Thursday, February 5, 2015

Mommy-Hailey Day

 Hailey and I found ourselves out for a girls day while Daddy had to spend some time working over the weekend (the perks of being a business owner...boo) so we went to one of her all time favorite spots... The Redwood City Public Library. Fortunately for me, it's free and PACKED with fun stuff to do in the children's section. Who knew?

Soak it up Kiddo!
The peg game!
Puppy loves the peg board too
Look of intense concentration
Feeding into Hailey's obsession with mini chairs & tables
Hailey is enamored with my puppetry skillz. Obviously.
Bead-Moving-Puzzle-Thingy Galore! I think that's the official name for it.
Start 'em young!
Computer Time
The best part about this whole trip? When it was time to go, I told Hailey and she just grabbed her puppy and happily strolled out of there with me like it was no big thing. No meltdown about leaving the toys, no high-pitched screeching like I'm torturing her with the monstrosities of life outside of the library, no nuthin. Just a cheerful kiddo, hangin' out with mom. WIN.

So I did the next obvious thing... headed to the closest Jamba Juice and got her a giant sugary fruity drink as a reward.

mmmmmm... smoothie
But hey, it had Kale in it... so there's that. 

Love this kid.

Life Lately

Life seems to be in over-drive lately. Joe's business is taking off. Oh wait, have I even bragged about him here yet? Whelp! Excuse me while I do that! Joe and his partners Adam & Ryan started their very own structural engineering firm!!! BKG Structural Engineers! Aaaaand shameless plug in 3...2...1... www.bkgse.com They're kind of a big deal. But seriously, I could not be more proud of Joe for making it happen with these guys and working their butts off to get launched. SO, while he's doing that, and I'm working full time at Stanford it's been a big crazy beautiful whirlwind of life. Let me break down the past month and a half for ya...

Hailey's had an obsession with kitchens lately. She has one in daycare that she absolutely adores playing with, so we decided to get her one for herself. The added bonus being that we can now call our home a two kitchen household...

Ikea Play Kitchen
 How many engineers does it take to build an Ikea play kitchen? Well as it turns out, two. Joe and I worked all night to put this bad boy together so that when this little angel woke up, it was Christmas all over again...


Yeah, I'd say she was a bit thrilled.

New Year's came and went so quickly we hardly had time to plan something so we laid low, invited a couple friends over and did our traditional take-out potluck. Pizza, Pad Thai, Mongolian Beef, California Rolls & Taco Bell Tacos.
New Years Feast
 Now onto the more regular side of life... Ever shopped in a clothing store with a toddler? It goes a little something like this...

BUY ALL THE SHIRTS MOM!!!
That's when she's post-nap. And pre-nap?

Sleeping with her eyes open...
At home, I was faced with the chore of taking down the Christmas decorations, which wasn't much this year but I did put up lights all around Hailey's room and in taking them down I had to remove the tacks that were holding them up. Ever dropped a tack from above your child's cubby storage? Well don't. It's the scariest most anxiety-ridden thing you could ever do. Who drops a massively sharp, swallowable, and impossible to find object into 8 square feet of almost every toy your child plays with. ------> that'd be me. PANIC! Fortunately after turning that room upside down I found that bugger. 

no. more. tacks. ever.
Hailey also ended up getting her first full fledged cold. Fever, snot and nothing even remotely resembling sleep at night. Awesome. It took over a week for all of us to get back to something resembling normal.

A is for A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
 But then we were somewhat back on track!



Ta Da!!! Hailey's new Party Trick!
 Coloring's been big on Hailey's fun-list lately too.





Adorable right?

Feeding Puppy
 Joe and I have been trying to get a little more exercise lately so on the weekends we've been going on a lot of walks with Hailey.

Bundled up for a winter stroll!
 And then there's the park down the street. Hailey's mastered the art of climbing up the stairs and plunging down the slide all by herself.



Hailey & Kaia, Future Soccer Stars
We're crossing our fingers that Hailey falls in love with soccer so we're starting her early with it...


And just for good measure, BATH TIME PICS!!!

And that's about where we are now :) Lots of highs, a few lows, and occasionally sleep!

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Hailey's First White Christmas

Christmas this year was particularly amazing. The Givens extended family spent the holidays in Tahoe, lounging in an incredible cabin. Can't ask for much more than that on Christmas!

Commence Christmas Photo Flood!

Cooking in the massive kitchen
To say we ate well is an understatement...

Straight Loungin'
Snuggles with Uncle Jeff
Our Loot!
Hanging with Auntie Nazia
It's SNOWING!!
Hailey & Daddy out on the town
Strolling the Streets
Let's go!
Walking around with our Snow child. hehe
Little Girl, Big Table
Hellooooo World!!
Stocking Time!
I want it ALL
Just Because
Laughing at Auntie Naz, who's locked out from the Hot Tub! Muahahaha!
Sled Time!
Cozy?
"I can't move!"

Not sure how I feel about this whole "cold" thing
Ready for snow!
One of the rarely seen mommy-daughter pictures
Squirmy Girl

The Family!
As it turns out, Hailey is NOT a fan of the snow. We couldn't even get a picture of her in it without her freaking out. Oh well, it was worth a shot!

Time for presents!
Hailey figured out this whole un-wrapping thing

Joe knew I wanted a white puffy vest for Christmas, but couldn't decide which to get so he got me FOUR to choose from. 
A White Christmas Indeed... (see what I did there?)
Ahhh!!!
Hailey's super amazing and talented aunt Carolyn knit (knitted? is that a word?) her these adorable stuffed animals. She was in LOVE!
Aunt Carolyn's Masterpieces
Baby Hailey Doll! (Practically Life Size!)
Strawberry Pup Cake!
Coloring with Cousin Emil!
Watching the boys play in the snow

Reading :)
Santa's Little Apathetic Helper
Hanging out with Aunt Carolyn
Emil - Too cute for words!
I love this next picture mostly because it looks like Hailey has melted down into the sled as she accepts defeat in the battle for free range of motion...
The Givens Fam! (Minus Grandma AKA photographer)
All in all, it was quite a Christmas to remember! Love our family!