The Newest Member

Here are so pictures of the brand new baby, Rian Murray.




He weighed 7.8 pounds and 181/2 inches long (I hope that this is right, if not sorry Lindsey). For some of y'all who don't know Lindsey, she is my cousin on the Gilbert side. I will say that since we knew she was pregnant we have become closer. We have tried to keep in touch. I have been sick this week. I have a really bad sore throat. I am hoping that I can call her tonight. I haven't because my lymph nodes have been so sore. I went to the doctor Monday night. I don't have Strep. David and I are thinking about giving up our Cable and DVR so we don't spend so much time in front of the TV. This would allow us to read more (we have started the Purpose Driven Life), have family time, and get out and see Lafayette. We aren't sure what we should do. We are praying about it. Once Hayden is asleep we plop in front of the tv and stay there until we go to bed. I am going to try a new hobby. I want to learn how to take professional pictures. I think I am going to read and learn and see if it something that I would do for more then a few months. If so its off to get a different camera.

Memory Lane Monday

I went through looking at old pictures. Reminiscing the old times with Hayden. I came across these two pictures they were taken exactly a year ago.


It is crazy how time flies. He is truly a joy and brings so much excitement in our life's. David and I are truly blessed with a precious boy. I have upload web albums. Also Lindsey had a baby boy this morning. Please pray for her and the baby as they go through the changes of adding to a family. They baby and her are both doing fine. I am hoping to get a picture of him.

3 out of 14

If you read the title...David has been home 3 days out of 2 weeks. The days that he has been home he has tried to catch up on sleep. That doesn't work to much because he says that Hayden and I are too loud and he can't sleep. There was a job tonight but he didn't have to go because he has 2 doctor appointments. He is going to the ENT and the eye doctor. The ENT is the one that did Hayden's tube surgery. He is really good. David thinks he has a sinus infection. David probably gets a sinus infection once a month. Hayden and I are so happy that he is home. Hayden wouldn't let David put him down. David carried or held Hayden for an hour. Hayden wouldn't even let me give David a hug or a kiss. He kept on pushing me away. Hayden followed him the entire night. He didn't want his dad to leave him. Hayden doesn't really understand when I tell him Daddy is working. I would love to find a book about the oil field that is kid friendly. We have all been sick. I have a head cold. I slept for 5 hours today. I got up at 5 with Hayden at 8 we took a nap together. Nobody went to church this morning. I am praying that we can go next week. There are some really good sermons that I want to hear. I think I am going to listen to them online. Hayden has been pulling his diaper off. Every time I ask him if he has to pee. He goes to my bathroom and waits for me to put him on the potty. He hasn't peed in the potty yet, but he has the right idea. So I went and bought him a potty today. He loves to sit on it. He is so cute. David says that he is to young. I told David that when kids are interested in things you have to pursue it. Hayden probably won't pee in the potty for months but he knows what to do. He knows that pee goes in the potty. So we are just letting him take of his diaper and wear thick cloth underwear. We only do this a few times. I don't think he can wear the underwear all day. He hates to have them wet and takes them off when he pees in them. He tries to put them in the laundry. I am telling you this kid is pretty smart. He can figure out anything. When we went to Sam's they have big shopping carts. You can fit 2 kids in the front. So there is an extra safety belt. Hayden started to clip the pieces together. I stopped him because I didn't want him to pinch his fingers.

V isit to the Park

Hayden and I went to the park to play this afternoon. We had to run by wal-mart first to buy (cheap) bread to feed the ducks. I left my camera in the car when we were feeding the ducks so I didn't get any pictures of that. I brought his wagon and he loved riding in it. He loved to carry the bag of bread around. Mostly he ate the bread and I fed the ducks. He loves to "walk" Holly. He was getting a kick out of holding her leash. He would laugh every time she ran far away. We went to a smaller park this time. It wasn't crowded at all. The whole time (1 1/2 hours) we where their only 2 people showed up. It had a small play area but it was enough for Hayden. He loved being chased. He even attempted to catch a duck! He went down the big slide on his belly, like always. Here are pictures from our adventure.....enjoy.

