A little Nostalgia

In this post Haley is 1 year, 1 month, and 3 days old:

As I have shared, we lost my dear grandmother on New Years day. I remind you of this to give a little background for the pictures in this post. When I was a baby (nearly 30 LONG years ago) my Grandma Hollis hand sewed me a beautiful dress. My daddy took a picture of me in it, and it is by far one of my favorite pictures of myself. I know that sounds very vein, but the picture reminds me of her love for me.

When I was about to give birth to Haley, mom brought over a bag full of blankets and such that were mine when I was a baby. Now remember, no one knew what we were having, other than Ginger, the nurse at the Doctors office who did the ultrasound, and she was sworn to secrecy. Anyway, included in this bag of stuff was this dress. Mom had kept it all this time, and even though she was SURE that Haley was a boy, she figured it was time for me to hang on to it instead of her.

Little did I know how special it would be to me to put Haley in this dress, and try and recreate this picture.

So, enough of the background info....here are the pictures

Baby Susan (at about a year or so)

Baby Haley today

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

In this post Haley is 1 year 30 days old:

So, Haley L O V E S the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, it is the only show she'll stop what she is doing to watch. Her FAVORITE part is the end, the HOT DOG DANCE. Well, this morning I was in here doing some things and the TV was on the MMC. The song came on and she sprang into action. Enjoy! (Sorry the video is on it's side, I'll learn one of these days!)

Catching up....

In this post Haley is 1 year and 28 days old:

Well, I must say that January hasn't been a good month for posting. Here we are on the 15th day of the new year and I am just now sitting down to write a post. I apoligize, life has been busy, and I haven't taken the time I should to update you all.

We started the new year on a sad note. On New Years Day, my Grandmother Sarah Virginia Hollis passed away at the age of 85 years of age. She had been in poor health for some time, but her death was somewhat unexpected. Ethan, Haley and I were planning to leave for NC for Elijah's birthday on New Years eve, but due to Grandma taking a turn for the worst, we elected to leave a day early. We got to Greenville, SC on New Years Eve, and I was able to see her, and tell her how much we loved her. She passed away the next day. She will be very much missed, but there is no doubt that she is in Heaven, and celebrating meeting The Lord!

Our visit to the mountains was not as exciting as we'd hoped, but we did celebrate Elijah's birthday, and go to Ethan's parents cabin in TN. It has really come a long way, and we look forward to vacationing over there!

Haley has been really blossoming these past few weeks. She is "talking" non stop, but we are having to try and figure out what she is saying! She got her last round of shots until Kindergarten this past Friday, and I am not sure if it was harder on her or me! I'm just glad it's over!

Ethan and I are doing well, trying to stay warm in this cold weather we are having! Our dear friends Stuart and Sarah are expecting their second child next Friday, and we are really looking forward to a trip to the coast next month to meet little Miss Paige! We know Pressley is going to be a great big sister, and can't wait to see the whole family!

I'll make a slideshow of the pictures we have been taking, and post that soon! Until then, check out the video below and you can see exactly what Haley has been up to!

Love,

Susan

Birthday & Christmas Fun

In this post Haley is 1 year, 11 days old:

So I know I haven't even come close to doing a good job keeping up the blog this month, but in my slight defense, things have been very busy!

Haley celebrated her first birthday on December 18, 2008. We started the day with a well baby visit to the doctor, where we found out that our baby weighs 24lbs and is 30 1/2 inches tall. In the 90th percentile on both accounts! She is VERY healthy! Dr. Molly was very happy with how well she is developing, and wasn't at all worried that she isn't walking yet. She is moving quite well, and even had the bumps on her head to prove it!

We celebrated her birthday that night with a nice red cupcake at home. Well, as you can imagine, Haley LOVED it, and had no troubles tearing into it! Aunt Rah and Uncle JJ came over to enjoy the festivities, and enjoyed the show! Also, we had visits from two very special friends! First Liza and her parents (Meghan and Brad) came by to give Haley her birthday present, and then Chloe and her parents (Amy & Sanford) did the same. They all got to watch her open her presents and enjoyed spending that time with her.

