HAILEY AND AUSTIN UPDATES

We were finally able to take the kids to their well child checkups. Austin hadn't been checked since his two week checkup, due to us moving right when we were suppose to have his two month check up. Since we had to get all of our insurance stuff changed it took us another two months to finally get the kids in, but it finally happened! We asked around our neighborhood/ward and received some recommendations for a good pediatrician. We decided to go with Dr. Lousks, who we ended up really liking. It's nice because her office is not too far from our place!

Austin's four month stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 4.6 oz (0%)

Height: 25.75" (56%)

Head Circumference: 41.8 cm (40%)

 

The doctor is not too worried about his low weight, especially since Hailey has always been pretty little low in weight herself. She did suggest that we start trying to have him take a bottle at least once a day on top of nursing him.  As of right now he has strictly just been nursing. We have tried to get him to take a bottle multiple times, but just refuses to do so! It's been quite frustrating, but we will keep trying! Another concern of ours has been Austin's little foot. When he was born we learned that Austin's right foot only has three toes, his big toe and the next two. His foot is also significantly smaller than his left one. We weren't able to get into a specialist in Utah because the soonest they could get us in-we would already be in Nebraska. So Dr. Lousks set us up an appointment with a  Pediatric Orthopedic specialist in December. We'll be glad to know exactly what is going on and what we will need to do in the future. Otherwise Austin is looking healthy and strong!

Austin's amazing talents: Roll belly to back, roll back to belly, has one tooth(just broke through last week, and it was a little bit rough on the poor guy), sits with support.

LIKES:

*Austin just LOVES watching his big sister. Hailey can always get him to smile and even make him laugh a lot of the time.

*Nursing

*Bath and Showers

*Tickles

*Snuggling (I think I may enjoy this just a little more than he does)

*pulling mommy and sisters' hair

DISLIKES:

* Hailey's high pitch squeal

*being set down for too long

*Bottles/binky's

*Being in his car seat

*Getting his face washed

AUSTIN has been such a joyous addition to our family. I love everything about him....everything! Sometimes he's a stinker and can be super needy and just wants to be held ALL the time, and I have learned to live with the fact that some days our house isn't going to be as tidy as I'd like, and we might just have hot dogs in macaroni for dinner- and that's okay with me. He has such a sweet spirit about him, and he rarely cries just to cry, most the time it's only because he want to be held. For the most part he is very happy, smiley, and chill baby :)

Hailey's 24 month stats:

Weight: 21 lbs 11 oz (1%)

Height: 34.25" (40%)

Head Circumference: 47.5 cm (42%)

HAILEY is still just as tiny as can be. She has never been a very big eater, like ever! Most meal times consist of me and Wes trying everything we can to get her to eat "just a little bit more." Hailey is just SO active that what she does eat burns off in a matter of minutes! I'm serious, I don't know where this little girl gets all of her energy from, she's like the energizer bunny that NEVER. TURNS. OFF. But we just love her and her crazy, hyper energy.

LIKES:

*Dressing up like a princess

*Singing.... favorite songs include- I'm a Child of God, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Popcorn Popping, I love to see the Temple, Tiny Turtle Song (don't know official name haha) Once there was a Snowman, The Wheels on the Bus, Do as I'm doing, Head Shoulder Knees and Toes, Old Mac Donald, Five Little Monkeys jumping of the Bed, Five little Monkeys swinging in the Tree.

 *Making Austin smile and laugh

*Holding Austin by herself

*Helping mommy cook

*Play at the park, swing, feed ducks at pond, basically anything outside!

*Movies (will keep her attention for about 20 minutes if we're lucky!) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Tinkerbell, Cinderella, Madagascar 2, Lion King, Doc McStuffins, Elmo's World.

*Getting her toes and fingernails painted (usually pink)

*Putting "makeup" on

*Dancing and running around like a crazy person

*Chasing daddy

*Going to the Zoo, Hailey LOVES animals!!!

*Going Shopping (for some reason she especially like 'Hobby Lobby' silly girl :)

* Ice cream, chocolate, Smarties (any sugar or candy really), spaghetti/spaghetti O's, Chocolate milk, Cheese, Alfredo pasta, pepperoni's, Go-gurt, Cheetos, rice and beans, ranch dressing.

*Binky...the weird thing about this is, she has NEVER taken a binky before, I mean I tried to get her to and she wouldn't. After we moved to Nebraska she all the sudden wanted it, and now she won't go to bed without it.

*Skyping with family

*Reading books

*Doing crafts

DISLIKES:

*Naptime

*Bedtime

*Being upside down

*Eating

HAILEY is such a smarty pants, she talks really well for her age. She's very agile and can keep up physically with kids quite a bit older than her. When I tell her no, or do something she doesn't like, her favorite line to say is "Mommy, I'm not very happy with you right now." Haha. Hailey has quite the personality, and all those who meet her can't help but love her.  She is NOT shy at ALL, she talks to anyone and everyone!! She enjoys playing with kids and making new friends. She has her crazy moments, but she really is such a sweetheart.

I'm so grateful to have these two munchkins in my life, they bring so much joy and happiness to me and Wes. I'm not saying it's all rainbows and butterflies, it can be hard and trying at times, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! I'm just lucky I get to be their mommy!

