Halloween 2013

Halloween was a fun one. We had our ward Trunk or Treat and had a blast on the bouncy houses they had this year. Then we had my parent's annual Ward Halloween Carnival. They raised the ticket prices this year which made it not so fun, because we had to limit the ticket spending. We ran out of tickets early which meant it was time to go home. The kids had fun and that's all that matters. Then we ended with Trick or Treating on Halloween in my parent's neighborhood. Drew was a ninja, Kylee was Cinderella, Bryce was Green Machine, and Haylee was a Kitty Cat!

Kylee's 5!!

 Oh this girl is going to be my demise! I love her to pieces but man is she one strong-willed 5 year old. 

Stats:

35 1/2 lbs (30%)

42 1/2 in tall (55%)

Her favorite things:

dolls, playing with friends, Haylee, color purple and pink

Loves:

to talk, color and draw pictures (she's an amazing artist), playing outside, and ballet

Hates:

meat, being in time out, cleaning up her messes, and chores-she used to love them ;(

Right before Kylee's birthday, she decided to give herself her very own hair cut on the side of her head. It was pretty bad. I took her to a friend who had to chop her hair off and give her cute layers. I was worried Kylee would hate it because she always refused a good haircut, but she loved it. She liked getting lots of compliments.
Kylee really is a great help when I need her. She loves holding Haylee and having all the attention. I think that is why she is struggling right now. She has been really great in sharing the attention with the baby, and it's finally hit her that she misses it being all about her. We are trying to work on this and hoping her behavior can improve. She is soooo ready for kindergarten, but absolutely loves preschool right now. She has some amazing teachers that are teaching her how to read. I love it. I will have no worries about her once she starts kindergarten in August. She will just continue to excel in her academics. She has been taking ballet class these past few weeks and loves it. Time will tell if that's a direction she wants to take. I think I am going to try and get her in an art class and see if she likes that better. She is one amazing artist. I love her drawings!

Haylee's Blessing

On September 15th, we blessed Haylee Lori. It was such a beautiful day with lots of family that came to support us. Ryan gave her a sweet blessing, and we know she is our calming angel that perfectly completes our family. We had a brunch afterwards at our house and loved spending time with all our family.

A little background on her name. We always knew we wanted her middle name to be Lori, after my aunt and my middle name is Lori, but we had the hardest time deciding on a first name. We went back and forth with so many names. One month it was Devin, the next month it was Hallie and continued this way all the way till she was born. We liked to ponder the name we could agree upon and then practice saying it. Nothing ever clicked. It was the hardest decision we had to make, seriously! Finally, 3 weeks before she was born, I came across the name Haylee Duff on the internet. It kind if jumped out at me and got the wheels going. Ryan and I both liked the name and the kids did too. It sounded and felt right. So when I finally went into labor and had to tell the nurse her name, Haylee was her name.

Haylee's 4 Weeks Old

This cutie is 4 weeks old. We have just been loving her to pieces. She is a great sleeper at night and gives me 6 to 8 hour stretches. I love it! Naps have been a different story. She LOVES to be held and just wants to sleep in your arms. We bought swaddle blankets but that doesn't suffice her. So we finally gave in and let her take naps in her swing. As a mom of 4 kids now, I have to pick my battles, and for my sanity I took the easy way out. It actually ended up being a blessing in disguise in the long run. Her doctor was totally fine with it because she loves to sleep at night in her crib, so if he was happy, I was happy!

Stats:

8 lbs 13.5 oz (29%)

21.5 in long (58%)

14 3/4 in head (71%)

Haylee's Newborn Pictures

I have a dear friend who is a great photographer and wanted to take pictures of Haylee when she was just born. These are some of my favorites. She is 1 week old here. Love this girl.