Snow snow snow

It’s beginning to look a lot like…. Valentine’s Day! Yes, it’s February and it’s snowing… and seriously people… what did you really expect it to be? Sunny and a wonderfully warm 85 degrees? I certainly wish it was!

The lovely snow falling outside my window inspired me to want to write a little something over my lunch break. It’s been a while (almost 6 months actually) since I posted something of value on my blog. I’m not sure if I’ve just had some serious writers block or just that I haven’t really had the time, but either way… I’m back in action.

The snow makes me think of how excited I am that I don’t have class tomorrow and that I hope Matthew is home digging out Bella’s snow clothes so we can go play in it tomorrow! Last time we took her out into the snow, it didn’t go over so well. She was unsure of it and then Matthew (softly) hit her with a snowball, and well… that was the end of Bella’s first snow experience. She’d had enough! Hopefully, though this time will go much better. Perhaps we’ll throw snowballs at Matthew this time around!

I wonder how many of you are actually still reading my blog. I know it gets routed into Facebook, but do you actually visit my BLOG? Probably not! I should just contend to write “notes” on Facebook since about 90% of the people that would be interested (and probably more than might read this) are on Facebook already. I wish I would have created such a global phenomenon! The people that thought of MySpace sure knew what they were doing. I mean, seriously…. How many people could imagine their lives without Facebook?

I find it odd that I have “friends” on Facebook that I haven’t seen in real life in over 10 years. It’s amazing the amount of people who didn’t like me or wouldn’t talk to me in high school but are now my “friends” on Facebook. My how people change! Some are nicer, some are meaner, some have disappeared off the face of the planet! What a world we live in. It’s

Ironically enough, this year marks my 10 year high school graduation. A few of us that still speak have been wondering if/when we are actually going to have a reunion. I thought by now rumors would have been circulating, but alas… nothing has been said. I wouldn’t mind going to see people in real life (though I think I know many of their stories through posts on Facebook). Perhaps our class feels the “virtual reunion” Facebook creates for us daily is enough to keep us in check with each other. Who knows…

I spent part of my lunch break today researching ideas for Bella’s big 2nd birthday party. I’m really excited, even more so than her 1st because now that she’s 2 we can play games and have lots of fun with the other kids. The tentative plan is a safari/jungle theme because Bella loves her animals, so it was fitting. I’ve think I’m creating a “jungle corner” for the kids where there will be nothing but kid friendly toys, games, etc. I’m going to decorate it up like jungle and have it filled with awesome things. I found a how-to-make guide for a game called “Feed the Monkey” and thanks to the help of my mother (artist) and Matthew’s father (finding me a box), the game is going to come to life. I’ve also got a few other ideas up my sleeve… but I won’t reveal all my secrets just yet (mostly because I’ve got a ton of ideas and need to pick out the “BEST” ideas in the bunch).

I think next year will really be the best year though. Bella will be old enough to tell us what kind of party she wants, and games, etc. That’s what I’m looking forward to the most. I look forward to all the birthday parties I’ll get to plan. I don’t know why, but it’s so exciting. I’ve been playing ideas out in my mind for age appropriate games to play, fun toys to play with, and awesome favor bags. I want her birthday party to be like the amazing parties you see in movies and on TV that kids and parents remember forever! I know Bella might not remember them yet, but I will and those memories will never fade!

Wow, I started on the topic of snow… and now I’m talking about the birthday party… of course if you really want to talk about planning, the wedding is probably consuming the most time. Right now, I’m kind of at a standstill, but I know it’s just the calm before the storm. I plan on moving on the dress by April… six months is plenty of time for a gown. All the major vendors are booked, just gotta nail out the smaller details, but it’s coming along. It’ll move more after I get past Arabella’s birthday. One major event at a time!

Well my lunch is almost over …. I could sit and write for hours. This felt very good. I need to start prying myself away from things to do this more often. Perhaps if I got a little less Stats homework…. It might just happen a bit more!

At least I get to sleep in tomorrow!

Weekend Update

Ah what a weekend. I could use a few more days off to recover from all the fun we had over the last few days.

So Saturday morning was Arabella's last day of Kindermusik for the summer. We don't go back until September now so I get a few Saturday's to sleep in. Arabella will be moving up to Our Time this fall since she'll be 18 months old. It should be a totally new experience since now she'll be the younger kid in the class again instead of the older. No worries though, she's such a busy body, I'm sure she'll adapt just fine to the new class with kids up to 3 years old.

I'm sad that this week also marked what will probably be the last class Arabella will have with Andrea (She ended Sign and Sing on Tuesday). Andrea has been our Kindermusik teacher since the start and we're going to miss her so much! We had Holly for Peek A Boo on Saturdays. We may see her again down the road though, possibly even next summer.

Saturday morning, Matthew and I also decided at the last possible minute we were going to head to his Family Reunion in the middle of BFE West Virginia. A town called Mobley (look I spelled it right Dee). I know he's told me in the past this place was really in the heart of WV and there's NOTHING surrounding it.... I didn't know I'd be traveling down roads that make deliverance look like the suburbs! This two+ hour trip took us to the heart of a beautiful scenic place.. the ride was lovely.... and probably would have been more enjoyable if we knew where we were going.....

