Riding the potty train!

Going....on the GO!!!

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Dancing Princess

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TALK TO MEEEEEE

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Waterfall

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Look at me me me, I'm 3 three III...!!!

Hayla hotsypants started off year 3 with a bang! Freshly potty trained, extra spicy with her back talk and continuously flashing her age at you when scolded. The other day she was being extra mean to her brother and when asked why she held her 3 fingers in the air and shouted "THREE"! She was faced away from me and didn't even bother to turn around, just waived her crazy hand over her shoulder at me. Lord what have we produced? I'm a firm believer after my first two children that the terrible 2's got nothing on 3. Olivia was the worst but I believe Hayla will destroy that legacy by the end of this month!! Not that I'm complaining...I thoroughly enjoy the age where my children struggle to find their independence, their "self". It's a radical thing to watch a child realize they are a working part of their own environment, and even more amazing to see them discover their place, their contributions, cause and affect...etc. To me this is one of the most important years to nurture and love them for who they are no matter how difficult they can ne sometimes. You want to build their self confidence and not break their spirit. Gentle obedience corrections and lots of loving and positive reinforcement allow them to learn right from wrong with out leaving them to believe they are bad, or different. Allowing our children to be their own individual is such an important job as parents.....even when the individual is an extra spicy chili pepper <3

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Hayla

I haven't done anything here, I feel so bad. Once we are all moved in to the new house I will get up to date!

Hotsy goes to ELEVEN

Daddy bought her a shirt to reflect her famorite move....ok....HIS. But she sure pulls it off nicely, don't you think?

We had the joy of immunizations recently. Hayla is pretty far behind schedule for a few reasons, including moving around and transferring records as well as some personal reasons. But we went ahead with some vaccines last week and it was of course a terrifying experience. Not only because of the fact that four giant needles are being stabbed into my childs tiny limb, and injected with live germs but also because little Hayla has a fear of stickers....and now band-aids. The nurse of course had no clue and I didn't think to mention it before the first shot was given and the nurse announced she was going to give Hayla a sticker. And then all hell broke loose. Poor little Hotsy :( She was 100% convinced all this pain and anguish was caused by stickers. And sure enough when she got home and had her first diaper change...there, on her skinny little thighs was the living proof. Four brown, rectangular shaped stickers. She screamed and flung until each sticker was painfully removed and has brought it up several times a day for the last week.

Daddy and I are convinced we can help her with this so we took her to the Toy Store this week for a little shopping spree while the big kids were at school. She picked out several pocket books and a new baby buggy (because it had a cool buckle to fasten) and daddy picked out two books of 100's of stickers. Then we took her out to her very favorite restaurant, Applebees. She never eats there but she always asks to go. I'm pretty sure it ends at her infatuation with Apples but mommy loves the Perfect raspberry martini so it's win/win. So this trip to Applebees Hayla explored the world of pulling scary stickys out of a book and putting them back. And as it turns out, thankfully, stickers are not so scary when they are stuck to something other then you. especially stickers of flowers and Tinkerbell! Bandaids, however? They can still go to hell!

Boss Baby

These days are filled with demand...and eventually supply. I never thought I would be one of those moms who conformed to a child's demands based on my inability to suffer another moment of the screaming but recently that's exactly what I have become. Lord help me! Once you give in a few times a pattern is established in that little mind and suddenly they have your number. So now I am desperately working to reverse this problem. I am mommy, I am boss, I am mommy, I am boss.....maybe if I say it a few more times I will actually believe it again!

On a good note...all is well in the life of Hayla. Our days are filled with Tinkerbell, Nemo, pasta and ketchup and of course Oranges (pronounced oshnaw). We still have the 'maymaw' obsession, which I love. She still doesn't seem to have a preference from pink blankey to 'yellow sun'. Maymaw is there at nap time, bed time, car rides, grocery trips, buggy rides, even hangs off the back of the highchair at meal time and you can NOT watch a 'moooobie' with out your mouth stuffed full of soft maymaw trim. Thank god we have 2 because those buggers get to stinking quick!

Hayla is a baby of habit. She has favorite foods, toys, movies and people. A day doesn't pass that chicken nuggets and ketchup aren't mentioned hourly. I can't walk into the kitchen with out begging requests for oranges and apple juice (this actually pertains to any liquid in her cup besides milk).

Movie time is a massive point of obsession. I have been a bit of a push over since we moved about t.v time. I won't lie, it's a great distraction when we have so much going on getting settled in. But the negative side is t.v dependency which sets on quick in a two year old. If they get to watch one movie a day they expect the damn thing to be turned on from the time they wake up till they hit the sack. Until Colin came along I was not a television/movie person so I really struggle with that thing even being in the house sometimes let alone being constantly requested in a high pitch shrill scream. So as of late we have been taking the opportunity to utilize and familiarize the word NO accompanied with some good old fashioned redirection. Nemo, Princess, Frog and Tink...will all be there waiting.