One more

Here is another video of Hayden. He is eating dinner. He loves for me to make silly sounds. He thinks it is so funny and starts cracking up laughing. He says uh oh a few times too.

I hope that y'all are enjoying these. I love to watch them. Hayden likes to watch himself. He will sit and watch it. That really amazes me because he doesn't sit long for anything. Hayden seems like he is feeling better. His ears aren't draining any more fluid which is a good sign. We had a beautiful day here. The weather was so nice. I am hoping for another pretty day tomorrow so that we can go to the park to play and feed the ducks. He loves to play outside. He has gotten pretty brave too. He will go down the big slide at the park. He is not afraid of it. Hayden and I were pretty tired tonight. We went to bed at 6:30. I got up because my phone rang. I figured I would make a post that I'll go back to sleep.

Hiding

Hayden is having a lot of fun. Since we have been home so much I have enjoyed spending time with him. This morning he woke up and was calling me, "ma ma". I was rolled over and told him, "it was too early". He then shook me and I said, "What". He leaned over and gave me two big kisses. I was in a wonderful mood after that. I have been so bored staying home. I decided that I was going to upload more videos. Well it is taking forever. I started one last night and it finished this afternoon. Hayden has been talking up a storm. His favorite word right now is "uh oh". He says it all the time. He loves to throw stuff on the floor and say it. Another thing he loves to do is shake his head no. He likes to tell me no for everything. I have been telling Hayden when he is dirty that we need to change his pamper. I tell him you peed or pooped. He now will try to pull of his diaper when he has peed. When he poops he will attempt to look inside of his diaper, because we do it. It is so cute. He cracks me up because he sucks in his stomach when he looks at his diaper. This morning I made organic whole wheat blueberry muffins from scratch. They were yummy. Hayden didn't know what to do with the muffin. He eventually picked out the blueberries and ate them. He ate a few bite of the muffin part and threw the rest to Holly. Hayden loves to carry my blanket with him. I guess he sees his mom do it so it must be okay. I am not sure why I carry it around the house (that is a different story). He likes for me to find him. I always let him hide, mostly under shirts or clean clothes. I "look" and "look" for him. He will pop out or reveal himself to me. He usually tries to say, "Here". So here is the video.

We are Getting There

Hayden is still running a fever. David suggested that I call the ENT so that he could check Hayden out. I called and he said that he was going to put Hayden on an antibiotic. I need to start taking Hayden into the ENT when he has ear infections. They can treat the ears a lot better then the pediatrician. Last time we went they removed fluid from his ear and put drops in. So I will be staying home tomorrow. I feel like I am trapped in the house. I don't want to go out because we are trying to get Hayden health. I have errands to run and a list full of stuff to do. I guess that will resume next weekend. Hayden is finally getting some good sleep. He has been waking up several times at night. I am hoping that he will sleep through the night soon. We are working on eliminating bottles during the day. He is fine without them when he is not sick. When he is sick, it seems like a comfort thing to him. Saturday he didn't have any bottles during the day. So when he woke up in the middle of the night I gave him one. He wouldn't let me take it. He clenched on to it and if I moved it away he would look for it. I am hoping that my charger will come soon. I have tons of pictures that I need to upload. I tried uploading a video of him eating yogurt. It wouldn't work. He would eat a huge spoonful and try to get it into his mouth. The spoon was so big that he would fling the yogurt all over his face. Once he had a bite he would start smacking his lips and said "mmmmm", then licked his lips.

