2 Months

Hayley Joy is two months old!

How did this happen?!  It's hard to remember life before Hayley was here with us... and at the same time, these past two months have flown by.

This girl.  Wow, she has absolutely captured our hearts.  It is fun to see her personality start to emerge.  She is extremely observant and aware of her surroundings.  She loves being held and cuddled and is quick to tell you when she is unhappy.  There is definitely a little bit of feisty in her.  

Her smile is captivating!  Nick and I spend a large chunk of our night making sounds and faces in order to see that amazing smile.  Lucky for us, she smiles often!  

Can you tell that she lights up our world?   

12.0 pounds

23 inches long

Grayish blue eyes

6-8 diaper changes a day

Loves her pacifier

Smiles often

Laughs in her sleep

Bats at hanging toys on her play mat

Kicks legs

Can bear weight on her legs 

Sleeps one 5 hour chunk at night

Hates her crib

Blows spit bubbles

Happiest first thing in the morning

Hayley during month two:

Her favorite way to sleep is with her hands in her face.  She did this in all her ultrasound photos as well.

Happy baby.  She loves being surrounded by blankets.

 If I let her, she would nap on my belly ALL DAY LONG.  I enjoy it too... so we have spent a lot of days in this position.  

 Hayley loves stretching!  She spends the first couple minutes after waking up stretching her arms and legs.  It's quite adorable.   

 She's perfected the furrowed eyebrow.  She inherited that feature from her mother!  

 Tummy time is her least favorite time of the day.  This is the only time she has ever smiled during it!

She loves Batman, just like her daddy.  Yes, her outfit has a cape.

It Takes a Village

Hayley is a blessed little girl!  We had lots of visitors during her first few weeks at home.  

During the past year, we have realized just how blessed our little family is.  We are surrounded by incredible people!  Between the multiple baby showers, visitors, phone calls, texts, and emails, we certainly have felt the love!  

Thank you!  

                              Papa Paul, Nana Lily, Auntie Cristina, and Auntie Emily

                                                               Auntie Emily

Auntie Cristina

                                                        Grandma Karolee

                                                                   Uncle Chris

                                                                   Aunt Jenifer

                                                                      Courtney

                                                             Heather and Eden

                                                                     Bryon 

Robin 

                                                                Great Uncle Al

Great Aunt Carolyn

There are a handful of other people who have come by too!  Unfortunately, I didn't always remember to snag a photo.  Thank you to everyone who has loved our little family of three so well!  We are thankful for each one of you.  

One Month

Hayley is one month old!  

The first month flew by.  We are trying to savor and enjoy each and every moment because I have a feeling life is only going to go by faster and faster from here on out!

9+ pounds

22 inches

Brown hair 

Grayish blue eyes

Smiles when kissed by Momma and Daddy

Loves laying on the changing pad

8-10 diaper changes a day

Loves sucking on anything

Spits up a lot

Doesn't like tummy time

Sneezes a lot

Makes cooing sounds

Sleeps in 3 hour chunks at night

Loves staring at lights and fans

Favorite spot is on Daddy's chest

             Hayley had lots of firsts this month:

                                                                    First Valentine's Day!

              First time baking cookies with Momma  
    (Hayley hung out in the baby carrier and "watched" Momma) 

           First gift from Daddy on Valentine's Day!
(Apparently Nick and I were on the same wavelength this V-Day and both created things with our initials!) 

            First trip to Clear Lake with Nana and Papa

 First bath

                                                      First smiles!

Family of Three

Our first few weeks as a family of three were sweet and full of learning.  

Nick took two weeks off work.  I was so thankful to have him home!  We spent a lot of time hanging out on the couch... just staring at Hayley. 

It was exactly the way it should be!

                                                                  Melt. My. Heart.

    This is how we spent the first two nights... she didn't like her bassinet at first.

  Can you spot all three of us??  

(Don't worry, my sister, Emily, is holding Hayley!)

                                          Cuddles.  Doesn't get much better than this!

Cute!

                                                           

Hayley Joy

I am thrilled to introduce you to our favorite girl!

Our beautiful daughter, Hayley Joy Klaus, was born on Monday, January 13, 2014.  

It was, by far, the best day of our lives.

It was also the hardest day of my life!  Two words: Back labor.  
However, I would do it all over again.

Our daughter came into the world with a sweet, little cry and with her eyes wide open.

She spent the first two hours of her life observing everyone and everything in the world.  She takes after her observant daddy!

Our world changed the second Hayley entered the world.   Life for us will never be the same, in the best way possible.

We are forever grateful for the gift of Hayley Joy.  It is an honor that God chose US to be her parents.  

Waiting Game

Waiting is hard!  Especially when you've been waiting nine full months!

It's completely worth the wait in the end.  I also know that as soon as she is here, this long wait won't seem so bad!  

In the meantime, I'm trying to keep busy!  I've watched lots of movies, gone for walks, tried all the labor-inducting methods, slept, cleaned, shopped,  gone out for lunch dates, and nested.  

And, I'm deleting/ignoring my pregnancy apps.  I'm pretty aware of my daily count at this point ;)

She'll come and it'll be on the perfect day!  

                                                                          Can't wait!

Sugar Cookies and Memories

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is decorating sugar cookies together.  This special tradition is bound to become even better in the upcoming years because we will get to share it with our babies!

When Nick and I were dating, he always talked about his mom's delicious sugar cookies. He has fond memories of decorating cookies with his mom and brother every Christmas.  I love the way he lights up when he recalls these sweet memories.  

Each Christmas, he would ask me to bake sugar cookies.  Without hesitation, I would find a recipe, bake the cookies, and we would decorate them together.  Being the sweet man he is, Nick would kindly say, "They are good!  But... they just aren't like the ones my mom used to make."  This would make me wish I could just call his mom up and ask her what her secret ingredient was.  For those of you who don't know, Nick's mom, Karen Joy, passed away from cancer when he was only 11 years old.  

Fast forward a couple years:

We had been married for a mere six months and were getting ready to celebrate our first Christmas as married couple.  We were at church one Sunday, and a woman named Kara came up to me and told me that she had known Nick's mom.  She told me that she had been going through her Christmas recipes and came across Karen's sugar cookie recipe.  She asked me if the recipe was something I would like to have, or if it would be too painful and would bring back too many memories for Nick.  It was a total God moment!!  I hugged her with tears in my eyes and said we would ABSOLUTELY love to have the recipe.  

The following week I baked the cookies and we decorated them with cream cheese frosting... just like Nick's mom did.  Nick said that they were exactly the way he remembered them.  

These cookies are a blessing in our life because they allow the memory of Nick's mom to live on.  Even though I never had the pleasure of meeting her, it helps me to feel connected to a special part of his family history.  We've had a lot of people come up to us lately and tell us how thrilled Karen would be to learn that Nick is becoming a Daddy.  From what people tell us, Nick's personality is very similar to his mom's.  It is going to be a special time watching him become a parent and carry on special traditions... such as, Christmas cookie decorating, with our children.  

Thank you Lord for allowing Karen's memories to live on in our home!

Nick created a "Ninja-Bread-Man" this year.  It was epic!

P.S.- The secret ingredient was SOUR CREAM!  It makes the cookies very fluffy and light!