See... Matt's mom gave us some directions.... with little street names... and then the famous words of "Call us when you get here and we'll give you the next turns and mileage".. now normally... this idea would work but they apparently didn't realize they would have NO cellular service for miles....

Did we think of this before we left though???? Nooooooooooooo so here we are in WV and clueless.... Matthew's playing the game of "I think this looks familiar." At one point, he was sure we should have turned so I flipped on my GPS (it still worked at this point) and we ended up down this dirt road where I honestly thought some crazy person with a banjo would come walking off his porch toward us.... Finally made it back to the other road and got to the town of Hundred. After driving around a bit, we found a place (I think it was a bar) and Matthew stopped for the directions. But not before getting out and telling me to "Lock the doors and if I"m not back in 5 minutes ... " joking around. I enjoyed watching the chickens run around outside this establishment... quite amusing.

So we got some directions which turned out to be pretty good because we did make it to the reunion. What a trip to get there! I guess if my GPS actually did work on the way down it may have said something like "you are not on planet earth" or "Where the hell have you gone I can't find you" ....

The reunion was wonderful. The most fun I've ever had a family reunion. Matthew took 2nd place in the Horse Tournament, Tootsie danced to a great country band and the food was endless. By the way Grandma Dufresne... you're pierogi's ROCK!!! You should make them for all our family functions!!!

At the family auction, Matthew bought me some candle sticks and a neat wall photo display. Aunt Silly bought all the girls Teddy Bears. She bought twin bears for Annie (who was there) and Soren and then a 100th Anniversary Teddy Bear for Arabella. I still can't believe she kept bidding on the bear after Matt quit at 1/2 of what she paid. Oh well.. all for a good cause! We were all curious though over what anniversary brand the bear was from and a quick google search revealed that I think it was a 100 anniversary of the "teddy bear." Good news too that similar bears sold on EBAY for more than Melissa paid... Melissa ya got a good deal!

After the reunion, we stopped at Matt's Aunt Dot who lived down the road. She was a sweet old lady... she even gave Arabella a bunny rabbit to take home.

Tootsie passed out about halfway home. We walked into the house after 11pm. It was a very long and fun day. I'm not even disappointed we didn't go to Phipps like we originally planned. The butterflies and flowers will always be there, but the family reunion is only once a year.... and I'm glad we finally went. Dee, I also put it on the calendar so we're sure to remember for future years!!!

Sunday we just hung out around the house. Matthew went out and cleaned up the yard early in the day and filled up the pool for tootsie... too bad she fell asleep before she could go play in it. After her nap we took her out though and she got a good romp around the sandbox and yard before dinner. We really enjoyed just staying home for the day. My back was still buggin me a bit so the relaxing helped a great deal. See the photos of the sandbox here.

Now we're back to Monday and back to the grind. UGH! I need a few more days off... like a month's worth! I have a big weekend ahead, dress shopping, tastefully simple bingo and the Washington County Fair..... so much to do!!

If you haven't had a chance yet, check out the new photos I posted from yesterday. A few of Arabella playing in the sandbox and then the hilarious photos of Matthew chasing the fly.

The Story of the Fly
I have a cat... I call him Artex the bug chaser... however, unlike most cats he won't eat or kill the bug... but instead he catches them and lets them go so he can keep chasing them. After watching this for an hour, Matthew had enough of the fly and went after it with rolled up paper. After that didn't work, he resorted to chasing it with chopsticks... I have photos of the event... they are quite funny. View them here!

And just in case you're wondering... no neither of them have successfully killed the fly. Perhaps there will be another show tonight!

Batter Up

Arabella went to her 1st pirate game on Sunday. She bought pappy bykens tickets for Christmas and eight months later... we actually went to a game. We wanted to wait until she was a bit older so she would hopefully behave a bit better and I'm really glad we did.

About a month before, I chose the Washington Nationals game on August 1st. I liked the give away and and it was one of the few sunday games I could attend. So I called in to buy tickets and ended up spending the extra money for the Pirate Club Box seats (which if you ever buy tickets... buy the club box because they ROCK!!!!!). This was the 1st time we've ever sat in the club box seats and I was totally in love from the minute we walked in until we left. We felt like royalty walking into our own entrance, private elevator that led up up to the 2nd level and the private club section. We had our own bathrooms on the floor that were the cleanest public restrooms I've ever seen in my life, climate controlled area, food vendors, pool tables, games, and flat screen TVs EVERYWHERE.... I think all of us (myself, my father, Leeanne and Matthew) were utterly speechless!

The view from our seats was amazing. We were still close enough to see... but high enough we were out the major flying ball danger for Araballa... though one foul ball did land next to my father but some other guy grabbed it before we could. To make the game even better, we were the ONLY people in our section and had our own private usher/bodyguard/people-thrower-outer.... This guy was hilarious! He was the usher you always want.. when people would meander over to our section and try to sit there... he was right behind them kicking them right back out. He danced in the aisles, joked and was just an utter enjoyment the whole day.