On the bright side Hayla really enjoys books. Her favorite story is about a puppy named Petey who is looking for a boy to give him a home. She also loves a bedtime book called 'Goodnight Moon'. She knows these books by heart and enjoys having them read to her but she also wants to read to you. She is a great little story teller.

One thing I truly enjoy about this girl is her genuine love for her family. She absolutely ADORES Angelo and Olivia. There is nothing she enjoys more then playing hide and seek, ring around the rosy or 'monster baby' with the big kids. This love is equally present for the three cousins who she refers to as 'Michael Gracey'. I love when they are all together and how much she enjoys chasing them.

A few big milestones as of late...Hayla recently spent a whole weekend with Nonnie while mom and dad had a date. She loves to 'fweep at Nonnies house' with 'michael gracey'. I thought the first night would go great but I was concerned she would have a hard time with missing mommy and daddy the second....but nope! And how awesome was her excitement when she spotted us Sunday night!! 'HI DADDY HI DADDY, HI MOMMY, OOOOHHH MOMMY'!!!! I love being that loved!!

We have a talker! Hayla is probably my most advanced baby when it comes to language skill at this age. She is speaking in proper sentences, using words correctly that we don't even realize she knows. She also knows a few choice 'french' words if you catch my drift! She is counting to 10 well, still missing the occasional digit here and there but even made it to 15 a few times recently. She is familiar with the alphabet and it's surprising how much of it she knows. One of her favorite toys is a leapfrog laptop she got from Aunt Alisa. She spends hours a day on that thing playing alphabet games.

We are looking so forward to spring and summer in our new home. I can't wait to be able to just open the door and let the girl go. One thing a miss the most about our San Clemente home was how much Hayla got to be outside. It was always warm so I could just open the door to the fenced back yard and she would be out there for hours. Here it is just to muddy and rainy and cold so we don't get out much. Can't wait for that to change! We miss you warm!

~Hayla turns 2~

Happy birthday to our little Tinkerbell!! As with all our little children the birthday celebration lasted about 2 weeks. We had a small little family party with just us and the kids and a chocolate cake on December 28th, the day of her birth and then this last weekend we finished it off with an Arthur style RAGER! Thank you to all our friends and family who came to celebrate the two year anniversary of birth of our fabulous little chili pepper!

To Hayla

Hotsauce,
In case your wondering why I opened this up with hotsauce, its because it definately fits your personality Hayla. So much had happened when I was deployed to Afghanistan. You had grown up to such a big girl, not the same baby that I had left. At this moment your playing with an old bouncy toy in nothing but a diaper saying woooow. You've grown up so much its so hard to believe that you were only crawiling not too long ago, and now your walking and talking!!! Next week we'll be on our way back home to Washington to start our lives over again up there. Its Christmas time, and soon your second birthday..........I love you Hayla.

Haylas favorite food????

KETCHUP.

She's such an American girl.

My Maymaw

~Hayla and her pink Maymaw~

Hayla loves her blanket. She always has. She never needed a binky. She began suckling the silky edges of her blanket when she was only a couple months old and from that time has continued to grow a strong bond with what she now refers to as her 'Maymaw'. She always knows where her maymaw is and she is able to self soothe when she needs to by quickly running to get it when she is tired or sad or in most cases with her fire eyed and ready to battle. She is a little fire ant and lucky for us, Maymaw helps to calm her and give her peace before she blows her little volcano (most of the time). Lucky for us we have 2 Maymaws, a yellow and a pink. She has no preference between the 2 but is most content when both are readily available.

~Hayla and her Barney time~

Hayla has always been a creature of habit, much like her mommy. She tends to find something she likes and take it to the level of obsession...again, like her mommy :) One of Haylas major current obsessions is Barney. Don't cringe, Barney is not so bad and is has been very revered in our home for over 10 years now. When Olivia was little, Barney was all she watched. At some points, all she thought about. Hayla is the same. I do have a limit for my children on how much television time they get, and I am not a mommy who allows TV as a babysitter, but I will tell you that when I need a moment, or I have chores, Barney is always a great distraction. The guy is friendly, loving, and drama free. Hayla loves to sing a long and dance and Barney is re-enforcing things we are helping Hala learn right now such as sharing, good manners, colors and shapes and of course counting and the ABC's. What more could you ask for in a friend? Barney...we love you!

~Hayla in her 'Hotrod' with her annoying brother :)~

Do you love Haylas oldschool highchair? We do!!! Daddy coined it the Hotrod and it stuck. When the hotrod is mentioned, Hayla knows it's time to eat. She is now able to climb in all by her big girl self!!!

