THE KJARS: 2015

Hailey has had some major bowel movement issues off and on for about 3 weeks now and it's. THE. WORST.

I can't stand winter "bugs" that seem to go around and never stop. We don't even leave the house much but when she does see other kids, with their germy hands and hearty coughs, we regret it.

This morning we found her in a pool-I'm not exaggerating-of waste which was both utterly disgusting and stinky but sad and upsetting to see her in pain.

big messes mean bubble baths

At first we thought it might have been the switch to whole milk but determined that wasn't the case when I too had some stomach virus that had me hovering over our toilet in the wee hours of the morning...again, the worst.

The Babe has been stuck on pedialyte and crackers, applesauce and everything bland. She's not gained any weight in a while but her appetite hasn't been phased in the least-she wants to eat everything! It's tough having to "wait it out" because she doesn't understand why she can't eat all the yummy things she used to. She's been a real champ about it all though-except when we visited the doctor during nap time. That was Alex's nightmare; he said so.

our sweet girl

Other than that mess...Hailey learned to walk!

Hooray Hailey! She's the best and walks with her hands in little fists near her ears, for balance I suppose.

She started "cruising" when she was about 8 months old and we thought for sure we'd have a walker on our hands within the next few weeks...well, weeks went by, months, her birthday and you know people tell you not to worry, babies hit milestones at different times and all that and you try your best not to be too concerned but let's be honest, we were a bit nervous. It was all for naught though because once she started taking a few steps-she was off! She hardly falls and is very stable.

It's so weird to see her walking around. She will sometimes just walk to and from the wall to the bed, to a chair, to the middle of the room and then just in circles-it's great!

accessorizing

she crawled under her crib and fit!

late church is no fun, this was on the way...not a good sign

so good at feeding her baby

Valentine's Day!
We love you Hailey!

Her first lollipop-she looks so serious but she LOVED it.

And then another great winter occurrence-snow!

That's right, here in the "dirty south" we got some snow and Hailey loved it! She walked around in it and she loves balls (she loves to play catch, where she throws it and we roll it back to her) so her and Alex made a snowball and threw it at me. We had tons of fun and of course everything shut down here, so it was nice to just have a relaxing, wintry day.

So much fun playing in the snow!

Walking with Daddy (even though she didn't need his help).

With all that's going on this winter, I'd say it's turned out ok.

Well, well, well. It's been over a year since my last post! What in the world happened?

Hailey. Our baby. We became parents. Parenthood happened.

And although I may have had time to blog and post updates, let's be real, I took naps instead-and I got Instagram, so I just posted a few goodies over the past year and if you're my "real" friend, you're pretty up to date.

Ok, so I might do a review of our first year as parents but for now I will just fill you in on what's going on now.

Alex got a promotion at his job which requires him to oversee a team of employees on the last shift of the day, or night rather. It really has been throwing off my groove but it's only temporary and don't get me wrong, we are super happy he was able to get the job! It's just taking some time to get used to.

So, with our mornings we decided to be active and we joined a gym! Let me just say that I've worked out twice since Hailey's birth and so I really needed this. It's been great so far...except Hailey is not a fan. We've never left her with anyone but family (and one super awesome family friend she is comfortable with) and she's been super attached lately so you can imagine how hard it is to leave her. I was at one of the machines across from the daycare place when the door opened and I could clearly hear wailing and gnashing of teeth coming from inside. I knew right away who's child it was and as I left the machine to get her I could hear the staff paging us on the mic. So sad. She'll get used to it though-at least that's my hope because I would like to work out and I'm anxious for baby swim classes to start back up so we can do that for the first time! Hailey LOVES her bath so I'm crossing my fingers that she'll catch on to swimming quickly and be our little water baby.

Other than that we've just been taking it easy; trying to spruce up the house a little more with some redecorating, reading some novels together and trying to find room for all of the babe's toys and books. Having a baby right after Christmas is crazy. I feel like we have toys and books out the wazoo! It's madness, but great for whenever baby #2 ever comes along *no, I'm not pregnant*.

Some things I've learned over the past year are to live in the present and worry less.

There have been countless days and nights where I've had to hold my sweet baby and I've looked down and thought, she will never ever be this small again. I've been trying to remember and cherish each moment I have with such a small baby (even though she seems so huge now) so that I don't forget anything and keep in mind how good God is: how real His love is and how great His plan is for each of us and that He blessed us with her sweet and fun spirit. Knowing the Lord's plan for us and having a Savior who has atoned for me and everyone I know, I have been working on stressing less because nothing really is ever that bad. If I or we as a family are ever in a pickle, I just think about that plan and know we'll be ok, if we do our best and continue to have faith. Not only is it helping with any big problem we might encounter but the little, daily trials I might have; like the disaster that happens after feeding Hailey a small rice cake or trying to dress a child who thinks I'm torturing her.

Anyway, an update on Hailey: she's almost 13 months old-ah!, she loves books and "reading". She loves to dance to music and to sing along with you if you sing to her. She doesn't walk on her own yet, just pulls up on everything and walks along it or with a walker. She won't go to sleep unless you hold her or lie with her, including nap time. She has 6 teeth and loves being outside. She like animals too and eating anything and everything. Hailey's a cool girl and so smart. If I ask her where her favorite stuffed animal, Hootie, is she will go find it. She loves to climb and does the stairs all the time. She broke her collarbone just after Christmas and before her first birthday-we still don't really know how but she's all better now. We also put her in a new car seat today for the first time and she liked it-she looks so small in it but so adorable.

That's all for now. I'll try to be more diligent in posting. Now here are some photos.