What

What

I can roll over!

In spite of a week of sickness, including breathing treatments, Hailey cannot be held back from growth. Last night I left her on her back after changing her and went to get something from the bathroom. Surprise! When I returned, she was on her tummy--definitely not her favorite spot, but once she figures out that it's the way to get around, I think she's going to like it...

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween-lots of candy! We went to a "Trick or Trunk" on Thursday night at church, and then trick-or-treated with friends on Friday night.

Rachel went as Minnie Mouse-a last minute costume, borrowed from Abby. She still thinks she may be too old to go trick-or-treating, but the candy is too much to resist!

Ian was sure that he would be batman, so sure, that we found him a costume back in September. Take a look at the picture--definitely not batman! He wears these things so often, you could hardly call it dressing up, but apparently no one noticed, because they all gave him candy.

Abby picked out this pink unicorn costume. I worried that she too, would change her mind before Halloween (she ripped off the tags, the minute we got home). She wore it happily for about 2 miles worth of trick-or-treating.

We found a pink unicorn costume that fit Hailey. This may be the only year that she doesn't have an opinion, so we decided it would be fun for them to match. (Also, it relieved me of the mental challenge of coming up with a creative and cute costume, and saved Hailey from being...a soccer player!)

Happy Halloween to all of you! Thanks for checking our blog, even though I am not so good at updating it lately. Miss you and love you,

Kerry

Halloween

New things

Hailey got this cool little seat to try out. She loves being so tall in it. She thought it was especially cool when she got to sit in it on the counter while I was doing the dishes. (Yes, totally against every safety warning on the box. Luckily she was fine.) She is doing a little better this month with the evening fussiness. This is my totally subjective opinion. Shawn disagrees.

We both love that she is sleeping through the night nearly every night and even seems to be able to sleep in a bit on weekends when the house is quiet. She loves her crib, so it's great that the nearly new bedding she inherited from Abby is finally being appreciated. (Abby still sleeps in our bed and actually thinks of it as hers. The bunk bed we purchased for Ian and her is definitely "Ian's bed".)

We had the first cold enough day in October for Abby to wear her new vest. I thought you might also like to see her hair tamed in piggy tails. She calls it "two ponies" and chooses this hairstyle most days. (I secretly miss her wild, untamed curls.)

Abby is becoming less shy all the time. She strikes up conversations with check out ladies and people from church even. She occasionally decides mid-sentance that she didn't really want to talk so much and then says, "Mom, I'm tired..." and ducks behind my legs. "I'm tired" seems to be code for "Get me out of here!" Last week, she even asked to go to the nursery, but I had to keep her out because of a major runny nose!

Hailey's accomplishments

Hailey found her thumb! She's been chewing at her hands for weeks now and yesterday after many frustrating attempts, managed to locate her thumb. Pure bliss! She has enjoyed a pacifier, but we think we may have our first thumb sucker. She was so relieved to get that in there the right way.

Saturday was soccer (of course). We found a Mexican soccer uniform that Shawn bought back when Rachel could wear it. It has been passed down through all of our children and served as Abby's first Halloween costume. It now fits Hailey. So we dressed her up and took yet another picture of one of our kids in this uniform. It's a good thing the images are digital, and therefore dated. I'd hate to try and sort this one out of a stack in a box.

Back to school

I truly love Autumn in Indiana. The weather is cooling, the rains are coming, the grass is growing again...and my kids are back in school! We had an unusual summer with little Hailey. They may actually be glad to be back just to have a little more social time.

(Yes, it really was dark when Rachel left for school. Gotta love the bus ride!) We caught Ian after his first day. Pretty good smiles considering it was school. They are both doing well. Rachel is particularly driven to get strait A's. Yesterday she completed an extra credit assignment for math that will bring her grade up to 117%! She's not an overacheiver or anything though. :)

Ian is content to just complete his regular assignments and anxious to get outside to play. He loves playing two sports this fall. Football and soccer. Last Saturday his games were back to back, and he had a bruised heel from P.E. the day before. He still ran like the wind. Yesterday he helped me mow the lawn (He can do most of the backyard himself). His Dad has taught him to look out for me when he is out of town and Ian really tries to fill that assignment.

Welcome Hailey Gibbons!