Oh Little Man

We have been doing great. Hayden is feeling better. His nose isn't as runny as it has been. I think it is because the ear drops are working. There is still fluid coming out of his ears though. This means that there is still fluid and pus in his ears. He has a fever now. He always gets fevers when he has an ear infection. This time we caught the ear infection first and then a day later he started to run a fever. I am hoping that his fever will break tomorrow. I don't have school on Monday, it is MLK day. So it will give Hayden another day to get over this. We won't be going to church in the morning because of Hayden. I went and got my haircut today. I cut it really short, little past my ears. I was terrified at first. I wasn't sure if I would like it. I love it! It turned out really cute. While I was out, David was working on his laptop and he felt his legs getting very hot. He turned his laptop over and smoke was coming out of it. David reminded me that we need to start backing everything up. David has tons of pictures and school stuff on that laptop. So he is hoping that he can remove the hard drive. So we made a trip to Best Buy. While David was checking out all of the laptops Hayden and I went over to the game section. They had Guitar Hero set up (which is like a band that hooks up to your Xbox). The first thing Hayden did was grabbed the microphone and started singing. I am not sure where he has seen a mic before but he new exactly what to do. It was so precious. He then proceed to play the guitar. He found the drum sticks and was playing the drums too. I think we might need to buy one for us. Hayden will love it. David has been in Houston taking some training class. I am glad he came home. Hayden isn't that much fun when he is sick. When David came home last night Hayden was the happiest he has been all week.

A Mother Always Knows

A mother’s intuition is something I have learned to listen to. As I go through life as a parent it is hard to describe when you know something isn't right. I am not sure when it develops. I knew Hayden was going to be a boy way before he the sonogram. I also knew that he was going to be a big baby and such a boy. Although I do want to dress him in girl clothes and put his hair in a pony tail (since it is really long and has the most beautiful curls). Many people think that I freak out to much about Hayden and we visit the doctor more then we should. The one thing I know is I have a very supportive husband. He agrees with me when it comes to Hayden's safety. So I got ready for work this morning as usual. Hayden seemed a little off. There were times when he seemed a bit crabby then others he was playing fine. I sat down with him and really thought about calling into work. It was 6:15 and I would have to been at school in an hour. I figured it would be too late to find a sub. So he went to daycare and I told his teacher that if he didn't seem like himself to call me. I would come and pick him up. So about 8:45 I had the urge to call and check on him. They said he was a little fussy and his nose was running. Well I just knew he needed to go to the doctor (for the second time this week, we will meet our deductible by the end of January at this rate!). When I picked him up his teacher said he is fine. I said I know that something isn't right. I asked about his ears. She said that his ear was draining green fluid. I knew when I called it must have been a God moment. I took him into the doctor. Of course he had an ear infection. The tube is draining the fluid. I love using the ear drops. It is much easier then holding him down to get him to take antibiotic. I asked the doctor why he is getting them more. He has had two in the last month. She said when it is cold season that the drainage can cause more ear infections. I knew he had to have more than a cold because his nose wasn't an allergy nose. It was yucky. Hayden never really has a running nose unless he has an ear infection. So the nose will stop running as the ear continues to drain. I am glad that we caught this early. Hayden has been pulling his ear plugs out when he is taking a bath. She said even a few drops of bath water can cause an ear infection because the water is filled with bacteria and there is nowhere for the water to go. I am going to call and try to get him fitted for custom ear plugs. Lately Hayden has been "swimming" in the bath. He will put his head under water and try to float on his back. It freaks me out. I think his is drowning. He comes up and is laughing and splashing. He is have a grand old time. He reminds me a lot of myself in the water. I am not scared of water. I got the cutest video of Hayden eating yogurt. I am going to try to upload it tonight so I can blog about it in the morning. Oh another Hayden note, he got bit on the face at daycare. Needless to say David is going to have a call with them in the morning. His face looks like someone hit him. It is a bad bruise. I told David that we can't put Hayden in another center because he loves his lead teacher. He will follow her around the room all day. In the mornings he will go to her and give her kisses. He tells me bye and is happy. I don't want to ruin that. When David is working it is nice for Hayden to have a familiar face.

Laughing

Here is a video of Hayden eating and then laughing. I am not sure why the quality isn't that great. I am not sure if I messed up the camera settings or if it was the memory card.

