Hailee's Ready

Whether we are or not, Hailee is definitely ready for her role as big sister. Last week we baby sat a 7 month old little boy. Hailee was SO excited before going over. I was curious to see how long her attention span really would last with a baby. Well for 1 1/2 hours she played with, read to, and cleaned up after this cute little guy. After about 1 1/2 hours she settled down and started working on her "homework," but any little squawk from the baby and she was right over to hand him a toy or smile at him. On the way home she said, "Mom I wish our baby was coming sooner." The picture above (sorry for the poor quality it was on my camera phone) is Hailee reading to the baby. She wanted him sitting on her lap. They both seemed to have a great time. I'll say one thing for this little baby we have coming, he's going to be so lucky to have such a great big sister. Hailee is getting all ready for her new role and can hardly wait.

The Zoo

Ever since we moved here and Hailee saw the sign pointing to the zoo she has been wanting to go. We finally got on the ball and became good parents for the day. Hailee has never been to a zoo and she was so excited.

I didn't quite capture the excitement, but she just couldn't wait to get in and see the animals.

The Oregon Zoo has a baby elephant and Hailee has been waiting so patiently to see it. Since it is a fairly recent thing there were lots of people at the exhibit. Hailee got a top row seat and was so excited to finally get to see that baby elephant.
This is the picture she got from the top. Why is it that little versions of things are always so much cuter than the big version? It was fun to see such a little elephant.

Hailee loved seeing all the animals and talking about them.

The had a really fun Lorikeet exhibit. For $1 you can buy some nectar and go in and feed them. Hailee was excited until while she was holding the nectar one came flying really quick at her. After that she decided that Todd could hold the nectar.
They were really funny little birds. At one point Todd tried to pass the nectar cup to me and the one that was drinking squawked and grabbed the cup so he couldn't move it away.

Getting home. Hailee was exhausted and had such a fun day. Lukily she woke up when we got home so she went to bed at a normal time. As I was putting her down for the night she had a million more questions for me...."Mom was the hippopotamus pregnant" "I don't think so" "It looked like it was pregnant." (Glad to know I'm looking like a hippopotamus to her.) "Mom can giraffe's get pregnant" "yes" "Can lions get pregnant?" "yes" "and on and on and on. First thing she wanted to know when she woke up on Sunday was if we could go back to the zoo.

At the end of the day we got Hailee a little stuffed seal. It was so cute to see how excited she was. So now when she goes to bed it has to be baby Averi, Seally, baby Sally, and Paddington bear. She took this picture of her bedtime friends. I have to say her bed is getting quite full and since there are so many of them they are either getting lost in the middle of the night or she is rolling over them and waking up. We've got to narrow it down to one or so I think.

What we know so far....

Thursday Todd came home with surprises of flowers for Hailee and I and Redboxed the Kung Fu Panda. He had work to do, but decided it would be fun to watch a movie together while he did some work. It was so much fun, I think it's my favorite role for Jack Black. The beginning dream had me cracking up. After we got Hailee to bed Todd and I were talking about the movie and he told me that the dream was a typical dream for a boy. Realizing at that moment how much I truly don't know about little boys. I decided to focus on what I do know about this little boy right now.

It was so fun when we were pregnant with Hailee to start to see her little personality start showing through even while still in my tummy. What we learned about Hailee...

1. She is a night owl - She never was really active in the morning but at night in the evening she was was very wiggly. It's still true today. She can stay up late easily, but has such a hard time getting up in morning no matter what time she gets to bed.

2. She likes her space - As I got bigger with her she would get so annoyed with me if I sat too close to my desk. Todd didn't really believe me until one night he got too close to her space (aka my tummy) and she kicked him until he moved away. Once he moved she settled right back down and went to sleep. As soon as she came out and they put her under the heat lamps she stretched out as far as she could. She was the exception to every infant loving to be swaddled.

3. She loved her daddy's voice - In the evenings when I was pregnant with Hailee we would read books together out loud. Hailee loved to hear Todd and would start wiggling. As soon as she was born they put her on my tummy, as soon as Todd started talking she started moving her head and looking for him. When they did all the first little blood test at the hospital as long as Todd was there talking to her she wouldn't cry. They still have the cutest relationship.


So back to this little guy. Here is what we know of him.

1. He is a night owl - So far he seems to be a lot like Hailee was. This will be nice, I would rather have them both like staying up late and sleeping in. I rarely feel him move before 10 in the morning.