Since Hailey is one month old today, it seems fitting to finally introduce her to those of you who check out our blog. Hailey was born at 1:30 AM on May 24, after a quick labor, just 2 hours from noticing contractions at home until her birth! She was 20 1/4 inches long and weighed 7 lbs 0.5 oz. We are all happy to have her in our family, and grateful to know that eventually, little babies get big and learn to sleep. We're not doing very much of that right now, but having that perspective makes it a little easier to get up at 2..and 4...and 6!

Early signs of OCD

Shawn and I had an opportunity to take just Abby to lunch today. We looked over and noticed that she was neatly lining up her french fries. When we saw her starting to count them, we realized that Abby's similarities to Shawn are definitely more than skin deep. Straight lines, counting repetitively...just like her Dad! I'm sure this will surprise some of you, because Shawn comes off as so relaxed and fun loving. She definitely doesn't get this trait from me!

Happy Birthday Rachel

Rachel turned 12! She has been anxiously awaiting this birthday for a long time now. She had a weekend full of her favorite things. Two soccer games, the new Narnia movie, giant burritos, and chocolate cake with her favorite chocolate ice cream.

She was nice to let everyone share in the fun. Ian lit all of the candles on her cake (she didn't even complain about the wax he dripped.) Abby got to help her open gifts and wear the bows.

Sunday she got her certificate of graduation from Primary and her Faith in God award. We are so happy to have her in our family. She is a great daughter and sister and tries so hard to do right things.

Thanks for a great visit, Dad!

We enjoyed having Dad (Grandpa Baker to my kids) here to visit at the end of April. We watched lots of soccer. Dad started a new trend--loud, VERY loud, canned blowers for every goal scored. Everyone seemed to like it though, and when we missed a week, several people asked where our noise makers were. This past weekend, Shawn decided we really needed more and found a larger size can (good for boats up to 65 feet!). Ian said he could hear us from the porta-potty when Rachel's team scored. :)

We also ate Texas Roadhouse stake and took in a movie. Abby's stomach flu was the only glitch, but even she was better by Sunday and loved having a walk with Grandpa outside instead of nursery.

I Am a Princess!

Cute story about Abby: She was having a bath yesterday and kept throwing the washcloth out of the tub. I called her a "little Muchkin." She was quick to correct me, she is not a muchkin, but a princess. I thought "Oh no, here we go, just in time to share everything with a new baby sister!"

Then she surprised me further by saying, " I Princess Leia"! Ian has been reading and watching lots of Star Wars lately, and apparently, so has Abby. No Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty for her, she wants the action filled lifestyle of Princess Leia. ( I don't think she'll ever be able to pull off that hairstyle though!)

Just another lesson that each child definitely comes with her own personality, but certainly is influenced by her family!

Spring Break

We took advantage of the 2 warm days during spring break last week to play outside. Rachel is thrilled to be back to outdoor soccer. She practices on her own every chance she gets and is looking forward to their team's first game this weekend. Last night at practice, her coach suggested that the girls could be a little more aggressive. After practice he told me he had seen a totally new side of Rachel. Encouragement to be aggressive in any competitive situation is very dangerous for someone of Rachel's genetic make up!

Ian loves all things outdoors and quickly sheds his jackets as soon as I am out of sight! Cowboy boots are still his favorite shoes. I can only get him to wear anything else on gym day or for soccer. He was very pleased with himself the other day because he beat all of the kids in his class in a race, while wearing boots.

Abby is also so pleased to be outside again. She is fearless this spring and chooses big kid swings over baby swings every chance she gets. Tall slides are also so fun! She likes her little bike, but has definitely realized that until she figures out pedaling, running is much faster. She rides for about 1/2 the block to the playground and then quickly abandons her bike so she can catch up with the other kids. She is never one to be left out of fun.

It's hard to believe we have 7 weeks (or less!) until a new little girl joins our family. She is definitely growing and stretching out to find every available inch in my belly. I wish I could say I'll sleep better once she is born, but experience has told me that is definitely not true!

Evidence

My family has convinced me that it's only fair you get to see a "before" picture of me pregnant. Normally I get to just send pictures of a sweet newborn with an almost back to normal mommy, but here goes...

Spring?!

Could it really be spring? It sure felt like it yesterday. It was great to get outside and play and even dig in the flower beds a little. Abby was a bit timid at first about being on her bike, but soon discovered it was quite a good ride if she started out on the driveway, she could go fast and end up on the grass. Of course, every girl needs her purse and mardi-gras beads for a good bike ride! She had so much fun playing. She said to me "Like running!" When we were finished she crashed on the couch for two hours. It is raining today, but we are feeling hopeful!

