Book Mobile!

We spent the entire day with Cameron. We had breakfast and then went for a long walk. The humidity was out of control today. After our walk Hayden and Cameron ran around in the "common area". That where they are in the photo. They are sitting on a cut up tree trunk and pretending it's a horse. Complete with squeals from Cam and "giddddup" from Hayden. They spent a lot of time exploring and discovering pine-cones, rocks, leaves. We have quite the assortment of random roughage in our apt now.

After dropping Cam off this afternoon we came home and Hayden immediately noticed that the library's BOOK MOBILE was in the neighborhood. Hayden was so excited. We see this bus parked at the library every sunday morning when we go to Healthy Living. He kept saying "book.....bobeeel" as we made our way over. The second he stepped foot on the bus he said "whoooaaaaa". We spent a good 20 mins looking at books. Hayden was in complete awe of the situation. The bus is painted with children reading books on the outside and inside the ceiling is painted with clouds. Hayden kept pointing to the ceiling and saying "cyouds, airplane, kyle" He picked out an Eric Carle colors book, 5 little monkeys, and a Animal barn book all by himself. The librarian even let him hold the stamper to stamp the date on the books. He couldn't wait to call Papa and tell him all about it. and after our dinner, that is what he did :)

Will visited tonight.

Good Life Things

i excused myself from the bed this afternoon. during our nap once the mama milkies were no longer needed and came downstairs to clean up a bit. our apt is in constant disarray. i can hardly keep up with it. i put something away and as i'm moving away from it, hayden is taking it right back out. he's quite the helper!
anyway...
after just 4 minutes of being downstairs i thought i could hear some stirring upstairs so i quietly made my way up the stairs and as i made the corner i saw hayden eating a book. he sneakily eats so many book pieces that i'm certain one day he is going to shit out a fabulous story.

Moving on up!

Hayden and I got an apartment. It's really nice and I'm excited to move. A new beginning for us! We move in on June 14th!

Packing has been quite the adventure. Hayden is sooo helpful with taking out what i just put in the box :) I'm getting it done though, i've always been a great multi-tasker :)

Things are starting to look up. Up is the only way we can go from here! Hayden will finally have the happy mama that he deserves. Now, if we could secure a long term job we'd be good to go!!!

First Word

Hayden has been babbling like crazy for months, but he said 'ma maaa' yesterday multiple times AT me, not just experimenting with sounds. pretty much made my life. cue the tears and laughter. he's amazing.

hayden has also been scooting around on his biscuits for the past month which is really cute. can get to his tummy from a sitting position and can get on all fours....but he doesn't know what to do from there other than scream and grunt and since yesterday say "maaaa maaam" in a cute but whinysad voice. it's really too cute for words.

he has been doing the "milk" sign for about 3 weeks...and gets hysterical when i do it to him. sometimes it's a YAAAY hysterical and other times it's a bawling his face off hysterical b/c i'm teasing him.
he loves drinking out of cups but has no idea what to do with a sippy other than chew on it.

he would eat an entire magazine/book if i'd let him.

i knew that motherhood would be incredible and life changing...but i didn't know to what extent. i am so grateful and will never take this for granted.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hayden is all over the place. He's sitting, rolling over, standing while holding onto things with a little added assistance. It's so amazing to watch him learn these things.

This monday he had his first bite of food...AVOCADO and he seemed to really like it. I wanted to wait until he was 8 months or so...but when i was eating it the other day he literally had a little tantrum over not having any. so i shared :)


needless to say..he keeps me busy. It can be tiresome..especially since i'm on my own, but it's so worth it. He is so amazing...every little smile, giggle, hair pull, nose grab..whatever...it is just incredible. And i always think to myself "today was so good, it can't get any better than this"...but it does...every day it just gets better and better. being a mother is the best gift. Hayden Michael, my little blessing!

