have gotten in this bath with her!

she didn't really want to look at the camera, she was just too interested in looking at the bubbles and playing with them!

camping photos

Hailey loved playing cards...or eating the cards, one or the other!
kisses from Papa

Phillip, did you just get up???

Allie getting some attention...what a spoiled dog!

My wonderful Mom and Dad

a fun self portrait

hanging out in the morning...the mornings were kind of chilly, but the days were absolutely beautiful! Perfect camping weather.

I finally figured out how to get the photos off of the camera...I used the cord from the camcorder!! :)