Who needs toys? Not these two...

Daddy came home and needed to change his clothes.  So he took Natalie into the closet with him while Katie and Whitney finished setting the table for dinner.  He came out with Natalie in a tupperwear bin ... racecar style.

They zoomed around the house (terrifying Gus who is now hiding under the kitchen table) and Natalie squealed with delight.  Suddenly, Katie wonders if there is a tupperwear bin SHE can fit in.  Now we have two kids in tupperwear bins ready for racing around the house.

Daddy zooms around with Katie (much faster, of course) and she is giggling.  Natalie looks sad.  Daddy can only drive one racecar at a time though.  So Katie rearranges her long legs and makes room for Natalie in her car. 

 After they fastened their seatbelts, daddy takes off and drives them both around the house. 

 Gus is still under the table.

Baby Bathville

Natalie LOVES taking baths.  She's loved them ever since we put her in the big girl bathtub.  She likes to lounge and kick or situp and splash with her arms. It's really a shame she doesn't need a bath every night because she loves them so much.

During the rinse cycle, she loves to try to catch the water in her mouth when it "rains" on her head...

And she loves to look at the faucet and then stick her face in it.  She closes her eyes and opens her mouth and then drinks the warm water.

7 months

"It's that time again...mom woke me up singing a different song than the usual 'Good morning to you' song that she and daddy both sing when they come wake me up.  Then she laid me next to Marty and took a few pictures.  Must be my monthly birthday again.

Now that I'm 7 months old, I'm doing a lot more things. 

I love to talk.  I talk all day long but no one seems to understand me, except when I say 'ma-ma' or 'da-da.'  They really get excited when I say those two things, so I've started trying to say them more and more because I like it when momma and daddy are happy.

I love to eat.  There has only been one food that mom and dad fed to me that I didn't like, peas.  Yuck.  They were so gross that after 3 bites, I gagged and threw them all up.  At school they had a pizza party and even our class of babies was invited.  My teachers let me taste pizza sauce and chew on an english muffin.  I didn't get to eat the muffin but it sure was fun and new to chew on it for a while.

I love to sit.  I have become an excellent sitter and I like it because I can see everything that is going on around me.  I can lean really far in front of me to reach things on my play mat and this is fun, but sometimes I lean too far and it makes me puke. I have not figured out how to get from laying to sitting though, but once I can...that will be very cool.

I love to bounce in my exersaucer. Mom and dad call it 'the babysitter' because it keeps me completely entertained and allows them to do things without having to keep track of me.  Dad calls it 'the pooper' because it helps me poop.

I love my sister and Gus.  Both of them can always make me smile, even when I'm very upset (which is extremely rare).  Katie likes to talk to me and read to me and play with me.  She even helps me eat sometimes.  She likes to make funny faces at me and talks to me when we're in the car together.  Gus likes to creep onto my play mat when mom and dad aren't looking (I don't think he's supposed to sit on my play mat) and inches his way up behind me so that we're back to back.  It is nice because we keep each other warm and we entertain each other. 


That's all for now.  It's nap time.  I take 3 naps a day (30-45 minutes each) and sleep 11-12 hours at night.

Hugs and kisses to all!!"

Saturday morning in the park

We attempted to go to the Arizona Balloon Festival but got there too late (815am) to see any balloons.  So we decided to go to a park that we don't normally visit.  Natalie tested out the swings for the first time...and pretty much loved them.  We waited to take a train ride but then it ran into nap time and we had to go home.  We'll try the train again sometime...

Hangin in the swing AND getting kisses from momma makes for a very happy baby.

Silly girls

Katie seems to love being a big sister and in return, Natalie gives Katie LOTS of smiles.

Cute overload

What's cuter than a baby or a puppy???  A baby AND a puppy.  I swear I didn't pose them for this.

Fall at the Casa de Hayes

Here are some miscellaneous photos of what Fall looks like at our house... including Sally teaching Gus to swim.

Halloween 2011

Halloween on a school night is always very rushed.  By the time homework gets done, dinner is finished and costumes are perfected...Scott and I are exhausted and there are already kids at the door.  Ugh.  So there aren't many pictures of Halloween this year.