Grandma and Grandpa Cookie visit

Last week we had SO much fun, we had a week long visit from...GRANDMA AND GRANDPA COOKIE (FRIEL)!! We had a such a blast all week with them, and they spoiled us rotten! They got here on October 18th around 9pm, they had a slight delay because they got stuck in Laramie, WY because a bad snow storm shut down the freeway, but luckily they were able to continue. We were a little worried they might have to stay the night there, and Little Miss Haybug would NOT have been happy about that-okay I wouldn't have either.

Friday October 18th we also celebrated Wes's birthday! We didn't do anything too exciting (sorry honey!) but we did have a few friends over for Wes's favorite-German Chocolate Cheesecake.  After they left my parents FINALLY arrived. Hailey was impatiently waiting at the screen door for them, I had to let her run out and check every 10 seconds to see if she saw them yet, and when she did she booked it down the sidewalk! We had fun visiting with them for awhile and they got some snuggles in from Austin and Hailey before they went to bed. Wes opened up his birthday presents from them, he got some really nice brown church shoes and some golfing shoes, he has been drooling over them ever since! We didn't stay up too late since they were pretty pooped from the drive, but man it was good to see them again!

We didn't waste any time going out and having fun, Saturday we went to Ditmar's Apple Orchard in Council Bluffs, IA (we are about a two minute drive from the IA border). We hadn't been there before, but heard it was pretty fun. It didn't disappoint. Hailey played on the playground for a bit, and then we took a tractor ride up to the apple orchard part. We had a great time taste testing picking the apples, and man they were DELICIOUS! We picked a bunch to take home with us- I was amazed at how many apples Hailey ate, and continued to eat all week. After that we had some AMAZING apple cider and pumpkin donuts! My parents took us out that night to Olive Garden for Wes's Birthday Dinner....like I said they spoiled us rotten, and continued to do so throughout the week.

 

On Sunday we went to church. Our church house is in Council Bluffs about 15 minutes away. We went on a walk around the Villagegreen townhouses so they could see the community we live in. Villagegreen consists of about       townhomes, and about 80% of the tenants are students and/or LDS. We are located about 5 minutes from downtown Omaha, though it is not necessarily considered the greatest part of town, Villagegreen is its own little haven in the midst of it all :) After the kids were in bed, we stayed up and played some games...of course.

Monday Wes had to get back to the grind of school and studying. The rest of us drove over to the Winter Quarters Temple in North Omaha. The temple is only about 15 minutes away from where we live. It's kind of funny that when we lived in Utah we were about an hour away from the nearest temple, and now that we're out of state we are only 15.  We went to the Mormon Trail Center there as well. Wes and I had been there once before and thought it was really neat. We then walked around the temple and Winter Quarters Pioneer Cemetery (which is on the same grounds as the temple).

Tuesday and Wednesday we kind of had to stay indoors because the weather was cold, rainy, and windy. But we did walk down to the Lauritzen Gardens which is just down the street from us. Our place actually overlooks the gardens which is pretty neat. They have some big model trains that you can go walk around us well. We went out to eat at Crackerbarrel one of the nights. I had never been there before and it was pretty yummy. Hailey, grandma, and I had a fun time decorating a Halloween Gingerbread House. Of course, after the kids were in bed we would play games and eat yummy sweets!

After Wes got home from school Thursday afternoon we went to the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium...which not going to lie...is a pretty sweet zoo...ranked #1 Zoo in the world-just saying :)  And the cool thing about it, is it is only five minutes away from our place! My parents thought it was really fun and they enjoyed it! It was about the fifth time we have been there, but there is always so much to see, and Hailey absolutely LOVES it! After the zoo we went out to Famous Dave's for dinner, again neither me nor Wes had eaten there before, and it was really yummy!!

 

 

 

After Wes came home from school on Friday we drove to Bellevue(about 20 minutes away) and went to Bellevue Berry and Pumpkin Farm....it was huge and really fun! There was a lot to do there, and Hailey loved it, and Austin enjoyed snoozing as we packed him around in his pack :) We played on a playground, climbed on rope courses, went through a corn maze, walked through a couple spook houses and caves, jumped on bounce houses, went carnival style fishing, took a hayride through a haunted forest (no live scares during the day) to a pumpkin patch and each picked out a pumpkin, and ate some caramel apples and kettle corn!! Definitely making this a family tradition for us these next two years while we're here! Later that night we decorated our pumpkins and Grandpa made his famous ribs! Like I already said....we were spoiled!

 

 

 

 

Saturday morning they took us out to Ihop for breakfast, came home and they packed up to leave (not before wes and grandpa squeezed in a game of Wii golf).

We had sooooo much fun playing with my parents this past week. I can't say it enough how much Hailey enjoyed her grandma and grandpa staying with us. Every morning the first thing she'd do is run to find Grandma and Grandpa, needless to say the next few mornings were a little rough for her. And oh boy, Austin, that kid just loved all the cuddles he was getting. This kid was definitely a little Grandpa's boy!!! Everytime he would be fussing, me and Grandma couldn't calm him, but the second he was in Grandpa's arms he was just fine....even smiling! Trust me this was tested many times, and never failed. Of course Grandpa was quite proud of this :) As much fun as we had with them here, it was sad, because then we had to say goodbye again :( and this time I know it will be much longer until we get to see them again. Although they said they were already planning a trip around April sometime, and I'm holding them to it and already counting down!