2. He is a tease - Not that I should be surprised by this, my favorite story of Todd as a kid was one evening his mom went to check on him to see if he was sleeping. I'm not sure how old he was, but he was still in a crib. Since it was dark she had to get close to see if his eyes were closed. He waited until his mom was really close then he growled at her and about scared her to death. Well this little one's favorite game is to wait until I sit or lay down then kick my bladder. Hailee never did this and I have to say it's quite a weird sensation. You know that feeling of really needing to go to the bathroom and feeling like you're going to pee your pants. It's that feeling for a split second, rather uncomfortable especially when I'm trying to relax. It doesn't just happen every once in a while he does it 10 times a day (unfortunately not an exaggeration), which makes me to go to the bathroom all day long.

3. He seems to like being squished - The first ultra sound we had he wouldn't move so they could get a shot of his spine. The ultrasound lady said that he had lots of room up higher, but he was staying down really low (which would explain kicking my bladder and why Hailee never did, she preferred her space). The second ultrasound he was in the same place, but luckily they were able to get the shots they need. I guess swaddling might work with him. (I guess this also shows his stubborn side.)

It will be fun to see what he is like when he comes out. Too bad we still have 19 weeks to go. I guess we're just learning patience.

Beautiful Day

It was such a beautiful day today we decided to go for a walk with Roslynn. On the way home we took some pictures of Hailee in the leaves. Then we came home and I had a little fun with photoshop.





My favorite thing about Oregon is how green everything is. (I'll never complain about the rain because it makes everything so beautiful.) One of my favorite things that happens is the moss that grows in the sidewalk cracks. So pretty.

Road Trip and other fun ideas

Friday I was so pleased to find that the price of gas at Costco was only $2.11. WAHOO! I can't remember the last time it took $30 to fill up my car with gas and I remember all too well when it cost over $70 to fill it up. As I was waiting in an enormous line to get gas I had vision of going on a fun road trip over the weekend like the coast or the mountains. Then I remembered we had to give talks in church on Sunday and neither one of us had really started preparing. Darn, we'll have to plan a fun excursion this weekend. We spent Saturday and Sunday preparing our talks, they went well, but a trip to the coast would have been so much fun. Driving back home I noticed that gas was $2.41, even better, I love saving money on gas.

We have had a fun week. It has been rainy, but we've decided we really like the rain. When we were all driving together one day this was our conversation as it was raining outside.

Todd: I guess I'm just weird, but I love this weather. I love how when the clouds are low that noise seems to be muffled.
Nicole: I love the rain because everything seems clean here.
(we weren't even realizing she was listening to our conversation until she said...)
Hailee: I love the rain because it makes puddles that I can splash in.

So there you have it we all love the rain. It was raining really hard Saturday morning, but when we went to the store to get more printer ink and paper the rain had stopped. Hailee was so disappointed that it wasn't raining when we went out. "I thought you said it rained all the time in Oregon mom, it's not raining now, I want it to rain." Funny girl, we'll see if she still likes the rain after the winter.

Hailee and I have had fun making little necklaces and bracelets for her. I went to an Enrichment Activity where we made bracelets and decided it would be a fun project to do with Hailee. One afternoon we went to the bead store and had fun picking stuff out. I originally thought this would be a fun activity we could do together I didn't realize how much she would enjoy having them. She walks around so proud of them and if people don't say anything after a while she'll say, "Don't you like my necklace?" When they say they do she quickly responds, "My mom and me made it together." I'm glad she has enjoyed it so much. We needed something fun to do together.

On the way home from getting beads Hailee asked me why Heavenly Father decided to send a boy to our family. (This after a year or so of telling her we couldn't choose what kind of baby we got because all she wanted was a sister.) I told her that he propably just thought our family needed a boy. To which she asked "Can I still be a big sister?" Of course, she is super excited to have a baby brother as long as she can be a big sister. She is really looking forward to this baby. Every time we go to the doctors she asks me if it's time to get the baby out.

The other day we ordered Hailee a new coat and when it came in the mail it came with a catalog of clothes for little girls. One day while I was making dinner she was looking through the catalog and finding all of her favorite things. "Oh dad look at this cute skirt, it's it beautiful." To which Todd replied, "It will be good to get a little balance in this family." That is my worry with this little boy (that and figuring out what we should name him). Hailee and I have such a good time shopping and doing things together. I'm not sure how a little boy is going to enjoy shopping.

We finally got Direct TV all set up in our house (it only took 4 service calls), but now we have TV in our room again. It's so nice when we have to take Todd to work early, Hailee just snuggles up in bed and rests until we have to get ready for preschool or running errands. I have to say it's been quite lovely. She can watch Curious George while I check my email and get things done.

