Flat Janeen

My 10-year old niece Janeen is here in "flat Janeen" form to spend some time with us. Hailey and Janeen have fun together in Hailey's swing!

Matt teaches Hailey...

Matt and Hailey did a duet of Heart and Soul the other day and I got a fantastic video. I just have to figure out our video camera so I can get it posted.

Matt loves to see Hailey stand and she loves to perform.

It's hair and more hair everywhere!

Okay, so I know they say you shed after you have a baby, but really, is this size a hairball in the shower normal??? Matt can't believe how much hair he finds everywhere. Our vacuum was acting up so we took it apart and no wonder - there was a load of hair to be unwound. It's a wonder I have anything left.

Hailey is growing a tail!

High-centered roll

We had a good laugh at Hailey when she tried to roll over and got high-centered. She looked so innocent and helpless.

Hats & Bear

We were going through some clothes the other night and tried some hats on Hailey. Note: the socks on her hands were to try to keep them warm during a few cold night spells. She doesn't like sleeping with them under the covers.

She loves her teddy bear. She's too little to really play with it, but we have fun talking to her with it. We have to be careful though because she'll attack it with her slobber and it sheds.

Halloween Sunflower

I picked up a costume at a Relief Society "greet and trade" at the beginning of September, but didn't know if it would fit Hailey at Halooween. We went to a ward trunk-or-treat and I had Matt try it on her to see if it was going to work. When I saw her I laughed so hard I almost cried. She looked so cute!

Baby play dates

Once a week we get together with two other mommy-baby sets that live in our apartment complex for lunch and playtime. It's always fun to see what's new with the babies, eat and enjoy conversation. It's probably more for the moms than the babies at this point, but it's fun to watch them observe one another. You can tell from Hailey's smile in the first photo that she thinks it's pretty fun. We're all in the same ward so it'll be fun to watch them grow up together.

Three months old and growing

On Hailey's 3-month birthday, we took some photos of her next to her teddy bear to show how much she'd grown. We measured and weighed her too - as accurately as you could with a home scale and yardstick. She's nearing 14 lbs and 26". Wow kid! Some developmental highlights: she loves to smile and coo and she's starting to laugh a little. She'll roll over when her arms are propped under her and she's very good at holding herself flat during her "air time" with daddy. Her eyes are still very blue (much to her daddy's delight - see last photo) and she loves to sleep! She usually takes 2 and sometimes 3 naps a day and sleeps 12-14 hours at night. She's a doll and we're completely smitten, can you tell?

Houston, we have a problem....

Hailey has taken a liking to her thumb - and she's very intentional about it. I guess I can't complain because she's a very good self-comforter and goes to sleep easily, but the orthodonist bills might be a pain later. At first I tried taking it away and giving her the binki. It didn't really suite her fancy. I have to admit though, she's pretty dang cute sucking her tiny little thumb....

Time with Dad & Mom

Whenever she's awake during dinner, she joins us at the table in her bouncer. She trades off giving Matt smiles, then me.

Spending tummy-time with Daddy. He makes it so much more fun.

Siitin' on the couch by myself!

I found this dress in the 3mo. pile and it fit perfectly! I had to take a few snapshots. She sat up so well & looked so grown up. She looks more like an infant than a newborn.

This is her tired cry face. It's sad, but adorable.
Sometimes I prop her up with a pillow and she just hangs out & enjoys looking around. As you can see, her arms and legs are still moving. They rarely stop while she's awake.

BYU Babe

Hailey is destined for BYU - you can tell by how happy she looks sporting her first BYU apparel.

Check out how well she sits up on the couch. Only for a few moments, but it's adorable.

Matt's Convocation

It was so fun to dress Hailey up for the event. The bow lasted a whole 30 seconds, but it was cute for the photos!

I even caught her smile. She likes being dressed up. It's a good thing since I'm her mom. I can't wait until her hair is a little longer.
As exciting as it was to watch Matt get his coat, the rest of the two-hour convocation was a little dull. Hailey's face shows a perfect expression of boredom. She was so good for the event. She is such a sweet baby.
Being a little bored myself, I started playing with the camera. I caught a cute expression.
Hailey looks like Matt....
but she looks like me too. It just depends on who she's with.
Happy little family (even though Hailey looks funny in this photo).
Doesn't he look great?! Hailey gets her abnormally long arms from her dad. They lengthened the sleeves two inches (as much as they could) and they're still short when he puts his arms straight.

Memphis

The Memphis temple is beautiful. It's so small! It's in the same parking lot as the building we go to church so we see it every week.

We went to a little carnival in the park new our apartments. Matt couldn't resist trying his shades on Hailey. She thinks she looks pretty cool - she's even pointing at the glasses.

We didn't have a stroller that fit the carseat, but a very generous girl in our ward said she had one that she wasn't using right now and she'd like the extra space in her storage closet. It has been so nice for us and Hailey loves it.

Matt and Spencer couldn't resist the hats. Yes...that's facial hair you see on their faces. Out of BYU for just weeks and they're already going wild.

On Hailey's 2 mo. birthday, she and I went out with a group of girls and their children to Mud Island. It's a fantastic family-friendly place to visit. It has a mini to-scale replica of the Mississippi with about two inches of water for the kids to play in. It'll be fun to go there when Hailey is older. You can see the Mississippi river behind us.

I don't know what significance it has, but here's the Memphis Pyramid.
A glance of the city. From this view it looks nice. Once you get onto the streets downtown it looks a little shabby. To be honest, we weren't really charmed by Beale Street. I hope that's legal to say.
This is a view from our apartment complex. It's still quite green here so it's hard to make myself remember that it's mid-October already.
This is an indication of why it's so green. The Memphis rains are incredible! I've never seen rain like this! I ran to a friends house and was in it for less than 7 seconds and I was soaked.
One part of Memphis that has not been a favorite....the grass. It makes me appreciate western lawns even more. This grass is not at all enchanting to walk in - unless you likes your toes being pricked.