Cloth Dipes

I've wanted to do cloth dipes pretty much from the get go but have been waiting until Hayden wasn't pooping every 10 seconds. He's at the age now where poops are more spaced out and i wont be doing laundry every second of the day. We are doing Fuzzi Bunz for the most part and i love them so far and i think hayden does too! I

The Awakening by Sonny Carroll

	A time comes in your life when you finally get it... When in the midst of all your fears and insanity you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere, the voice inside your head cries out - ENOUGH! Enough fighting and crying, or struggling to hold on. And, like a child quieting down after a blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you shudder once or twice, you blink back your tears and through a mantle of wet lashes, you begin to look at the world through new eyes. This is your awakening... You realize that it's time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change, or for happiness, safety and security to come galloping over the next horizon. You come to terms with the fact that he is not Prince Charming and you are not Cinderella and that in the real world, there aren't always fairy tale endings (or beginnings for that matter) and that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you and in the process, a sense of serenity is born of acceptance. You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are ... and that's OK. (They are entitled to their own views and opinions.) And you learn the importance of loving and championing yourself and in the process, a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval. You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you (or didn't do for you) and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected. You learn that people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and that it's not always about you. So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself and in the process, a sense of safety & security is born of self-reliance. You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties and in the process, a sense of peace & contentment is born of forgiveness. You realize that much of the way you view yourself and the world around you, is a result of all the messages and opinions that have been ingrained into your psyche. You begin to sift through all the junk you've been fed about how you should behave, how you should look and how much you should weigh, what you should wear and where you should shop and what you should drive, how and where you should live and what you should do for a living, who you should marry and what you should expect of a marriage, the importance of having and raising children or what you owe your parents. You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view. You begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for. You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with and in the process, you learn to go with your instincts. You learn that it is truly in giving that we receive and that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a "consumer" looking for your next fix. You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a by gone era, but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life. You learn that you don't know everything; it's not your job to save the world and that you can't teach a pig to sing. You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO. You learn that the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake. Then you learn about love. Romantic love and familial love. How to love, how much to give in love, when to stop giving and when to walk away. You learn not to project your needs or your feelings onto a relationship. You learn that you will not be more beautiful, more intelligent, more lovable or important because of the man on your arm or the child that bears your name. You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be. You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes. You learn that just as people grow and change, so it is with love; and you learn that you don't have the right to demand love on your terms, just to make you happy. You learn that alone does not mean lonely. You look in the mirror and come to terms with the fact that you will never be a size 5 or a perfect 10 and you stop trying to compete with the image inside your head and agonizing over how you "stack up." You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs. You learn that feelings of entitlement are perfectly OK and that it is your right, to want things and to ask for the things that you want and that sometimes it is necessary to make demands. You come to the realization that you deserve to be treated with love, kindness, sensitivity and respect and you won't settle for less. You allow only the hands of a lover who cherishes you, to glorify you with his touch and in the process, you internalize the meaning of self-respect. And you learn that your body really is your temple. And you begin to care for it and treat it with respect. You begin eating a balanced diet, drinking more water and taking more time to exercise. You learn that fatigue diminishes the spirit and can create doubt and fear. So you take more time to rest. Just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul; so you take more time to laugh and to play. You learn that for the most part in life, you get what you believe you deserve and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen, is different from working toward making it happen. More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance. You also learn that no one can do it all alone and that it's OK to risk asking for help. You learn that the only thing you must truly fear is the great robber baron of all time; FEAR itself. You learn to step right into and through your fears, because you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear, is to give away the right to live life on your terms. You learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom. You learn that life isn't always fair, you don't always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people. On these occasions, you learn not to personalize things. You learn that God isn't punishing you or failing to answer your prayers; it's just life happening. You learn to deal with evil in its most primal state; the ego. You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you. You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls. You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted; things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about; a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower. Slowly, you begin to take responsibility for yourself, by yourself and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never ever settle for less than your heart's desire. You hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind, and you make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting and to stay open to every wonderful possibility. Finally, with courage in your heart and with God by your side you take a stand, you take a deep breath and you begin to design the life you want to live as best as you can.

my world. my beautiful son. i'm going to do everything i can to give hayden the best life possible, even if i have to do it alone!!!