Canche Chronicles: Happy Birthday Haley!!!!!

Let me start off by saying that I can't believe that Haley is already two! It is so much fun to watch her learn and grow everyday but I can hardly look at baby pictures without getting teary! Happy Birthday Haley, we love you!

Summer of 2011

Little stinker

She is older than Emily in this picture and Emily is already outgrowing those pants!

In the bumbo

First manicure, compliments of Aunt Rin

Spring of 2012

1 day old

The day she was born

A week old, I can't believe she was this small!

Last night Emily did us all a favor and slept eight hours and then four so I only had to get up with her once. I've just got to get her to drop that last night feeding and we'll be set! David and I decorated the kitchen last night so Haley would be able to wake up to it this morning. She slept in pretty late but when she finally got up and walked into the kitchen she seemed pretty stunned. David and I sang Happy Birthday to her and she got all smiley and silly. We let her open up a present from Mimi because I knew it was a dress and I wanted her to wear it to church. She was pretty excited about the dress, Daddy and I made a big deal about it. We ended up having to wake up Emily for church. I had brought her back to bed with me at eight and she fell asleep again after I fed her.

The kitchen all decorated

Haley opening up her present from Mimi

Haley wore panties to church and went to the potty three times and didn't have any accidents. Emily had a little bit of a hard time falling asleep for the sermon so I went to the back and bounced her a little bit until she went down. After church we came home and fed the girls lunch and put them down for naps. While they slept David and I made the Birthday cake and got everything ready for the party. I was hoping that Haley would take a super long nap so that she would last super long tonight but she hardly slept two hours. Emily did get the memo and slept over three hours.

After naps David and I made sure the house was all ready for company and then we headed out to the park. It was 70 degrees today so we wanted to spent some time outside and I wanted to do something fun since it was Haley's Birthday. The park was so full, I think every other family had the same idea we had. Haley wanted to swing in the swings at first so we had her in one swing and Emily in the other but then David had the brilliant idea to put them in a swing together. It really did make sense because Emily is just a little small to sit comfortably by herself and Haley had plenty of room in her swing and she loves to hold Emily. This was the arrangement:

I know that neither of the girls look particularly comfortable but they must have been because they stayed in that swing for close to thirty minutes! Finally David and I convinced Haley to get out and go down the slide! After that I just held Emily and David followed Haley around.

Hanging out with Emily

She looks like she thinks she's too cool to smile

Going down the slide

After the park we swung by Papa John's to pick up the pizza for dinner and then went home. I felt kind of lame just buy pizza for her big Birthday dinner but pizza is honestly Haley's favorite food and she was pretty excited about it. I made a salad to go with it. When we got home we had about ten minutes until guests were expected to arrive so we put the pizza in the oven and I fed Emily her sweet potatoes. We invited the Smith family, the Caldwell family, and the Creech's. Our table fits eight adults fairly comfortably but it would be way too squished with all the kids too so we set up Haley's table and chairs in the kitchen for the kids. They were pretty tickled with the arrangement I think. At least I know Haley was. We just have three chairs so I asked the Caldwells to bring one of their's along and they did and that was the one Haley wanted to sit in.

The kids at their table

The girls all had those princess tiaras at their places when they sat down.

The kids ate their pizza and then ran off and played while the adults finished eating and talking. After we were finished we called the kids back to their table to sing to Haley and get out the Birthday cake! We took a video with our video camera and not David's phone so you'll have to come visit to see the video but here is a picture:

Haley and her cake. We all helped her blow out her candles.

Haley loves the Birthday song and sings it throughout the day so I think she was pretty excited when we sang it with her name in it! I cut Haley the first piece of cake and ice cream and she ate most of it actually! After everyone had eaten their cake and ice cream, we went to the living room to open presents. We set up Haley's chair and put her presents next to her. I wish I would have gotten a picture with her and all her presents but I forgot so you'll just have to see all the ones we have with her opening them. I had found some Dora the Explorer paper and Elmo paper so her presents from us were wrapped in that and she definitely wanted to open those first.

Haley with most of her presents

Opening something

Opening some fingernail polish

Her cute ponytail and tiara were long gone by this point

Going in for another one

I was pretty excited about this one

She got a jewelry box and some jewelry

I let the other kids open this one because Haley was too engaged in her jewelry box

Plus they needed something to open

Most of the gifts from us were the Christmas toys that we found on clearance at Cvs several weeks ago. Her favorite gift was probably the doll infant seat and the jewelry box. The Smiths got her a little wagon and some pool toys (they have a pool that we like to swim at in the summer). The Caldwells got her some play keys that look super real, headbands, and some necklaces and the Creechs got her Dora the Explorer stickers and some Dora the Explorer DVDs. I am basically typing that on here so I can remember for thank-you notes, haha! Abuelita and Abuelito had sent a package in the mail and from them Haley received a bunch of goodies including a puzzle, a book, a doll, a dress, and some sidewalk chalk. Mimi and Pops sent a Little People house in the mail and we wrapped it and everything but it was the last thing to be opened and by the time we were getting to it Haley was done. I didn't want to force her to open it and she just wanted to play so I thought I would wait until she got tired of everything else. Well she never did get tired of everything else so we have it all ready for her to open tomorrow morning. Sorry Mimi, I hope that's okay! I just didn't want her to be made and not like it because I made her open it. I also didn't want her to open it first because than I thought she wouldn't open anything else!

After the presents were opened the kids played with them while the adults talked. The Smiths and Creechs were the first to leave around 7:30 but the Caldwell girls had taken late naps so they did not end up heading out until around 9. It was nice to sit and talk with them while the girls played. After the Caldwells left we skyped with David's family who just found out that Adj. and Jesse are pregnant with their third! We can't wait for new baby Higgins to arrive in September! We didn't skype too long because the connection was bad and as soon as we were finished we put the girls to bed. They went right to sleep.

Haleyism:

Haley likes to wipe herself when she goes potty. The only problem is that she tries to wipe herself with pieces of toilet paper that are maybe a square inch in size. Gross.

Emilyism:

Emily cannot roll over, she can't sit up very well, and she is in no way close to scooting. HOWEVER, she is a great eater and she is starting to sleep good too, we'll take it!