Phoebe turns 1 on 11/11/11

What a day to have your first birthday! Last year when she was born we thought how neat it would have been if she had been born on 11/11/11, but I think it is more appropriate that she turns one on that day. Not that she could tell the difference. I think she was just in shock that we let her dig in to the cake that way! I decided to go with a circus themed cake, just because she wasn't old enough to argue and I have been wanting to try it out for a while. It took a lot longer than I thought it would but it was fun to make. We can't believe how fast the year has gone. She has turned into quite the personality. She is my best eater yet. She rarely turns anything down as far as food goes. In fact, it sometimes seems the only way to keep her happy is to keep feeding her. Despite that she is still quite petite. I just took her to the doctor and at 17 pounds 3 ounces she is now in only the 3rd percentile for her weight. She isn't walking yet although she does stand on her own and is quite proud when she does it. She is still a mommy's girl and wants my attention pretty much all the time. She now has teeth on top and bottom and boy does she know how to use them!

I had to take Phoebe to get her one year pictures and so I decided to get Paige's done at the same time. They turned out really well despite the fact that Phoebe did not want to cooperate. Paige was a little angel that day and it really shows in the pictures. Of all my kids she has been the easiest to take shopping or on errands in general. A fact which I have always been thankful for. I thought I would also include Courtney and Dylan's school pictures here. They are looking so grown up. I almost wanted to cry when I had to change out the pictures I had up on the wall.This picture was taken just days before she lost her two front teeth. You can see how she is trying not to show them. They were so loose that they were hanging funny, but she refused to let anyone pull them. So it took a while before they finally fell out on their own.
You'd never guess it by the grin on his face, but picture day is about the only day I can convince Dylan to wear a shirt that doesn't have a superhero on it.

Happy Halloween 2011

So we went to the pumpkin patch with our little preschool group. And it was the coldest day of the year, so even though they were bundled up the kids were almost too cold to enjoy it. Paige's favorite part had to be watching them make fresh apple cider because we were able to be inside for it. But I was impressed that she was brave enough to feed the goat. In the end, we got our pumpkins and I made pumpkins cupcakes for the kids to eat afterward as it was my turn to be in charge. At least it didn't rain!

For Halloween we actually did get a little rain but we did the trunk or treat two days before and that day was dry. Here are the kids in this year's costumes. They were especially excited to have Phoebe dress up for the first time. It was the big debate whether she would wear Courtney's old princess costume or Dylan's lion costume. We decided that since she is known for her very loud growling noises (especially during church!) that the lion was most appropriate.

Summer 2011

This post is waaay overdue so I am doing a bit of catch up here. We went to the Great Wolf Lodge in Washington about a week before school started for two nights. The kids loved it! The only one who didn't was Phoebe as she wasn't big enough to take part in much of the water activities and missed out on naps etc. But Clint and I just took turns holding her and it worked out. We got a room that had a little cabin in it for the kids with their own TV and they liked that. But we really spent almost the whole time in the water park. I have to say riding down the water slides on the tubes with my kids was the highlight for me. Its so fun that they are old enough that we can begin to enjoy doing things like this together.

New Family Pictures!

So I haven't posted in a while, but I am so excited about our new family pictures I had to get back to it. Of course all the credit goes to Lindsay as usual! She did a great job making us look good and keeping the kids focused. The summer has just zipped by and we've been so busy. We had a Haycock family reunion at Silver Falls, swimming lessons, and of course all the kids home everyday making extra messes. I'm not very good at taking the time to grab the camera. So its nice to know we have a few shots of all of us together from the summer.

Phoebe at 6 months!

So time is flying and my baby is just growing so fast! Her hair seems to be the only thing left behind although I hope to see some growth there soon! I am not sure if you can tell in these pictures but we are pretty sure its red, so that is exciting. I am also loving how chubby Phoebe is these days- ya gotta love those rolls! And speaking of rolls she has finally figured out how to roll over and is quite proud of herself. She is also accepting food now and loves her cereal and applesauce. I can officially say she no longer has colic and is really a happy kid. I was a little worried about her for a while. I feel like I have to record that last week I slept through the night for the first time since she was born. It was only one night but I gotta say it gave me hope for the future.

Sister's Weekend 2011

So its that time of year again, and the Haycock ladies had their weekend out. We had a great view this year although none of my pictures of it turned out. You'll just have to take my word for it, it was amazing! It's supposed to be a weekend away from kids, but we always bring nursing babies and this year there were three.

So we had fun lining them up for pictures. This happens to be my favorite. Once again we were short on sleep but long on good food and conversation. I am only now recovering. And I think that the dads were all glad to have us home in the end and appreciate us more, which of course is our ulterior motive. Thanks to Laura for sharing her hairbow making skills with the rest of us.

We sure had fun! I have been walking around in my new jeans this week and thinking how much more fun it is to shop with my mom and sisters than screaming children who like to run away and hide in clothes racks. I look forward to it all year and it always seems to go way too fast. I am looking forward to next year already.

