Halloween

This year for Halloween, we dressed Hayden up as a little puppy dog. I went as a princess thanks to my neighbor allowing me to wear her dress. And Chris went as Abraham Lincoln. We went to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat and had a great time seeing all the costumes. Hayden enjoyed reaching into all the candy bowls and grabbing a piece of candy. He was so cute. I was especially excited because Hayden couldn't possibly eat all of that candy so I took it off his hands and enjoyed myself very much. :P

Hayden's First Steps

The end of September Hayden took his first steps thanks to my mom's encouragement. He was obviously ready for it because he took 5-6 steps the first time rather than the timid 1-2 steps. It was so cute because he would giggle as he walked to and from Daddy and me. He is walking all by himself now, still very wobbly, but improving each day.

Hayden Dusting

Hayden loves watching and helping me do whatever it is that I'm doing. So I decided to take advantage of this time and put him to work. You may call it child labor, but I say it's genius!!

One Year Old!!

I still can't believe it! Hayden is a year old! His birthday was in September and we celebrated it with some family and friends. We were excited because Chris' mom, "Dodo" was even able to come from North Carolina. Hayden is one spoiled little boy. He got a ton of presents. He even got into the unwrapping of the presents with Daddy's help. It was so cute. Hayden and his cousins, Zora and Isaac loved playing with all the new toys. For his cake, I decided to make it and had a blast doing so. I had been watching Cake Boss on TV for a while and was taking notes of any tips they gave so I would be ready to do this cake. We decided to cover the cake with fondant like they use on the show. It was a very sticky, gooey mess, but eventually turned into usable fondant and worked great. I used frosting to make a tiger on top of the cake. I was quite proud of the result. Hayden was very entertaining to watch while he ate his cake. He hadn't had much sugar before this and so he was quite shocked with his first bite. He seemed to have "sugar chills" as the sugar hit his system for the first time. All in all, I think he liked the cake, just not the fondant. He also started making all sorts of funny faces while eating and soon realized that everyone was laughing at him so then he started hamming it up even more. I was quite surprised though because Hayden stayed fairly clean, even with chocolate cake. I had put him in a white onesie to show the contrast, but there hardly was any difference. That's my good little boy.

Opening his first present

Pulling off the paper

Look at all his loot. He is very spoiled :P

The finished cake

Blowing out the candle

First bite

Looking cute for the camera

Making silly faces

Trip to Texas

In August, we went on a quick trip to Texas to visit Chris' dad and family. This was the first time Hayden got to meet his Grandma Jennifer and his uncles. It was Hayden's first plane ride, which after this much time has passed I can say that it went fairly well, although I do remember having a hard time with him on the return trip. It was very hot and humid during the day so we spent a lot of time in their swimming pool, which was a blast! It was also Hayden's first time swimming and he seemed to love it. Hayden's uncle Travis (age 9) just adored his nephew and had a great time playing with him. Chris had a great time jamming with his younger brothers, filling the house with loud music. It was a wonderful vacation, but way too short. We just love having such a great family.

I love this picture. Hayden has such a funny smile on.

Playing in the water with Daddy

Hayden loved the water!

Family pict

Playing in the water with Grandpa Dupuis

Playing with Uncle Travis

Playing Catch-up

I apologize for not keeping our blog up to date. So now I'm going to be playing catch up and posting some of the more exciting things on our blog like Hayden growing up and turning into a little boy. Better late than never, I guess...

8 months old!

Hayden is 8 months old. He is at a very fun age now, interacting with Mommy and Daddy. He gives the best hugs, usually when you first pick him up. And now he has started giving out kisses. I just love these slobbery wide open-mouthed signs of affection. Hayden also says "dada" all day long while Mommy argues saying "mama" in a useless attempt to teach him what he should be saying. Hayden has no interest in crawling, but loves to pull himself up onto things and walk with help. He'll be walking long before he ever crawls. He also has his first tooth starting to push its way through, but hasn't popped out yet.

Ready for bed

Heading to church

Pulling himself up in his crib

Playing Peek-A-Boo

Being silly for the camera

Playing Catch-Up

I'm playing catch-up. Here are some fun pictures of Hayden:

House Pictures...Finally

Well I'm finally posting pictures of our new house. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful home. Now I just need to decorate it, something I have no experience with so we'll see what happens. We also are working on getting the yard up to par, but it will take a long time because no one lived in the house for over a year and so the weeds took over the yard. Hopefully our neighbors won't hate us too much for having a field of dandelions this year. Chris and I are excited about working out in our yard together and Hayden enjoys being outside as well, but we're still trying to coax the cat to love it.

Family Room

Dining Room

Kitchen and in the back is the Laundry Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom (It even has a jetted tub which I love and look forward to for my next pregnancy!)

Hayden's Room

Guest Bedroom (at least for now)

Bathroom

Our Office

Our Newest Family Addition

We have been wanting a cat for a long time and now with a new home we were able to get one. Chris wanted to surprise me so he went to the animal shelter to see what they had. As soon as he walked in the door, this black and white kitten jumped on his shoulder and stayed there the whole time he was there. I have always loved black and white cats so he knew this was our kitten. We love him, but he does make more work for me. He has a cold and has quite enjoyed sneezing in our faces, especially while we're sleeping. Hayden has really taken to the kitten. The kitten has even made Hayden laugh, which is quite a feat in itself since Hayden is not a giggly baby.

Hayden is 5 months!

Hayden is now 5 months and as cute as ever! Although he still has crying fits, he is getting better and shares lots of smiles. He now knows who mommy and daddy are and is really upset if we leave him with someone else, even Grandma, which makes date nights a little trickier.

Hayden is all dressed up for church in one of his new outfits.

Lookin' cool

Hayden fell asleep while saying his prayers

Our New Home

We have moved our little family to Sugar City, a suburb of Rexburg, where we were fortunate enough to buy a very beautiful home. We love having a place of our very own and room enough to grow. The neighbors are very welcoming and think Hayden is the cutest little kid. This is an older picture of the home. Right now there is a good two feet of snow outside. It snows more here than in Idaho Falls. We'll post more pictures once we are more settled in.