On the Go

We have been so busy. Yesterday, we went to church then we ate lunch. Before we knew it, it was 3:00. We went and took Hayden to Olan Mill's to get his pictures taken. We picked out one that we liked. He did really good. It was really hard to choose. You can easily spend 100 dollars in pictures. The prices are outrageous. Hayden and I came home and took a nap. The weekend flew by. Today David went and got his MRI done. He said it was scary, it felt like you were being buried alive. He will get his results on Wednesday. I went to the grocery store and prices are going up. It is so crazy. I used to be really good to sticking on a budget but lately I have been overspending. It cost a lot to feed Hayden. For the past month we have been saving all of the receipts to see where we spend the most money and if it is possible to cut down. We are trying to save a lot more so we can buy a house in a few months. So we will see. I have also added pictures of Hayden, look under April.

Shopping

Well today we all went shopping and out to eat. David said let's go to the mall. I figured it was a catch because he NEVER wants to go to the mall. So he wanted to get him a pair of sunglasses. He looked for about 30 minutes and couldn't decided. He also was very surprised how much they are. They ranged anywhere from 90 dollars to 400. Well he finally decided he should do some research. I am not sure if it is an engineering thing but everything we buy has to be researched. David looks online at consumers reports and what others say. That is so weird to me because I just buy to have stuff. I got some shoes and then we out to a Chinese buffet. Hayden is such a trooper he just sits in his stroller and looks around. He rarely cries he, is so content just looking at stuff. It was really cute because at the restaurant there was a little girl sitting in a high chair. She kept on blowing Hayden kisses and talking to him. He would just smile and giggle at her. Hayden's appetite is growing he is eating 2 containers of food and about 1/4 cup of cereal at every meal. Along with his 30 ounces of milk. This kid is going to be expensive to feed.

Mans he's Quick

Hayden is crawling really fast now. It is so funny because he beats us to everything. I think we are going to go to Target and Toysrus to buy baby proofing stuff. He gets into everything. He loves electric cords especially the chargers for laptops. He has now figured out he can get on all fours. He hasn't crawled on his knees yet but, he is rocking back and forth. A few weeks ago I was saying he uses his legs to push himself now he used his knees then his legs. He is also trying to pull himself up. He is able to stand and hold on to something. He is so much fun. I try to get him to chase me. He loves to chase me when I have the camera.

Nap Time

Hayden always gets a nap and a bottle when he come home from day care. I usually don't pat him or rock him to sleep and I lay him in his crib while he is awake. Yesterday he was being a toot. He didn't want to fall asleep on his own, or be rocked, or patted. So I rolled him over on his back and covered him up. He pulled the blanket up so he could hold it and suck his thumb at the same time. Of course the blanket was silky. I always think Hayden is David's kid but, if yall know me I LOVED (actually still do) my blanket. So I do see myself in Hayden. On to college news, I got assigned my adviser and got a letter from her in the mail. So I will send her an e-mail out to see what class I can take this summer.

Silly, Silly Boy

Hayden has been so silly lately. Yesterday, when I picked him up from day care he was in a grumpy mood. I think it is from his teeth. His teachers were saying he is always happy and smiling, but today he was whining a lot. So I figured he would be so clingy, which he was. Usually he loves to play with David, but yesterday he just wanted me. So we played all afternoon. I mentioned before that he loves newspaper, so I finally let him "play" with it. As you can see he had so much fun. He got tons of newspaper print all over his hands. I am so shocked that he didn't eat it. He has also learned he can crawl through the table. He thinks it is funny. He will put his elbows on the table and try to climb through, but hasn't succeed yet. I enjoyed playing with him because he has some type of reaction which is so cute. He is even posing for pictures.