I just had to throw in this picture of my kids in their Easter clothes. They are just too cute. Although they do drive me crazy at times, going away for a day or two once in a while really reminds me just how nice it is to come home to them.

Dylan turns 6!

Dylan finally turned 6! It's always a little hard on him that his is the last of the spring birthdays. He watches Paige in February and Courtney in March have their birthdays and so when his turn comes it always feels like it was a long time coming. He has been on a major Lego Star Wars kick, thanks to the Wii game that we have, so I knew for a while that was going to be our theme for the birthday. The cake was a real challenge and several times I felt like I just wanted to give up on this one. It seemed that everything was just going wrong. However, in the end it was ok and he was happy with it. His only complaint was that the little figures didn't have their lightsabors crashing together, but he understood when I told him I just couldn't figure out how to make it work.
Dylan came off the bus with a birthday crown on his head and told me all about how the kids at school sang Happy Birthday to him. The day before his primary class sang to him and his teachers brought him cupcakes. Clint got off work early on Monday to take him to a nickelcade and he was in heaven. Then we went out for pizza and he was really feeling special. So by the time we got to grandma's for cake and presents he was having a great day. He was excited to have his cousins there to help him celebrate.
I am just grateful to have my Dylan. Before he was born I was so worried about having a boy. I was afraid I wouldn't know how to relate to him. But he, of all my kids reminds me of myself. He is so emotional and intense with things. He is a perfectionist and likes things to be just a certain way. He is such a great brother to the girls as well. He and Courtney are best friends and he is very patient with Paige and loves to show her how to do things. She sometimes resists the instruction but its obvious how much she looks up to him. Phoebe loves it when he entertains her and smiles at him all the time. Happy Birthday Dylan!

It's Great to be Eight!

Courtney turned eight about a week ago, but I put off posting the pictures because I knew the baptism was coming up and I thought I'd do them together. Now I have so many pictures I don't know which ones to post! So I started with the birthday. Here she is with her mermaid cake. I told her that mermaids don't have short hair, but she was determined that was how she wanted it. She was excited to have her friends and cousins for a party. We painted our nails and added stickers to make them beautiful. We made bracelets and ate cake; in short we had fun. I was grateful that Phoebe slept and stayed pretty happy so that mom could be my extra pair of hands with the girls and their projects. I don't know what I'd have done without her help! Courtney even got to have Leanne and Chantel stay the night before the party. Her first slumber party was a success. Despite the lack of sleep, they were all smiles. Poor Dylan was a little overwhelmed with the sheer number of females in the home, but he was a good sport and gave them advice in playing the Wii.Last night was the baptism. All went fairly smoothly. She did have to get dunked twice because she let her toes float to the surface, but I don't think she minded. She was so excited to wear her new white dress she would have put up with almost anything. Once again I was just overwhelmed with the support of family and friends. Thanks to all who came.

Nearly all of my family was there, even though it was a weeknight and they are busy people. A friend from my ward said, "Are ALL these kids your nieces and nephews?" I proudly said YES! The grandfathers gave the talks, and it was a family affair from start to finish. I've been making cookies for the past couple days for the baptism and the kids just swarmed them after the prayer. I hope they didn't overdo it but I'm afraid no one was really monitoring just how many they ate. Thanks again to everyone.

Phoebe at 4 months!

So I guess I am lazy or this 4 month milestone just got here before I knew it. I didn't plan any professional pictures so I just dressed her up and broke out the new camera. She is such a cutie it wasn't hard to get a few fun shots. I even thought of getting a couple with Paige. I have this picture of Steph and I when I was about 6 six months. It is a favorite of mine and I was going for that but maybe it will work better when she is able to sit up. I also got a few fun shots of the three cousins together the other day at Steph's house. The three of them hardly look related but each is so cute in their own way. Can't wait to compare these shots to a picture when they are all grown up!

Sleeping Beauty turns 3!

Please ignore the mess behind her, but isn't she too cute! Paige has been our smallest baby since the beginning, so it has been hard to realize she is not a baby anymore. I have always had a soft spot for the sleeping beauty story, so I admit to being secretly happy that Paige feels the same way. So when she asked for a sleeping beauty cake for her birthday I was excited to give it a try.
The hardest part was the hands. I just couldn't get them to look as good as I wanted. I have a new idea to try for next time though.
I looked at several options of other similar cakes online and this was my version. It came out pretty well.

Paige has been talking about her birthday for weeks, she has been pretty excited. We were able to go to my parents house and have her cousins and both sets of grandparents there to help her celebrate. Of course she was spoiled with presents and it was like Christmas all over again.

I'm just grateful to have Paige around the house these days. She is always full of so much enthusiasm for everything. Usually she is bright and happy, but if she is upset she expresses that with the same intensity. She loves to play make-believe and is often acting out these long monologues, most of which I can't understand, but I still find interesting because her face is so expressive. I haven't been able to get her interested in going potty yet, but that is our new project. She recently moved from the crib to the bottom bunk in the bunkbed we got for the girls. She loves it.