Bluebonnets

I am not from Texas. I still sometimes call these flowers Bluebells. I guess I get confused somewhere in between plants and ice cream. I dunno. Last year I did not understand all the rage over the whole bluebonnet picture taking. Last year I was also a little less wise than I am today. Maybe it's wisdom, maybe it's a little more Texas in my blood, but either way, I was NOT going to miss these little flowers this year. I decided this right after all the flowers died last year and I regretted my non-conformity.

All things were going well with the kids until Jared saw a black cricket on Hailey's foot. That was about 2 minutes into the whole session. Great. He was horrible from there on out and afraid of every bug known to mankind. No amount of my idiocy was going to make him smile....until a buffalo animal cracker was walking across my tummy and started eating mommy. He may have given me one or two happier glances. Hailey was much too interested in the world to smile at me on purpose and Claire was more than happy to let me have an oldest child session. Just her, my camera, and this new, beautiful world of flowers she had discovered. We even got to bring home several bouquets in my purse.

 LOOK!!!! BUTTERFLIES!!! Hailey didn't get the memo.

Afraid of all the bugs, but he's in total heaven with his Ladybugs and Pill Bugs. 

Eating animal crackers. 

This was basically how the whole thing went, only with Jared screaming more.  

Ornery boy. 

"Jared, do you want to eat the cracker?" 

"NO! HULK SMASH!"

???? 

And....because I couldn't choose just one....

That thumb! 

Hailey is ONE!

A year in the making, I took pictures every month (for the most part) because I wanted to see her grow up. I took these pictures usually on the month mark...to the day. I missed a couple of months because of vacations/life, but I feel pretty darn good for the most part. It takes a great deal of time to get these pictures to turn out well with all these children refusing to cooperate. 

First Born. So new. Makes me cry. Gosh, she was so hard to push out. I had major back pain for a couple weeks afterward. I think I strained something in my back just from pushing.

5 days old. She had such a chubby little nose and puffy little eyes. 

1 Month - I could just eat her up. Don't let her looks deceive you. She was a hard, colicky baby. My hardest so far. She just couldn't drink fast enough and we had a hard time eating as a team. Luckily she grew up and got better. She's always been a super snuggler and liked to sleep right next to me (I once said I would never do that....survival here, people).

2 months. She still cried quite a bit, but this is when I started to adore more moments. She started to become a happier baby and I became a happier Me. Funnier....this is the only one she's crying in. Ironic.

3 Months - She was so pudgy. So happy. 

4 months- We were on vacation, so I chose the happiest picture of I could find. She thought grandpa was pretty dang funny. I love baby laughs! She was a champion vacationer and loved the beach.

5 Months- She loves being outside. Seriously. She pines for it.

6 Months - Every day with Miss Hailey is a party. A party with one hand because the other will be holding this chubbers. Rolling around.

7 Months- Starts to crawl. Still sucks her thumb.

8 Months - Stays as adorable as can be!

9 Months - Starts walking.

10 Months - Loves food, Bath time, outside, still sucking her thumb, eating everything off the floor.

11 Months - Totally dropped the ball here too. I didn't even realize that I didn't take any pictures of her in February. Well, She's drinking out of very specific cups at this point. This is also the time where we stopped nursing! HOORAY! I had to go cold turkey with this one because she would NOT do it. She wouldn't drink milk out of anything (I even put sugar on the bottle nipple). Stinker. It was easier than I expected, but we had a few long nights. Not weeks like I was gearing up for, about 4. I had to get up, give her rice cereal and water. Doing this was the start of her sleeping through the night. Best thing ever.

1 Year - Oh girly, I love you. She has refined her eating stuff off the floor to really only eating play dough. I'll try to get it out and she'll just run away from me. She still sucks her thumb and I keep hoping that it's less and less, but I do not know how to break the sucking at bedtime deal. I've never had to deal with this. I don't do binkie's even. New territory for me. I'm sure it will all work out. :) She is such a ham and so opinionated. She is sleeping through the night for the most part, still prefers to be held, doesn't really like toys, likes to crawl all over the toddler beds, likes snuggling with blankets but only while she's awake, cries until she gets what she wants, is finally drinking milk, loves sweets, drops her food all over the floor, has 6 teeth, is almost 21 lbs, and I think she's still my biggest baby. 

She melts me. 

I love her. 

Happy One Year, Hailey Girl!

Library and Park

You know you're a mom when you blog about the new library and a park outing. Seriously, could this day have been any more perfect? I got to snap pictures of the kids while they were messing up someone else's "house"? I dare say that this is heaven. Finally!  A library with a play area. Irving, Texas is where it's at, folks. We almost live at the library these days. It's better than the store. Your kids get to play for an undisclosed amount of time, they get to pick out a new "present" to take home and it is all free to me. Am I speaking truth here? It's the greatest place on earth.

Claire ran around this table at least 10 times saying all the ABC's as fast as she could. 

Bailey just wanted to crawl on the Lego table and ruin other people's inventions. 

Is this floor not the coolest? When you step on them, whatever it is that's inside squishes.  

WHAT KIND OF MOTHER LET'S THEIR CHILDREN JUMP OFF OF CHAIRS ONTO BEANBAGS AT THE LIBRARY?!?!?!?!?! This disrespectful one right here. I promise I wouldn't have let them if I didn't have my camera. That's ok....right? 

Now, also the coolest is this perfect green chair and blue wall. I've longed for colored walls since my T3i was born into our family. I've always lived in a rental, so I've tried to make due with posters and shower curtains. Although I feel I've been creative and resourceful with what I can do, this blue wall couldn't have been lovelier. It's like it was wrapped up with a big ribbon that said, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STACY". Please, take pictures. 

Getting in on some sibling love/rivalry over goldfish.

Jared rations out his ability to share. 

Now, I love the progression of these three pictures. The look on Jared's face. HA!  

"NOOOOO!" 

Then we went across the street to the park and stayed until some scary homeless men kept staring at us. 

Such a pretty park. I wanted our family pictures taken here in November, but on picture day it was pouring. Of course. 

Can you see Claire?

Our day wouldn't be complete without our roly poly. Jared is a little too forceful with them and usually ends up saying, "UGH! It broke" as he bends them in half. Poor little guys. 

Hailey was frustrated the birds kept flying away from her. 

And....back at home to our car family. This is Hailey's breathing-through-her-nose face. 

Two cars that made a baby. :)  

Claire. Doesn't she look so teenager here. STOP GROWING! She did smile later. :)