Two conversations from last night that cracked me up. On the way home from picking up Todd this is what she said

Hailee: My first name Hailee and my middle name is Claire
Todd: That's right
Hailee: My last name is Ham.
Todd: (laughing) Close, it's Cunningham
Hailee: (laughing) Cunn Ing Ham, the last is Ham dad.

Then on her way to bed when I was tucking her in and doing our normal little chatting at night..

Nicole: We had such a fun day today
Hailee: Yeah we did, and you weren't even a grumpy mom one time.

Lovely, I'm glad we at least have an open enough relationship she feels she can tell me things like that. What a funny girl.

I just thought of one more conversation...Saturday morning Hailee was bouncing around and landed on my stomach.

Todd: Careful Hailee the baby is going to come out flat if you keep mashing him.
Hailee: (patting my stomach) Nope still big.

Photo Tag

My sister Deneille just tagged me. I had to cheat a little bit because iPhoto organizes my photos for me I had to go through a couple of folders before I found a picture. I just did the 4th folder which was 2005, then the 4th folder which was 04 (for April), then the fourth folder again which was the 09 (for the 9th day). This was the only photo in the folder so I couldn't pick the 4th picture. So this day was April 9, 2005, we were in Salt Lake with a Singles Ward activity (it was when Todd was in the bishopric of a singles ward...we weren't actually single). I don't remember exactly what we were doing there, I think seeing a movie and then walking around the temple to see the flowers and then I think we went to a park for a picnic. What I do remember is that it was freezing cold. We left Provo and the weather was absolutely wonderful, but when we got to Salt Lake it was so windy and cold. Being awesome first parents we didn't bring a hat for Hailee (to our defense the weather wasn't windy at all in Provo). So we had a little time before things got going so Todd wanted to find Hailee a hat at the mall. Since it was April everyone just had summer clothes out...we did end up finding the cute little hat that you see in the picture and a matching sweater at Nordstrom's. We paid way more that we normally would have, but it ended up being so cute on her, so in the end it was worth it and we didn't feel like such terrible parents.

Ok, here are the rules! Go to your picture files, open the 4th file and post the 4th picture. Also, write your memory of it. Anyone who wants to do this feel free. It was kind of fun going through pictures I hadn't seen in a while.

Our New Family Picture

If you look closely at Hailee's new family portrait she has been painting recently you'll see our little announcement.
Yep, there is Dad, Mom, Hailee and another teeny, tiny little one that is on the way. We just had our 20 week ultrasound and found out we're having a boy. If you can't tell Hailee is extremely excited.
Hailee has been praying for a baby for a couple of years now (almost two years, I can't remember when she started) but it was always a sister. As soon as she found out I was pregnant (and yes she figured it out on her own, I didn't tell her) she told me she was going to have a baby brother. She was convinced of it. It was just a surprise to Todd and I today. I have no idea what I'm going to do with a boy, and quite frankly I'm a little too nervous to be excited yet.

We are very happy to be at the half way mark, especially because the last 20 weeks for me are a WHOLE lot better than the first 20 weeks. Here are some funny (and not so funny stories of the first 20 weeks or so.

With this one I got sick a good two weeks earlier than I did with Hailee. In fact I didn't even have a chance to buy a pregnancy test before I was throwing up. Since it happened sooner than we expected I was super sick before Todd had his surgery. I think people just thought I was stressed about Todd's surgery and that is why I was a little out of sorts. Anyway we decided not to tell Hailee right off thinking it would be too hard of a secret to keep, but by the 3rd day of throwing up and me asking her not to jump on my stomach she asked, "Mom is there a baby in your tummy?" I tried putting her off for a while then on about the 5th day she was having no more or it. She exclaimed "There is a baby in your tummy!" She was so excited I couldn't keep lying to her. I told her that there was but that it would be a long time before it came and we couldn't tell people yet. She promised me that she wouldn't. The next night as we were going to sleep it was quiet and dark and she whispered "Mom, no one is here, can we talk about the baby?" She was so good, she wouldn't even talk about the baby around Todd. I'm not sure if she thought it was even a secret from him as well. But she was great at keeping the secret.

The one time I felt really bad was when Todd had a rough couple of days and I was miserably sick as well. Hailee was doing really good and being really sweet. Then she asked me one day "Mom am I the one?" "Are you the one what sweetheart?" "Do I have to take care of you and dad?" Oh break my heart. I assured her that we would both be getting better and that things would be just fine. Things are better and Hailee is just happy being a kid again.

With the coming of this new baby Hailee and I have had lots of conversations about babies. She was convinced that she wanted a real baby. So we talked a lot about needing to be older, go to school, go on a mission, find a nice boy, get married, and then have a baby. One day my friend was over helping me clean and pack my house up and was talking to Hailee and Averi (her little girl). She told me later what happened.