We are doing good. Hayden has a runny nose. I am hoping that it is just from the cold weather. I don't want him to have a cold. If he looks bad in the morning or not himself, we will stay home. I can't believe that I have missed 13 days of school already. None of them have been me getting sick. Hayden has been eating a ton of fruit. Every day he will eat at least 2 nectarines, 3 bowlfuls of grapes, and applesauce. I gave him yogurt tonight. I hope that will get his immune system going again. I think many parents send their child to daycare when they are sick. Sometimes it is hard for parents to stay home with their child. I wish they wouldn't give them medicine to hide the symptoms. Today I bought a pedometer that keeps track of how far I walk and how many calories I burn. I am anxious to see how many miles I walk in a day. I feel like I am constantly moving.

Okay Now What

Okay...I just got done reading Jake and Carrie's Blog. My heart is physically hurting. It is like I am having a severe Asthma attack without the breathing issue. Every night I plant the seed into David about adoption. There is not a day that goes by (since we started sponsoring Leah) that I don't think about those children. I forgot to tell y'all that we received a package in the mail a few weeks ago. It was a very nice calendar of all the children in the Foster Home. I have it by my desk at work. I find myself frequently turning the pages to see all of the children, especially Leah. We are so grateful that she is going to be adopted, to a family in Texas. I am hoping that one day we will meet her. I will try to take pictures of that calendar to share. So, on to things that are happening now. It has been a whirlwind the past two days. We have been extremely busy. I picked Hayden up from daycare yesterday and we ran to Wal-Mart. While he was sitting eating an apple I noticed a ring like circle on the top of his head. I tried several times to get a "good" look at it. I though oh geez...ringworm. I called his doctor to see if they could squeeze us in. Yup, there was an opening. So I paid for the fruit and left. While we were playing in the examination room, Hayden found a Veggie Tales book. I started to sing the song and Hayden danced along. Hayden rarely watches TV. The only time he does is in the car and most of the time he is pointing and talking to me. I really frown on a lot of TV for children even if it is educational. I think he learns a lot through reading and singing songs. For Christmas, he got a Veggie Tales DVD. So he has seen it a few times. I was naming off a few characters from the show and he would point to them. Wow, I was amazed. He knew the song and the characters pretty impressive, for a almost 15 month old. The doctor came in and looked at his head. She wasn't sure if it was ringworm because she didn't see the complete shape of a circle and it had a scab on it. She took a swab of it so it could be tested. We will find out in 5-10 days. When we got home I asked David to make an appointment for Holly. She needed to be checked for ring worms and have her second set of puppy shots done. Today I took Holly to the Vet. She didn't have any ringworm. I hope that neither of them get it because treatment is oral medicine. I am praying that the test will come back negative. The vet said that Holly has an ear infection. He gave her some medicine. We have to clean her ears out twice a day and give her medicine for a week. After this week, we clean her ears out every day. They sent us home with ear cleaning wash. The vet bill was 200 bucks. The ear wash was 30. I am going to look online to see if we can buy it in bulk and save money that way. Needless to say my staying on budget is kind of out of whack. I guess that's why people say you can't live pay check to pay check. I will be taking Holly back in 3 weeks to get another set of shots done. I can't believe that she is 10 pounds already. She is only 13 weeks old. She will be about 15-20 pounds when she is full grown. Her height will double. Hayden is fast alseep. I am going to catch up on some DVR shows.

A Weekend Gone

We have been so busy. On Friday, Hayden and I went on adventure to the mall. We had a lot of returns to take care of. We had a good time. Hayden was an okay shopper. He was really happy when he was eating. He got crabby because he wanted out of the stroller. He usually will sit and have a bag full of snacks. Yesterday, Hayden and I went to the grocery store. Hayden woke up at 5 and I figured we would be back in time to put him down for morning nap. Well we took forever shopping. He was sitting in the cart eating a snack. When I put something in the buggy and started to push him, this is what I found.