Happy Easter!

March is seriously too cold to properly celebrate this holiday in Indiana! The Saturday before Easter, several local Easter egg hunts were scheduled, but attendance was surely low due to the freezing rain, sleet, and snow we received! The sun did come out Easter morning, but only Rachel and Shawn were feeling well enough to get dressed in Easter clothes and go to church. We were, however, well enough for and egg hunt indoors and lots of candy!
Abby has the greatest morning hair and loves her new plush bunny (another "friend" for her ever-growing collection!)
Ian has decided that bionicles are the new thing. He was pretty excited about this one in his Easter basket.

Rachel is truly growing up much faster than I can believe! Two more months until she can go to Young Women. She's counting days!

Science Fair

Ian won a ribbon at his school's science fair this February and was invited to participate in the Regional Science Fair at the State Fairgrounds this March. He had fun being there (especially getting to hang out with some new friends and play gameboy instead of being in school). His project was a test to see which breakfast cereal had the most iron. The surprising front runner-Cookie Crisp! Either it's more iron packed than the box said, or it has some kind of mystery metal that sticks to magnets. Who knows?

Ian's Birthday

Happy 7th birthday to Ian! He had a great weekend of birthday celebration. On Saturday the 16th, Shawn took Ian and a friend to a nearby arcade/Chucky Cheese type place. They had a blast and won lots of tickets. Both came back with a prizes-whoopie cushions, and candy of course! I'm sure his friend's mom was thrilled.

We had pizza and cake on Saturday, but since Sunday was his real birthday, we had to celebrate again. Definitely a lot of chocolate cake. Shawn always makes a celebration special. This time we sang Happy Birthday in 3 languages: English, Spanish and ??Russian?? (No, no one in our family speaks Russian. We all just did our best impressions. Guess which was Ian's favorite?)

Ian is a true cowboy at heart and was excited to get a real cowboy sleeping bag, his own flint for starting fires, and a horse blanket for the saddle stand he and Shawn are building to go in his room.

Great shopping technique!

We had a shopping experience with Abby that we thought was amusing. Everytime we go to Blockbuster and wait in line to check out movies, she notices the conveniently placed toys--right at the checkout area. Her favorites lately have been the Shrek babies from the Shrek the Third movie. I've been talking her out of them for the last 3 months by helping her say "Bye,Bye" to the babies. (We really don't need any more plush toys at our house:)

This last weekend Shawn happened to be with us and noticed how lovingly she was holding one of the babies. She held it up for him to see and said, "Like it, buy it?" What father could refuse such a polite request from his little girl? She was so happy when he said yes, she walked right up to the counter, threw at the cashier and yelled "Buy it!' Clearly, shopping is in her genes!

Rachel wondered if the same sweet question might apply to the new ipod she is eyeing.--Probably not. :)

Merry Christmas

Here are some Christmas morning favorites! Ian lives in cowboy boots. He only chooses tennis shoes on gym days, so these new ones were a great surprise for him. Rachel has been thinking about this PS2 game for a long time and was really excited to find it under our tree. She and Ian spend free time nearly every afternoon rocking the house with their dance moves!

Abby is modeling several favorites in this shot. She is quite a fan of Dora the Explorer, so Dora p.j.s and Dora slippers were a hit with her! She loved her new trike-thanks Grandpa and Grandma! We were lucky to get a couple of strangely warm days in early January so she got to test it outside--I am in for a lot of walking this spring! :)



We spent a relaxing Christmas at home in Indiana this year. We really loved being able to sleep in-even the kids! Our usual schedule is so hectic, and family time seems limited. It was great just being together. Here is a photo from our Christmas card. Our kids are just so happy, it was a snap getting a great shot. (NOT) This only took about 25 tries!

Abby's 2nd Birthday

Abby had a great time helping prepare the cake for her birthday celebration--and clearly enjoyed eating it too! She wasn't so sure about candles this year. When we celebrated Shawn's birthday Dec. 21, Abby cried over the candles. (We think they must remind her of fireworks.) So for her cake, we just had frosting and Dora figures to decorate the top.
She seemed as if she was going to be a little timid opening gifts. After the first one was opened, she wanted to play for about an hour before she would open any others. We were up for a long night! By the second gift, she had it figured out, and by Christmas morning, she was a pro. She was able to open gifts December 23, 24, and 25, and after her nap on Christmas Day, woke up asking, "presents?" She was grateful for the packages that arrived after the date. It helped her ease down off of her high!