Wonderful Wednesday

I know that's a cheesy title but it really was...Hailey was in a great mood all day (none of the 2 year old tantrums we've been having as of late) and I got a lot accomplished plus had a lot of time to play. It was a win all around!

This morning I put her hair in pig tails and I couldn't resist a picture. And yes she does have on two different socks because little miss couldn't decide if she wanted Ariel or Belle on her slipper socks and had to have one of each...

Hailey is really getting into playing with her jewelry. She will often just put it in and out of her purse or a box but loves to put on the necklaces too.

I've been trying to do more art projects with Hailey so today we filled in a heart with torn paper. She LOVED the glue stick and didn't not want to part with it after we were done. She didn't even care that her fingers got sticky which is major lately.

Notice how she's stick clutching the beloved glue stick

We colored a little,

and then did our current favorite, window clings! Hailey loves to play with the different window clings. We put them on the front door as we're waiting for Daddy to come home, the windows in the play room and we use them on cookie sheets in the car on long trips for entertainment. She has a few different sets: snowflakes, ladybugs and cupcakes. I also got a few heart/valentine ones from the Target dollar bins for February. I love them because they're not messy, don't tear easily, won't mess up her clothes or the windows and practice fine motor skills all at the same time. (the former teacher would be the one to mention fine motor skills, I know)

We also got to play outside this afternoon, although I didn't get any pictures of that...

That was our wonderful Wednesday. What about yours?

Sunglasses

Whenever we get in the car Hailey now asks for her sunglasses. This is how she wears them every.time and I love it!

upside down

She makes me smile!

When Ryan is Away...

Mommy and Hailey will play!

Ryan was on a retreat the first part of this week so Hailey and I had a lot of time for fun! Of course the days he was gone were the coldest ever so we couldn't run off any extra energy outside but we found other ways to stay busy.

We made a "snowman" out of cotton balls.

Hailey made herself a little obstacle course completely by accident. (She was playing with her chair and flipped it over and then start crawling under it.)

Had eggs for breakfast (Daddy's favorite).

And made a fun trip to Petsmart. No, we don't have and aren't getting a dog, we just needed to get out of the house for a little while and Hailey loves animals. So to Petsmart we went! Hailey loved looking at the fish,

"way up high Mommy"

"Hi Dorthy" (Elmo's pet goldfish)

and seeing the lizards and birds.

But her favorite by far, were the cats. We stayed here forever! And then walked around the store and came back to them again. Hailey loved to tell them hi, watch them climb and eat and see the ones that were sleeping.

giving them a hug before we left

That afternoon we played in her tunnel

and read some books.

this melts my heart every time

We had fun playing while Daddy was away, but we were glad to see him come home too!

Gigi's House

While we were in Tennessee we spent part of our time in Nashville with my grandmother, who the great-grands call "Gigi". Hailey loved playing in her house. This little "playhouse" particularly. (Are you noticing a playhouse trend yet?) This is actually a little mud room of sorts. It is separated from the kitchen by a little screen door and Hailey deemed it her "house". She brought her toys in there, ate her snack in there, and even read some books in there. I love her little imagination!

My aunt Mitsey made Hailey this shirt. Isn't it the cutest?! Hailey saw it and immediately said "coach". She knows the details of Cinderella even though we've yet to watch the whole movie. That's what books are for, right?

Hailey turned into a Daddy's girl while we were in Charlotte/Tennessee for Christmas. Any time he was giving attention to/holding/playing with another child (mostly Tucker or Mack, my nephews) Hailey did not like it and tried to get his attention back.

She usually won. She's just so stinkin cute, that girl.

One afternoon in Nashville we visited the Opryland Hotel. If you've never been or heard of it, it's amazing! We grew up visiting it and it's still just as incredible as it was then. They have several indoor atriums that they decorate for Christmas as well as the outside of the hotel so we love to visit at Christmastime. The last time we went (and Ryan's first visit) was when I was pregnant with Hailey so we were due for another one.

Hailey loved looking at the ducks and fish swimming in the rivers.

She liked to stick her head through the bars to get a better view which scared me to death.

Aren't these boots adorable?!

She had to get Das and show him the duck too.

Hailey also got to take her first escalator ride. I'm sure you can guess that she loved it! Ryan said she did really well stepping off when it was time. He was surprised.

Waving to her audience...

We got a semi-decent family picture in front of one of the trees in the lobby.

And because most of these Tennessee pictures are courtesy of Mary Katherine and Justin and their new camera, I have to throw this one in there.

We had an awesome trip! Looking forward to the next one already! (well, except for the car ride...)

Pony Ride

While we were in Tennessee Hailey got to ride a pony. My cousin BJ has a farm and got a pony for his little girl for Christmas so all of the kids got to ride her. It was the shortest little thing I've ever seen!

While Tucker and Hailey were waiting their turn to ride they found snow to play in. (It had snowed several days before and a little bit remained in the shade.) Can you tell they loved it?!

When it was their turn BJ took the kids on a ride in the carriage.

A nice little warm up ride. BJ said Hailey talked the whole time. "Pony ride. Fast. Mommy ride pony?"
Then the fun part! He put a tiny saddle on her and they all got to ride again. He led them around with a rope.

Hailey had fun riding. Ryan said he had to keep reminding her to hold onto the horn. I'm glad he was walking beside her!
So they made it around the yard almost one time...and then Hailey saw the playhouse. She wanted nothing to do with the pony anymore. She only wanted to play.

We could not get her out of it! She threw an outright temper tantrum when we had to leave. I'm thinking one of these may be in our future...

Hailey's Daddy and Uncle Justin gave her a ride on a big girl swing. I'll let you see how that went by her face...

I think she's a fan!


Thanks for the pony rides, playhouse time and swinging fun BJ! We had fun!

The Perfect Saturday

Today was so much fun! I had to run a few errands this morning and Hailey and Ryan went with me. It was a treat! (Ryan isn't really the shopper...) Hailey had a blast in Target and Old Navy. We didn't put her in a cart or stroller because we knew one could chase her while the other actually did what we came for. She was so cute walking up and down the aisles. She played with her shadow and counted to eight by herself while she hopped along the tiles. (She can count to 14 but usually we count together with me saying a number or two and her continuing after those. This time she did 1-8 without pausing.)
We got ready to go this morning and Hailey had to take her purse. It's actually a lunch box but don't tell her that. She got it for Christmas from my cousin and loves it!

Hailey absolutely loved playing at Old Navy. She hid in the clothes racks and loved walking around and looking at the mannequins.

 She must have tired herself out because she took a three and a half hour nap this afternoon!

Tonight for dinner we made pizza at home. We've done it a few times but I really let Hailey have fun with it and do a lot this time. I'm really trying to let her help me cook more and more because she LOVES it. She climbs up in her tower and says "Mommy helper. Big girl." I'm having to take a step back and not freak out about the mess she makes. I have to remind myself that I can clean it later and that we are making memories.

Someone stuck their hand in the sauce,

 and then wanted it cleaned off. "Wipe. Clean."

 Not worried about the mess anymore. She loved helping with the cheese!

I told her to say cheese so Ryan could take a picture and she looked into the bowl of cheese and smiled instead. Silly...

 Adding her toppings. She picked broccoli and pepperoni. Girl loves some broccoli, but only the top part. She will not eat the stems.

 More cheese. She couldn't get enough.

 She played in that bowl of cheese for a good five minutes after I put the pizzas in the oven.

Ahhhh! The perfect Saturday. I love making memories with my family!