We were planning to take Hayden to the Children Museum. He feel asleep at 1:30. I figured that he would sleep and hour or two. He slept until 4:45. The museum closed at 5. So we didn't make it. I have cleaned out the pantry and fridge and got rid of all the "bad" food. Eating healthy is a lifestyle change. It is really easy if you have nutritious food on hand. I haven been using my Gorge Foreman grill a lot. Today, I made grilled mozzarella cheese sandwiches, with no butter. Hayden and I went to church this morning. David didn't feel good. He even took a nap which he never does. Hayden went to sleep at 5:30. He woke up late this morning and only took a hour nap. It is back to work for the both of us. We have enjoyed having Dad home with us this weekend. It has been a lot of playing for the boys. Hayden loves for David to chase him around the house. Here are a few pictures from this week. Enjoy

Laughs and Stir-Fry

This week flew by fast. I usually try to post every two days. I can't believe it is Friday already. We have been so busy. I am not sure where the time went. Hayden has been doing hilarious stuff. He has been imitating David. When David plays his Xbox, Hayden wants to play too. Hayden likes to sit on the couch and hold the control. I have a picture of him playing. He has also been cracking up laughing at himself. He he will do something and then laugh at himself. I need to get it on video. We will laugh and then he will laugh even harder. We have been eating a lot healthier this week. I have been making things with chicken and measuring the servings. Last night we had Stir-Fry, with veggies, shrimp, and brown rice. That is one of Hayden favorite meals. He will eat any veggies. He had 4 servings last night. His favorite are the shrimp. David has been supportive of our 400 or less calorie dinners. Although I tell David how many caleries things are and he says, "tasted like it". It is an adjustment sometimes not easy. David is going to an eye doctor today. His eyes have been bothering. We are thinking about taking Hayden to the Children's Museum here. It has been so rainy and yucky all week. We haven't been outside much. I am also trying to find some indoor things to do since it is cold.

Water Baby

Hayden is a water baby. He loves anything to do with water. When he sees Holly's water bowl, he loves to stick his hands in and splash water everywhere. He loves to play in the kitchen sink when I am in there. His favorite thing to do in there is making the water spray everywhere. Tonight in the bath tub he blew bubbles. I can't believe that! If you know anything about kids swimming, blowing bubbles in the water is a hard task to accomplish. Many times they will get scared or suck the water in. I am so proud of him. He was doing it over and over again. He would blow bubbles then crack up laughing. He hates getting out. Many times he will stay in the tub until the water drains and then attempt to climb out. David is usually the bath giver so I miss a lot of these moments. I am going to try to sign Hayden up for swimming lessons. I am hoping that we can get custom ear plugs made for him. He has a really good pair but they aren't made to go swimming in. Only for quick shower and baths. Another cute moment happened with him today. He was climbing on a toy, when he got to the top he said, "WOW". After that he climb down and was talking to me like crazy. I am not sure what he said but he kept pointing to the toy. I figured he was trying to tell me he climb to the top.

Face Lift

I have been so busy with work. I have decided that my students need to be more independent. I have been creating new plans. I am so excited to start fresh in the morning. I have a feeling that my students will be shocked and a little confused. We will be doing a lot more writing and reading this semester. Hayden did so well at church today. There were 4 nursery workers in his room, 3 women and 1 men. He went straight for the guy. Hayden was with him the entire time. When we picked him up the guy was carrying Hayden around. I am was delighted that we didn't receive a page. I asked David a few times, "is the pager was working". I just knew we were going to have to calm Hayden down. We had a restful Sunday. Hayden and I took a three hour nap. I have looked at some of the pictures of Christmas break. This is my dad (Dale) and Hayden. He was so fascinated with his Pa, that's what he called him.
This is Hayden at Grandma Gilbert's house playing with one of his presents.

Here he is playing with a monster truck that Gigi and Papa got him. He loves to push it along the carpet and make sounds.

The last one is Hayden opening presents at my mom's house.

I messed up my charger again! David is ordering me a new one. Once I get it in I will update Picasa with November, December, and January pictures. I know I am so behind, that is so rare.