Busy Busy

Man the weekend flew by. We were so busy on Sunday. We finally decided on a couch so we got that moved in a settled yesterday. David and Tyler moved it in. It is really nice the couch has 2 recliners in it, but it is not leather. So we thought once we buy a house it can go in the office and then we can look again for leather couches. Also we went over to Tyler's and Myra's house, they are some friend here. They are expecting their second child in late May. The gave us a lot of stuff for Hayden so we returned the favor. So today I cleaned house and ran some errands, while Hayden was at daycare. It was nice to get cleaning done in an hour instead of all day. It is so hard to get all of the house chores done on the weekends. I am finally caught up on all of the laundry including putting clothes away. Today I went and handed my resume to some school here. We will wait and see what will happens. Also David went to the doctor his knee has been hurting him. He is going to get an MRI done, but we aren't sure when. I have been going to different gyms in the area trying to figure out which one we want to join. We are also thinking about signing up Hayden for swimming lessons. Hayden hasn't been sleeping really good. He is teething and nothing seems to help. He has been getting up 2-3 times at night. I am also not sure if he is going through a growth spurt because he wants to eat all the time.

Going for a Walk

Hayden loves to go for a walk. They are building a lot of new houses around us, so we go around looking at the houses. Hayden just chills. He seems so relaxed. I bought him a new umbrella stroller that reclines and has a basket at the bottom. It is much smaller then the big stroller. It really works well. The only bad thing is that it is to low for David to push. He has to lean over to push Hayden around. We went to Ashley furniture store today. Once again we didn't find anything we liked. I really want to buy furniture with lifetime warranty, only some of their products had that. None of the leather had lifetime warranty. If yall know any furniture stores that have lifetime warranty and are high quality let us know. I think we are going to buy a video camera. David has been researching it so we will see. I think it would be good because then we could You Tube Hayden, which would be so much fun!!

6 Month Check-up

Man, I can believe my baby boy is 6 months old. That is so CRAZY. Time is flying by so fast. What is really strange is that we are a month shy of living in Midland for a year. Well today Hayden and I went to see Dr. Hart, David was at work. She said he is doing great. He weighs 17.6, the same as 2 weeks ago. He is also 27 inches long. He is in the 75 percentile for length and head circumference. He has always been in the 75 percentile since he was born. So I am guessing he will be a smart and tall kid. He is in the 50 percentile for weight. She said he is developmental right on track. He is sitting, rolling over, attempting to crawl, and putting everything into his mouth. His favorite thing to "eat" is paper. He loves the Sunday paper with all the colorful ads. Yesterday, I was reading the paper and he was laying on the floor playing he rolled over and started to crawl towards the paper. He must of crawled 3 feet to reach it. She also said he could have yogurt and mashed potatoes, but no eggs until a year. We also can't eat 2nd stage foods until 7-8 months old. He is eating 27-35 ounces a day and eats 3 meals (cereal and fruit/veggie). What she also suggested was that I feed him with a sippy cup. She likes all of her babies to be bottle free around 10-12 months old. Which I agree. She said that babies drinking from bottles for a long period of time can develop problems with teeth coming in incorrectly and delayed speech. Since I am also reducing the amount of breastfeeding it would be easier to do sippy cup, instead of bottle then sippy cup. She suggested a frozen bagel to help with the teething and which would allow his teeth to come in. What is weird is that he doesn't have any teeth yet, not even a white dot. She said some babies do not get teeth until they are 12 months old. I also asked her about Autism and shots she said not to worry. He is doing fine. Dr. Hart said now studies are finding that Autism is due to a protein deficiency . What was so cute was I had to go the bathroom so I asked the nurse to hold Hayden. He was laughing and smiling at her. So she asked is he always this happy? Yup, I said I am truly blessed with a calm, easy going boy. Nothing like me, more like his dad. He also got 4 shots. We are done with shots until a year, YES. He cried a little then was okay. I haven't given him any tylenol yet. We will wait and see how he does. We will go back in 3 months for our next check-up. He is sound asleep now.