Hayla and Angelo have a love/hate relationship at this point. I pray that this changes. Hayla has a temper on her and little tolerance for funny business. Angelo is very frisky and likes to smooch and tickle and usually comes at a time when Hayla has no room for him. Angelo seems to like the reaction of screaming flipped out baby and tends to provoke her. He means no harm, he just does not understand her extreme need for personal space at this point. He loves her so much and just wants to cuddle, it's in his nature. But Haylas nature is far from cuddle bug and now she associates Angelo with annoyance and pretty much pitches a fast fit if he even looks her way. I really REALLLLLY hope this is just a phase on both their parts and pray they can find a happy medium with one another. Angy needs love, Hayla needs quick kisses and a quicker departure. I guess in the end I have to remember this exact situation between Olivia and Angelo when he was a toddler....but please help me forget that the rift between those 2 is still strong and steady. Poor brother with 2 mean sisters.

~Hayla and her 2 best girls, Big sister Olivia and Cousin Gracey~

As we quickly approach Haylas second birthday this coming December, she continues to thrive and meet milestones. She is especially excelling in language skills these days and repeating most anything you say. She is very good with 'Thank you' and says it at anytime you do anything for her, even if you don't realize it was something she was wanting. She even says it now when I put her to nap or bed!

Soon enough our daddy will be home. At this point we have less then a month left! Hayla still holds her daddy near and dear to her heart and thinks of him all through out the day. She talks about him a lot, points to his pictures and constantly wants to talk with him on the phone. Part of bedtime is giving daddy a kiss goodnight and she never forgets and gets very upset if I do. She has to kiss her poster of daddy on her wall over her crib. We can NOT wait till the day he is kissing her back.

Hayla.........Hotsauce....Hotsy.....Fire-ant.....Steam Engine.....We love you baby girl.

18 months

Hayla is getting so big and her hair is getting long. She has the cutest little legs, they are the same width around from her hips to her ankles. They look like little tree stumps! Daddy would call them her hamhocks.

She is really starting to develope her language skills right now. She tries to copy almost anything you say to her and once in a while she gets it out. Her favorite words right now are "cookoo" (cookie), Daddy go, Barney (she looooooves Barney as much as Olivia did). She also sayse Nonnie now! She has been saying outside and bye bye for a long time, but those are still her favorites and she loves to wave and say Hi to strangers every where we go.

Hayla is an amazing little dancer. She has some moves you would never expect from a baby her age. When she starts breaking it down you can't help but laugh. She loves to dance to Justin Bieber and sings along 'Baby...go, baby...no, Baby...mine'. She also likes to tap dance in the kitchen to Willy Nelson. I will have to try and get some good video of this, she seems to know when I am trying to record her and refuses to perform.

We are currently spending the summer in Washington with family so Hayla is getting a lot of time with cousins. She is loving it. She is such a good baby and loves her schedule. She is great about napping and bedtime, even with all the changes. Olivia is still her favorite person in the world and she gets a lot of attention from her. I am so lucky to have my big girl to help me with Hayla. She is such a great little momma.

We will be heading back to California sometime in the next month to prepare for the return of our daddy. We can't wait to have life back to normal and our family back together.

Waiting for Daddy to come home

She still does it. So precious that she has not forgotten that daddy comes home at the end of the day. She waits for him, watches for him, calls to him. She remembers his presence as if it were yesterday that he kissed her goodbye. But it was 3 and a half months. And now, only 3 and a half months until he kisses her hello, and I know she will never remember is absence.

Lord keep our daddy close, keep him safe...bring him home.

Hayla Poops Pink Poodles.

She really does. And they smell like strawberry shortcake. The funny story, over spring break hayla put a stuffed pink poodle toy in the toilet. We all thought it was so funny no one would take it out. Angelo was really concerned about how he was going to go to the bathroom. I really wonder why I didn't take a picture.



Everything has been so fast forward since Daddy left us for Afghansitan. Come to think of it, we have been in a whirlwind since we moved to California. I hate that I now have to look back on this time and realize that 6 or 7 months of Haylas life are missing from her blog. It's like skipping pages in the baby book.

Her first birthday is not even here!! I have to use my external hard drive on the old desk top and get the pictures off from her party and I will post them here. She was so sweet...when everyone started singing happy birthday to her she layed her head down on her cake!

Since then...obviously so much has changed. Hayla started officially walking the first week in March, a week after her daddy left. She was taking little groups of steps between us before but really started going in March. Now a days she is running all over the damn place. She loves to play outside. So much in fact that it was one of her first words! 'AYESSSSNNNAYE" yes that is outside in Hala talk. I leave the back door open and she has the nice fenced in backyard with all her toys and fun. She is in and out all day long puttering. When ever she hears an airplane she runs out side yelling 'mommy...mommy....ayepaye'!!!!