School Time

We have been so busy. Yesterday, we went to my classroom. I rearranged the furniture and David worked on the computers. We went to run so errands together. We had some returns to take care of. My return pile is dwindling down. I am hoping that after church, I can hit the mall and Old Navy. Today we went to Olive Garden for lunch. It was so yummy! Hayden was so cute. He wanted to eat whatever David ate. We try really hard to not let Hayden become a picky eater. We always make him eat whatever food is served. If he doesn't like it too bad. Hayden always tries different food. Today he ate a salad and drink peach tea, along with a plate full of pasta and two bread sticks. After that we went back to my classroom. I had to take stuff down off the walls and hang new stuff up. David even helped. It is so funny to watch David get into teaching stuff. I could spend hours in my class. I love to create different kinds of lesson plans and try new activities. David is the opposite, he wants to get in and out. Hayden slept in his crib last night. It was the first time in 2 1/2 weeks, from being sick and vacation it was a struggle. Thursday night was awfully, we tried and tried to get him to sleep in there. We must have moved him 3 or 4 times to his crib. We tried patting and ignoring him but he just cried. We eventually gave up. Here a few pictures of Hayden...enjoy!

Starting Over

A new year is here. Many people make resolutions and try to fulfill them throughout the year. I have made several over the years and haven't kept any. I started to think how can I keep them this year? I decided that if they were doable then it would be easier. I am hoping that I can stay on track.

1. Eat healthier- This is so hard for me. I figured it is okay to have a cookie but not five. I am learning that moderation is the key. I am going to count calories again. I really liked that it was easy.

2. Exercise daily- I love to workout. The hardest part is finding time every day. I am going to start with 30 minutes every day.

3. Read my bible- I did this every morning in high school. I would set my alarm; read and pray. I haven't really devoured the Word like I used to. I am going to try and set a time every morning to do this.

4. Stay on budget- I have gotten so lazy. I used to clip coupons and shop the ads for groceries. I still am a sale shopper, for clothes, shoes..... I am not with food. Every week I do my grocery shopping I can easily spending 250 a week. I am not sure what I buy or why. I just use my debit card and go on. I can’t believe how I can waste money. I am always buying something for Hayden toys, books, and clothes. Since David works offshore I have paid a few bills. I never paid the bills or even logged into the checking account before. I didn't even know how much money David makes. I was clueless. David and I have been talking about keeping track of our spending. We decided to use mint.com. This website lets you keep track and label all of your spending, so you know where it goes. We are trying to save more money. There is no reason why we needed to blow it on useless stuff. I am hoping that in the next 6 months we can reach our goal.

5. GRE and Graduate College- They wait is finally over. I am tired of saying I need to or want to.... I am planning on studying and taking the GRE. I will also narrow my choices of Grad School. I am excited about this. I am going to take my time and enjoy every class. I don't feel any pressure. I have no reason to rush to graduate.

So there are my top five. I have a few small ones left but it doesn't really matter. Anyways, David and I packed up all the Christmas stuff. We are going to try to organize Hayden's room next. We did this before his birthday. He got a lot of stuff for Christmas. I am going to save some and rotate books and toys. I am planning to go work in my room in the morning.

Christmas Again

As many of you know that we sponsor Leah. I can look at her little face and it is such a blessing. I feel that warm tingle feeling. I finally feel like I am making a difference, even if it is one child at a time. I have to admit that sponsoring a child makes me want to adopt one. David and I aren't sure what God's plans are for us yet. We are waiting. We are hoping to sponsor another child, maybe a boy. Since I have been on a vacation in Houston I haven't been checking my email. David called my Friday when he got into town. He said we got an e-mail from the foster home. I said okay, I figured it was our monthly update letter. I asked how is she doing? He said she got the package and there are pictures. We were so excited that she got the package on Christmas eve. It was so wonderful to hear that it made it in time. David was so happy that she loved what he picked out for her. He told me in every picture she is smiling. Here are a few pictures that were sent to us. I hope these brighten your New Year's Day.

This is my favorite. I love how she posed for it! Precious









We made it hope fine. Hayden was a fabulous car rider today. He got a bit fussy about 10 miles outside of town. I only stopped to get gas. I guess he was tired from the travel and missed his bed. He took a nap at 3:45 woke up at 8. He stayed up with us until 10:45 and went back to sleep. I hope his schedule doesn't get to crazy. I can't sleep because I napped with him.