Thankful

David is very helpful with Hayden. It is really nice to have him doing so much. I know that he works very hard so that Hayden and I can have a good life. It is truly amazing how much God has blessed us in the past year. We have life really easy. I have been listening to Klove and reading a daily devotional. It has helped to get on the right track with God. When my students are working I turn on Klove for them. The other day when we were driving to the library, one of my students said, hey turn Klove on! Wow that was truly amazing that I am can be positive influence on a child. Praise God! Many times life becomes to busy to take time out for God. David and I have been discussing when would be the right time to buy a house and what things we want in a home. When I was listening to the radio this morning, the hosts were talking about how your life should been filled with riches in Heaven and not on earth. It dawned on me that it doesn't matter what kind of home we buy, what matters is what we "put" into our home. Does it matter if I have granite counter tops and dual master sinks? NO!! I want to fill our home with positive and encourage words, for our son. David and I are struggling to find a church home. Please pray for us to find the one God want us to be at. Also I am looking for a teaching job. I am having a hard time just wanting to apply for any teaching position. I only want a Pre-Kindergarten class, but that might not be what God wants for me. So pray that I am led to the right job. Hayden and I will be heading to the doctor for his six month check up tomorrow. I have also add pictures look in the April folder.

Allergy Relief

As many of yall know Hayden and David suffer from horrible allergies. I have been researching ways to help, prevent, and treat allergies in infants and children. The number one thing I read was about investing in a allergy mattress cover. You can find them online through allergy stores. What I love about these is that they are dust mite proof and have a lifetime guarantee. You can wash sheets and bedding in hot water and dry them on high heat. The other thing that doctors frown upon is having stuffed animals in the room because they can collect dust and dust mites. The last thing that can help allergy suffers is investing in a vacuum cleaner with a hepa filter. We bought one a few months ago and it works wonders. The filter helps trap all the allergens that are in the carpet. The actually recommend having tile floors to reduce the amount of dust particles in the air. So when we buy a house that will have to be a must. Also one other thing they recommend is having your air conditioning ducts cleaned yearly. I have also switched all my cleaning products to natural and chemical free. David really likes the Clorox brand Simple Green, although some of the products have a funky smell. My favorite thing is the Allergy reducer from Pledge.

Organic foods

Recently we have started to eat organic foods. It is more expensive but I think it is healthier for you. Half a gallon of milk cost 3.50 and that is the no name brand. Hayden eats only organic food, except for formula. We have two organic stores here in Midland. I haven't been to any of them because HEB has a wide selection of organic products. Since we shop at Sam's they also have a wide selection of organic produce. My favorite is organic Fuji apples. Today is tax day so I hoped everyone filed. David used Turbo Tax. It is a great program. It had a lot of deductions options for instance Hayden's daycare and David's work. David also went to the doctor to get medicine for his sinus infection. Work is going good. It has been so busy, tomorrow we are going to the library to see the local weather man. It will be fun I am excited to see what he presents to my students.

A Lot

Well in the past few days a lot of stuff has happened. I officially got accepted to UTPB Masters program. I think I am going to try to take a class this summer, so I can get done a little faster. Hayden is doing so much. He can now army crawl. He looks really funny because he hasn't figured out that he can move his arms and legs at the same time. He moves his arms then his legs and it is always one leg and on that knee. We went shopping and I buckled him into the shopping cart. I got one of those cart covers for my shower and it is really nice because it has straps for his arms so it helps hold him up. A few weekends ago we bought him this jumper that sits on the floor and he can use his legs to spin around and play with all of the toys. He has an exerciser that is similar. He finally figured out how the jumper works. He goes crazy jumping up and down. I also went to the consignment sale and got so much stuff for him. I spent 150 dollars and got toys, stroller, clothes (enough until it starts to get cold, nearly 25 different outfits and a lot of shirts.) he even got the cutest pair of brown sandals, books, bath stuff, and a highchair. David and I went out on a date last night. We had a good time, we went and watched a movie. Heather came over and watched Hayden. She fed him dinner and put him to bed. This is good because he is at the stage where he will go with anyone. David has a sinus infection so on Monday it is back to the doctor.

Gone.....

