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.