Heyla is also really into dancing. She comes from a musical family anyway so it is only a given that she is going to have rythem right? I have so much video of this girl breaking it down. And of course I am mailing it all to Colin as I record it so he doesn't miss a moment. I have honestly never seen a baby with so many dance moves. It's like everyday she is learning something new and throwing a new move in her little routine. She is a big fan of the 'Hayla shimmy'!!!

So far we have 9 teeth! When daddy left Hay had 4 on top and an un-even 3 on the bottom front. Well now she still has the top 4 and a matching 4 on the bottom....as well as a nice little molar on the bottom!!! All the better to chomp her 'chichennnn'....her favorite lunch time food and her first food word!

Obviously Hayla's language skills are really picking up. She says mommy and daddy and makes unintelligible attempts at Olivia and Angelo. She is really attempting to copy us a lot now to. I can get her to say almost anything at least once. Thats a fun game!

So since daddy left I have taken soooo many pictures. I have been emailing them as I take them so I won't post a bunch here...but the loader isn't working now so I will upload some soon.

album 03\22\2010 (34 photos), by jeanette gleason

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Baaaabeeeee

Hayla has added the word 'Baby' to her vocabulary. She is walking so well and is very self important about it. The children and I are really enjoying this time with her...watching her grow and learn and change so much. We wish daddy were here and loving her with us. I miss him more then anything when I look at our beautiful girl.

I know I have sort of abandoned this page and I plan to get back to it this week. I need to post pictures of her birthday.

I also want to revamp our family site (These Guys) and give it a little facelift. So check that out to in the next week :)

BAAAAABEEEEEEEE

Little Hayla Hotsauce is......

Walking!!!!!

Forever my baby

Last year at this time I was roaming this world with Hayla Lavender nestled in my big bulging belly. The snow was falling and falling, Christmas was all around us and the thought of soon holding our baby girl in our arms was almost to much to wrap our heads around. This very week, last year I was reaching my due date....but little Hayla was not to come for another couple weeks.

I know all the mommys say it but time has really flown by. I remember how my heart would break as each week crept by when she was first born. But looking back on it now it seems like those days stood still. One of the things I have so much enjoyed about being a new mommy this time around was the peace that surrounded me. With Olivia I was so young and had so many questions and concerns. I was back to work when she was a month old and seperated from her for 10 hours a day. Angelo came at a time in my life where there was chaos and fear. He was such an unhappy baby. That time was a whirlwind of emotion. Still of course I was in love with my babies....I just did not get to relax as much with them and spend my life thinking of nothing but loving on them the way I have with Hayla. I thank God for this time and for giving me a man who is kind, soft spoken, generous and strong. God gave me a man I can trust and rely on and God gave me a peace in my heart to just relax and open myself to the little things, the sweet moments of being a mother. I love you Jesus, I love you Colin, Olivia and Angelo....I love you Hayla Lavender.

There is this Switchfoot song I have not heard in forever that I always loved. I think of it a lot and relate it to my relationship with Jesus and to being a mommy. It reminds me of the chances I have had to feel Gods presence in my life. One of those chances was having the opurtunity to be a mommy for a third time....the last time...and to do it the right way.

On Fire by Switchfoot
They tell you where you need to go
They tell you when you'll need to leave
They tell you what you need to know
They tell you who you need to be

But everything inside you knows
There's more than what you've heard
There's so much more than empty conversations
Filled with empty words

And you're on fire
When He's near you
You're on fire
When He speaks
You're on fire
Burning at these mysteries

Give me one more time around
Give me one more chance to see
Give me everything you are
Give me one more chance to be... near You

Cause everything inside me looks like
Everything I hate
You are the hope I have for change
You are the only chance I'll take when I'm on fire

When You're near me
I'm on fire
When You speak
And I'm on fire
Burning at these mysteries

Now time for some pictures!!! This first set she is hauling diaper towards trouble only to be swooped up by dad. (Her dress looks funny because I have to tuck it in her chonies so she doesn't trip on it):

Below Watching some Barney:

Hayla loves when daddy gives her a bath in the sink. She has a little lion bathtoy she calls her sea horse or mermaid. Below it appears she is blowing kisses although this was random as she has not yet learned this trick:

Hayla's first time eating sketty

One of Hayla's favorite things in her little world are her kitties. She and Carlos spend much of the day wallering around on the floor together. He does not seem to mind the occasional eye gouging, whisker tugging and ear pulling. I guess it's a small price to pay for a good rub down.

Hayla also loves Finster...and he loves her...just not so much her generosity with affection. He is known to swat so she gets better love from him when she finds him napping. I have a vid of her on this day kissing his sleeping head!

Hayla and her toy basket

Dad's birthday

Hayla on her first Halloween. She is a Chesty Devilpup

This hot sunny day picture was taken the day before Thanksgiving!! (Yes....dad is so jacked!)

Hayla and her first Thanksgiving!

Watching some Barney with brother...

Hayla sayse BYEBYE!!!!