This & That ~ JuNe InStAgRaM

Lunch. #yesplease

Sundays are good for fort building #earlychurchhasitsperks

Breakfast for dinner. #nocomplaints #familyfave #syrupineverynookandcranny #cantaloueforeveryoneexceptmeandpreston

H is for Hayden! #littlestinker #pastherbedtime

Snuggling with this sweet boy, who came downstairs with leg pains. #motrin #legmassage #lovefrommomma

Happy at the pool! #babygirlswimsuitsareadorable #shemighthavefourorfive

Dear babygirl, please stop growing up so quickly.

Beautiful ballerina. #shelovestodance #dancematrixqc #recital2013 #journey

Post-recital treat! #itsatradition #theyalwayschoosethecrazysherbetthatturnstheirmouthblue

Listening to tunes #bestbigsister

Thank you for your help, sweet baby girl. #onlyplaceshewashappy 

#wokeuponthewrongsideofthecrib #workoutover #pilates

It's a #dragherblankieeverywherewego kind of day. 

#wrongkindofloveytohaveinarizona #supposedtobe117thisweekend

Love this little lady! #splishsplash #pooltime

Post-swim treat!  It's been over 10 years since I've been here.  

Does not even compare to Hawaii shave ice! #pinacoladaplease #beattheheat

New church calling!! #readyornot #practicemakesperfect

Yep, this happened today.  #flipflopstochurch #notworththebattles

Hayden is 18 months old!

I'm a couple weeks late on this one.

Hayden is literally saying new words every day!  Most of what she says is still baby babble, which is adorable, and most of the time sounds like a foreign language!  A funny comment from Preston one day, "Hayden is speaking in English!!"  We're having lots and LOTS of tantrums stemming from the fact that she can't communicate what she wants/needs.  She's beginning to parrot most of what we say and has a lot of words she says on a regular basis.  My favorites~ "Set.....GO!", she whispers "ha-shoo, ha-shoo" when she sees someone sleeping, she'll respond "WHAT?" when I call her name, says "Where'ditgo, where'ditgo, where'ditgo??" over and over again when you hide something, and she's recently started calling Matt by his name. haha!

ball

book
bubble
apple
banana
peach

cheese stick
drink
milk
wah-oo (water)

snack
cookie
pizza
chickie (chicken)

doggie
kitty

sishie (fishy, both the swimming and the cracker variety)
bay-det (blanket)

baby
toe

eye

nose

ear

teeth
mouth

night night

bye bye

hey-o (hello)

"side" (outside)

hot (whispered)

please (and the sign for it)
thank you
all done
up
stuck
help
uh-oh
whoa!
shut
poke
Amen!!

poop

toot

die (thank you, big brothers)
NO!

Hayden can say everyone in our family's name to some degree-  Book-in, Bake, Ga-yi, Tido for Preston which stems from his nickname "Prestido."  She mostly calls me "MOM!" and Matt, "Da."  She says "Mam-ah" for grandma and can say Becky's name perfectly.

Hayden's nicknames~ Hayda, Hayda-bayda, Sis, Sister Suzy, and Preston has started calling her Hayda-nator!

She LOVES climbing up onto the table, just like her siblings before her.

She is a GREAT sleeper (nap & night) and a pretty good eater.  She's starting to show signs of toddler pickiness.  She'll toss things off her tray at mealtimes or bat at the spoon if I'm trying to give her a bite.

Big milestone -- she started nursery a couple Sundays ago and Matt dropped her off before I could even get a picture. :(  I tried to take a couple quick ones after church but she would NOT.HOLD.STILL!!!  Blurry will have to do.

Love this sassy munchkin SO MUCH!!

More Swimming Lessons

This has been an interesting arrangement, a HOT one for Hayden and I.  Blake & Brooklyn were signed up for a stroke development class through the City of Apache Junction at the Superstition Shadows Aquatic Center.  Their lesson was from 9:45-10:15am so everyone else sat and waited while they swam.  Then we rushed back down to Coach Sean's, where Preston had lessons at 10:30, then Gavin at 11:00.  A lot of sitting and waiting in the sweltering heat.  I was bummed that I never brought my regular camera to Brooklyn and Blake's lessons, but I did on the last day of Preston and Gavin's classes with Coach Sean.

Session 1 of swim lessons complete!

Preston~

Big monster arms!

Monkey, star, soldier

Backing floating all by himself

Gavin found a little friend to chat with while they waited for their lesson :)

Swimming all the way across the pool

{video}

Down the waterslide!

He finally got brave enough to jump off the waterfall!

Gavin~

Practicing side breathing

Freestyle across the pool

A little video clip of Gavin's backstroke

Breaststroke

Jumping off the waterfall

Sliding

It was a struggle to keep this girl entertained, so we did our best...

Yay, boys!!

We've loved doing lessons through Suzy's Swim & Fitness Zone!  Gavin became a more confident swimmer and Preston can swim entirely on his own now, no floaties!  We'll definitely be back next summer!

Dance Recital 2013

For whatever reason, the studio didn't do pictures this year, so I set up a makeshift "studio" and took my own, thankyouverymuch.

When I look at these photos, I can't help but think how beautiful Brooklyn is!!  It flashes me right forward and makes me wonder how she'll look/dress/be when she's a teenager.  I know those days aren't too far off.

Brooklyn's dance recital was Saturday night.  This past year, she only did intermediate ballet at Dance Matrix.  Once again, she's definitely grown by leaps and bounds, no pun intended.  It's so fun watching her dance on stage.  She's usually front and center since she knows the routine perfectly.

Matt & I, the boys (we left Hayden at home with a sitter), Matt's mom, Emily and Grandma LeBaron came to support her.

We're debating on whether or not to switch studios, to see if Brooklyn can be at a place with a little more discipline and focus on technique.  If dancing is going to be her "thing," I want to make sure she's getting great training with opportunities to perform.  It's hard to leave the place where she has danced for the past 5 years!   She knows and loves the teachers there, plus it's so close to us.  I think Brooklyn will be trying out a dance camp at a different studio and we'll go from there.