David is in New Mexico this week. He left Monday and will be back on Friday or Saturday. Man it is crazy here. I got a new kid at school and he is a lot of work and with taking care of Hayden it am so tired. I think I am going to ask the babysitter to come tomorrow. There is a consignment sale I want to go to and it would give me a break. When Hayden doesn't see his dad his is so clingy. He has gotten to the point when I leave the room he cries, real tears. It is so cute, he now raises his hands for me to pick him. He has been sleeping through the night for a week now. YES!!! That is so exciting. I have added new pictures to the site, so take a look. We went to the doctor on Saturday. Hayden still has a cough that will not go away. Dr. Hart finally prescribed allergy medication before he was to young, his breathing treatment just covers his asthma. She referred us to a pediatric allergist in Lubbock. We will go visit the allergist in a month. The doctor said since he doesn't have ear infections or runs fever, it is just allergies. I asked her if I should quit my job and stay home, she said nope. I am so glad because I would go CRAZY! She said all children get sick, he can either get sick now or when he goes to school and exposed to all of the germs. She also said that he was gaining plenty of weight so he is right on track. He now weighs 17.6. We will go back on the 18th for his 6 month check-up.

Retirement

A lot of things change when you have a "real" job and a kid. The top two priorities for David and I are retirement and college funds. I really enjoy my job and love my students but we do not get 401K or any retirement funds. I have begun to look for a teaching job in school districts. The school districts offer a Teacher Retirement Fund. The good thing about this as long as I work in the state of Texas, no matter what district I teach I can still earn retirement money. David and I would like to retire young so if we have to work for the next twenty years so that we can reap the rewards we will. I don't think you are ever to young to start thinking about retirement. We cannot count on Social Security because when we go to retire who knows if there will be anything left. If you invest a 1000 dollars a month into savings for retirement for the next 20 years you will have close to 1 million dollars, crazy. Also another exciting thing to report is that since we have paid all of our debit off David's FICA score jumped 70 points. This is exciting because we will get a lower interest rate and get approved for great loan when we go to buy a house. One more thing we have found a babysitter!!!! Yeah, Heather is a teacher at my school. She is about the same age as me. We went and saw 21. I really enjoyed the movie, David didn't. I am not sure if I enjoyed the movie or just the fact that we actually found someone we can trust to watch Hayden. We have arranged it so that we have two date nights a month. I feel like I am in college again, since we get to go out.

UTPB

Well yesterday David and I went to UTPB to look at the different master programs they offer. I felt like I was buying a car. The advisers kept saying do this program you can do this with it..... I am so confused now! I can't make up my mind. David says just go for both. I want to make a wise investment with our future. It all depends on what I want to do. If I want to teach for the next twenty years Early Childhood is the way to go, but if I want to teach at a college then Educational Leadership. Which would allow me to become a principal. AHAHAH so many decisions. So anyways I have a week to find out if I have been accepted to graduate school, then I have to decide. Also I went to go look at Preschool programs for Hayden. Everyone knows me, the earlier the better and you can't ever be to young to start learning. Hayden gets really screwed with this because you have to be 1 by October 1st, so he is going to be the oldest one in his class. The one that we decide has a 2 year waiting list, which works out perfect. What made us decide to do this program is that it is NAEYC Accredited, as a teacher it is the best of the best. All of the teachers that are in this program hold a bachelors degree and are certified by the state of Texas. It also has a 3 to 1 ratio. So we are very excited for Hayden.

National Autisim Day

I am not sure if y'all knew yesterday was National Autism Day. At school we have been trying to get awareness out. We also are letting parents know how much therapy can benefit their child. I have been so busy with that. I am glad it is over, I have room to breathe. The thing that shocked me the most about Autism is the debate over if immunization shots cause Autism. At first I thought it was a fluke, now I am not sure where I stand. The diagnosis of autism has increased tenfold in the last decade. Just when the amount of shots have also increased. It is really shocking that 1 in 150 children will be diagnosed with Autism. Four times more likely in boys. That is one child every 20 minutes, crazy huh? What some of my parents say to me is he was born with it, you could tell something was not right. While on the other hand the others say he reached all developmental stages at the right time and it came out of no where. All this information has really opened my eyes, because of Hayden. Now this has made me change my mind about which graduate program I am going to pursue. I think I am going for my masters in Special Education. I really thought hard about doing speech therapy, but it is way too much work. Although I could have my own practice and set my own schedule. I don't want to be in college for another 3 years going full time. I have applied to UTPB. I am going to start taking classes in the Fall. They have a program where you can save 2,000 dollars if you start in the Summer or Fall and you don't have to take your GRE to be accepted into the Masters program. I am so excited. I can't wait.