This is what happens...

when I try to take pictures now.

I love her! I'm gonna have to find a new picture-taking method!

Leadership Retreat

This past weekend we went on a retreat with the Leadership Council for the Singles Ministry. It was a weekend full of planning, prayer, and laughter. We went to a huge cabin in Virginia called Whitefield. It is owned by a family that rents it out to churches and pastors for ministry events. The cabin is surrounded by nothing but farm land. You can see in some of the pictures that there isn't really anything around. We (well mostly the guys) spent time fishing and shooting guns. The girls did a little shooting but spent a lot of time walking, hanging out on the front porch and being amused by the guys.

Preparing the "firing range"

Daddy protected Hailey's ears from the noise!

I spent most of the "shooting" time with these ladies on the porch

There were several meeting / planning / prayer times during the weekend for the Singles Ministry. Hailey and I tried to sit in a little bit of them but somebody wanted to talk and play. So we ended up doing this in our bedroom so that we weren't distracting.

Hailey had lots of entertainment for the weekend and made some new friends!

Hailey and Kaile

Hailey and Jared

So thankful for people who love on our baby! We're looking forward to serving with you all!

weekend trip to Charlotte

Last weekend we traveled to Charlotte to celebrate a few birthdays (Ryan's Mom, my Dad, and Mary Katherine's). We started at the Epley's house...Friday we went to visit MawMaw (Ryan's grandmother, Hailey's great-grandma) in the nursing home because she had never met Hailey. Needless to say, Hailey brought lots of smiles and happiness to the residents; I mean, who can resist smiling at that sweet face!

Then we hung out with PawPaw for dinner. (Ryan's grandfather, Hailey's only great-grandpa)

And went to see Rebecca for a little while.We got this bib for Rebecca for Christmas as a funny gift and Hailey got to wear it while trying her pears!

r

Saturday we went to the Brown's house to continue the celebration. We got to spend with with Grams, Gramps, Mary Katherine, Julie, Trey and Tucker. At one point Grams and Gramps took Hailey and Tucker outside in the backyard and this is what we saw...so relaxed!

I asked my mom if when we were little she ever thought the day would come where she would be surrounded by her grown daughters and grandkids...she said no! She only thought one day at a time! Ha!

We enjoyed spending some time out in the backyard...Tucker most of all!

he was a little wet!

Sunday we went to church and Hailey did great! She stayed in service with us, with all of those hands, she had plenty of people to keep her occupied! We also got to go visit with the college students who we used to work with. They hadn't seen Hailey since she was 6 weeks old. It was great to visit with them for a few minutes. I love where we are now, but I do miss catching up with the college girls.

She was mesmerized by the imag screens. It was like watching TV!

Monday we visited Grams at school and Tuesday went to lunch with Jackie and Jennifer, but I forgot to take pictures of those. Oops! (I'm getting better at taking pictures.) We had a great time visiting with family and friends! Can't wait for the next trip!

5 months old!

Hailey is 5 months old today! It feels like the months are flying by!

Hailey weighs around 15 pounds and is wearing 6 month clothes. She generally eats about every 3- 3 1/2 hours. We have begun introducing baby food and so far is she loves it! She has tried applesauce, bananas and sweet potatoes. At first, we were mixing it into her rice cereal but once she got a taste of the real stuff, she likes to eat it plain. Just this week, she has started eating some in the mornings and evenings. Such a big girl!

Hailey also has taken a few bottles! Yay! Ryan's mom was here a few weeks ago and was able to get her to take a few ounces while Ryan and I were at a church event. Then a few times this week, Ryan has been able to get her to take one. 

She survived her first illness this month. She had a cold, and then gave it to Ryan and I. It was a rough few days and nights, but we're finally all better.

Hailey still isn't a great napper. But we are at least on somewhat of a schedule with it. She generally goes to bed around 8:00 or 8:30 at night and sleeps until 5 or so in the mornings. After that she takes a 30 minute nap every 2 hours. You can time the naps, because it's like an alarm clock wakes her up after exactly 30 minutes! She doesn't want to miss a thing!

Hailey loves to play under her play gym, and last week discovered the tags on it. Now we can't get her to play with anything else on it! She is so close to sitting up by herself. She can sit up in between our legs or in the boppy pillow quite well. She can balance by herself for a few seconds, but then falls to the side or foward, so she still needs the extra support.

She finally rolled from her tummy to her back this week! She's been rolling the other way since 2 1/2 months, but never even tried to roll back. She did it a few times one day and hasn't done it since...stinker!

These pictures are totally Hailey's personality right now...going a mile a minute, never wanting to sit still! She loves to smile at people and her giggles are so precious! She is ticklish under her arms and the sides of her neck. The kissy sound always gets a smile or laugh too. She still loves to be sung to and loves to hear her name.

blowing raspberries for the camera

everything goes in the mouth!

notice the blurry arms?! never stops moving!

We love you Hailey Grace! Can't wait to see what you get into next month!

We had visitors!

On Thursday we had visitors in Raleigh! Grams, Granny, Patricia and Cailin came to see Hailey and I! Granny, Patricia and Cailin had traveled to Charlotte for a few days and they all decided to make the drive to Raleigh to visit.

They were all surprised at how much Hailey had grown! Granny hadn't seen her since Mom and I went to TN when she was 3 months old and my mom hadn't seen her for about a month, since our trip to Hilton Head. I didn't get a lot of pictures but here are a few...

Granny and Hailey...she's grown a lot since our visit to TN

Granny, Cailin and Hailey

Hailey is almost as big as Cailin!

Hailey was still recovering from her cold that day but she still had a good time. She passed it to Ryan and I, so it's been a fun couple of days in our house. There has been lots of coughing, sneezing and yuckiness floating around. But I think we're all finally on the back-side of this cold stuff!

Someone turns the big 5 months this week!