On Friday, Ethan's parents came up to celebrate her first birthday at her big party the next day! Despite the dreary weather, we had a great little party at the local fire station, filled with MORE CAKE, family, friends and some wonderful gifts! Aunt Rah made Haley a very special scrapbook of her first year of life, Memaw made her a cross stitch symbolizing her first birthday, and Pepaw made her a beautiful jewelry box, complete with music and all. So very special to get to spend time with all of our family, and we know Haley will treasure those gifts for years to come!

On Christmas day, we got up and had Christmas morning here, so Haley could see what Santa left for her. He brought her a "busy ball popper" which she wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry. She got used to it though. We then went over to Aunt Rah's house, where she, and the rest of us were showered with gifts. She got her Laugh and Learn Front door, and has had a blast playing with it!

Finally, we headed to Mom & Dad's where we got even MORE stuff, and Haley got her first Fire Truck! She is destined to be a fire person just like Daddy!

The neatest part of the day was giving the grandparents their special gift! I don't have pictures of Ethan's parents receiving theirs because we forgot our camera and it is on a different camera. But you'll notice them in the slide show. If you recall I told you a while back about a secret project we worked on when Rocky & Debbie & Elijah were visiting. Well, we got to reveal that at Christmas. We went to a local artists' studio and had Haley & Elijah's hand prints done for their grandparents at Christmas. Needless to say, all grandparents LOVED them, and I think it is something they will treasure forever!

So, I have typed a book, and I think we are caught up. We head to NC on Wednesday to visit with Rocky Debbie & Elijah, and also go see Grandma & Papa Hollis. Please keep us in your prayers for safety, as well as Ethan's family as they are headed that way to their cabin in TN.

I'll try and do better about updating, and I have made a slide show of pictures, so I didn't have to upload 31 to the blog :) Enjoy, and they are labeled for Rory's convenience :)

Love,
Susan

What a difference a year makes!

In this post Haley is 11 months and 28 days old:

It's hard to believe that a year ago today it was Sunday, and Ethan and I were preparing to go to the doctor the next morning for our last prenatal visit, and to get the final instructions for my induction on Tuesday. Seems like that was just yesteryday....and it was a year ago!

We are looking forward to clebrating Haley's first year of life on Thursday. I must admit, it makes me a little sad that she has grown up so quickly, but she has been such a HUGE JOY in our lives, and I don't know what we would do without her!

She is doing so well, has 10 teeth now, and is happy most all of the time. She is starting to test Ethan and I both, but we're on the same page with how to dicipline, so we're hanging in there :)

We go to the doctor on Thursday for her 1 year checkup, and we'll be sure to post her height, weight and such! Thanks to all of you for sharing in our first year, and we hope to be able to share with you many many more!

Love Susan

The night before I gave birth :)

Haley's first photo

The Happy Family :)

Haley 3 months old

Haley 6 months old :)

Haley 9 months old

Just the other night at my parents house, almost a year old :)

Videos

Been a slacker....

In this post Haley is 11 months 14 days old:

So, I have been a slacker and not posted like I've needed to, so I am going to try and catch you all up on everything that has been going on.

I have three videos to post, and will do that in a seperate post, but I thought I would give you the "written version" of our lives lately. Haley is pulling up on EVERYTHING and cruising very well. She can walk behind her push toy, and laughs while doing so. I haven't gotten THAT on video yet, but will do so soon :) She babbles a LOT and sounds like she is really learning how to say some things. Dad is trying very hard to teach her to say PAPAW, and we feel like that could very well be her next word. She still says "mamamamama" when she wants something....I often threaten to change my name :)

Thanksgiving was great, we stayed in town and had dinner with my parents (Susan) and Ethan spent the morning in the woods. He has yet to see a deer worth shooting, but we are hoping he'll get his frist deer soon.

We've got a lot going on starting this Friday, both work Christmas parties, Dad & Rocky's birthday's next week, Haley's the next, Christmas the next, then off to NC to see Rocky, Debbie and Elijah.

Well, I think that is about it for now! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season so far, and I'll post those videos' for your viewing pleasure! I have a couple from Thanksgiving day to upload tonight, and I'll post them as soon as I can :)

Love,

Susan