H: My mommy is sick
L: Why is your mommy sick (She already knew why)
H: Because she has a baby in her tummy
A: I had a baby in my tummy (Lisa just had a baby and she likes to put her dolls under her shirt and pretend she is pregnant)
H: Averi you're not suppose to have a baby in your tummy until you get bigger and find a nice boy and get married.

At our 10 week appointment we got to go to our doctor in Utah. He had a little ultra sound machine like thing that let us have a sneak peek at the baby. Hailee absolutely loved it. It was so cute to see the baby wiggling around. After throwing up for 5 weeks it sure made me a lot happier about being pregnant. It was rough getting excited when being so sick and then I saw him moving around on the screen and it made it all worth it.

My other favorite story happened just before we moved. At our ward I hadn't really told many people we were expecting. Not that I didn't want people to know at that point, I just hadn't gotten around to really announcing it. While in Primary they were talking about Pennies by the Inch and donating to the hospital. They told the kids a couple of stories about kids in the hospital and then asked if anyone knew of someone in the hospital. Hailee, of course, wanted to share about Todd being in the hospital. She told them everything she could think of and then ended it by saying that her daddy had thrown up in the hospital (because of the medicine they had him on) and that her mommy throws up too but she's not sick she just... They cut her off right before she announced that I was pregnant. It sure would have been a funny way for people to find out, but as it was her story had gone on so long they had to move on with the lesson.

Princess Presto and Super Why

Friday morning Hailee woke up at 5:45 a.m. (and anyone who knows Hailee knows how crazy that is) and the first words out of her mouth were, "Mom is my costume done." She went to bed and all I had left to do was the velcro, but she must have still been a little concerned it wouldn't be done. I assured her that is was all done and then she smiled and said "Happy Halloween." I have to admit Halloween was never my favorite holiday growing up, but Todd has since changed my mind. It all started after we had Hailee and we made our Alice in Wonderland costumes. We happened to have my mom's sewing machine at the time and although neither Todd or I had made clothes before we made the cutest dress for Hailee. Now I can still say I don't know how to sew, but I can make a Halloween costume. (Just don't ask me to use a pattern, I do lots better without one.)

This year for Halloween Hailee really wanted to be Princess Presto. I didn't think we'd be able to find a Princess Presto costume so I thought about making her one, then quickly decided against it. I kind of put Halloween out of my mind with everything else we had going on. Then Monday I decided we needed to do something. I told Hailee we could go pick out a costume on Tuesday. She asked me if it could be Princess Presto, when I told her they probably wouldn't have a Princess Presto costume she said "Okay maybe we can find one that kind of looks like it." She was so incredibly sweet, but I could tell she was a little disappointed. So the rest of that evening I thought about it and by Tuesday morning I was pulling out fabric to see what I needed and what I had. (Todd accuses me of being a fabric collector, but it comes in handy at times like these.) I just had a few things to get at the store and by Thursday night I had a Princess Presto costume for Hailee. Honestly the excitement from her was totally worth taking the time to make it. She loved it and felt like a princess all day.

She absolutely insisted that the dress cover her feet just like Princess presto.



Todd is really the one that gets so excited about costumes and such things relating to Halloween. He has been so busy starting work and things that he really hasn't had time to think about things with me. Friday morning he gets the great idea that Roslynn needs a coordinating costume as well. My first thought was...yeah good idea, maybe next year. Then he kept going and decided that a Super Why costume would be perfect. I sent him off to work not promising anything. I went to Joann's and found some fleece for the eye mask and some blue for a cape. After that it was super easy and I finished in no time at all. I have to say she looked really cute walking around trick-or-treating with our little Princess Presto. She didn't keep the eye mask on very long, but the cape was super cute and the eye mask was great for the pictures.



This was Hailee's first experience trick-or-treating. She was SO excited. I went out for the first couple of houses and it was so cute to see her at the very first door. She got up to the front and before knocking just yelled "trick-or-treat" Todd told her she had to knock first so she knocked and immediately said "trick-or-treat" Then he explained that she had to wait for someone to open the door. By the 4th or 5th door she had it down and was loving it. She was so excited to get candy, but so far the only thing she has eaten is one small tootsie roll. Why does my family have to be that way! Todd will ask me to make cookies and then just eat 2 or 3 then leave the rest. Agh so then I eat 2 or 3 dozen over the next couple of days. So annoying. But Halloween was great. As Hailee was going to sleep she asked me if tomorrow was going to be Halloween too.