The seats we sat in had a decent amount of room that Arabella could walk in between us and play. I laugh because my mother told me to take extra toys with me to the game and I didn't... which would have been a waste since all she wanted to do was put the water bottles in and out of the cup holders... she spent the whole game moving everyone's drinks from cup holder to cup holder.

We had a fencing in front of us which she was just the right height to look through the railings. She seemed to actually watch some of the game. She didn't even get too scared of the fireworks... which was awesome.

I think the highlight of my day was buying cotton candy for her to try. When the walking vendor went past, I just had to give her the 1st taste of cotton candy..... so I bought it.. we opened it and I gave her a piece.... and with my child you would think the immediate reaction will be straight to the mouth.... but not today....

Yes, the photo is correct.... she stuck it straight in her hair.... for whatever reason, she didn't want to eat it. Matt tried shoving it in her mouth to get her to realize it was food and she still didn't want to eat it. She did enjoy pulling it out of the bag and shoving it into my face to eat though... oh well!!!

The day was perfect, we had no terribly toddler meltdowns (at least not until we got to dinner) and overall the day was just ever so enjoyable.... even if the stupid pirates lost as usual! Perhaps we'll go again soon....

Chocolate Kisses

Ah.... little miss independent. She won't share with you anymore... she must have her own. Her own fork, food, and as of recently her own ice cream cone. So last night, Matthew gave me a wonderfully delicious chocolate ice cream cone to which I was more than happy sharing with Arabella. But Arabella just wouldn't have it.... she had to have her own.

So we gave her one. Packed some ice cream down inside the cone (knowing she eat the cone first ... most likely from the bottom) so it wouldn't make a TERRIBLE mess. Boy were we wrong!

With the cone in hand and a mess soon to be made, our every bouncing child romped around the living room dripping chocolate goodness everywhere. Thankfully our furniture is nicely guarded with some kind of stuff that protects it from spills. By the time the cone was gone, chocolate covered many parts of our couch, the floor and naturally the entire face of my kid.

As I prepared to get something very wet to wipe her (and my furniture) off.... she proceeded to run up to me on the couch and give me a big, sloppy wet chocolate kiss.... if ever a moment where Matthew was needed with the camera... now would have been it.

So, sadly there are no photos of the chocolate disaster... but the memory will certainly be there!

We're back

So what's new??? Well.... EVERYTHING. My last posting was in October... the month of the house fire. After many months of many, many expensive shopping trips...we're finally getting our lives in order.

After I lost the original website with the housefire when we cancelled verizon, I really just never found a new home for it. Comcast gave us free space like verizon but their web building program was an atrocity.

I disliked angelfire and the likes of other "free" sites out there so I just choose to post my photos on facebook and email everyone. I desperatly missed posting to our website though.

Finally, a few weeks ago I discovered Google revamped their free websites and web builder software. It was actually a pretty good program now (and free) so I opted to get the site back up and running.

Thus, here we are....I have a mostly functional website... blog is back and I'll update more often... and you'll be sure to see and hear about all the wonderment that is our lives. The new website can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/hayleymatthew/ .... if you need a free website, Google's web builder is very easy with good templates to start and there's no advertisements. LOVE IT!

So what's been going on? Well... our sweet little angel baby has turned into the terrible one year old.... I stress the terrible as shortly after her 1st birthday we were hit with a blast of very, very bad temper tantrums. Oh the joys!

As if the tempers weren't bad enough, we're also part monkey and must climb and bounce on everything in the house. She's already fallen off the couch on several occassions... you think after one or two she'd learn her lesson.

Arabella is still enrolled in Kindermusik. Currently, she has two sessions a week for the next month - Sign and Sing and Peek A Boo. That's right, we're teaching her sign language... she hasn't picked up on it yet... but Matthew and I have it down pretty well.

On Mother's Day, Matthew and I (finally) became engaged. We're still working on date/place for the wedding.... what a crazy process it's been. I think we've found a place... but not entirely sure yet. We don't want to jump at the 1st place we totally love.

In May, Matthew and I also went to Baltimore and Washington, DC on a mini-vacation. It was wonderful to take in all the sights of the area. We hope to do it again soon.

Well, in a nutshell... that wraps up the major highlights...

We're glad to be back up with the website. We hope you enjoy stopping back to visit often!

Moving Along

Well, life is moving along..... slowly! We spent the weekend having, what is probably the biggest shopping trip we've ever had buying everything under the sun. Saturday, the restoration company brought more of our things back like Aerie's dresser and our dining room table so we are really starting to become functional again!

Basking in my own personal amusement.... I am happy to say I finally own the Bissell Pet Eraser and MAN IT ROCKS!!!! Must have for all pet owners! I took it to Artex's kitty window seat covered with fur, fur and more fur... and it cleaned right up. I'm so happy I stuck to my guns on wanting it!

I finished up class one towards my MBA this week. Organizational Behavior is officially over and hopefully I got a good grade (I think I did). This Saturday I start class 2. I wish they gave you a week in between, but alas.... no rest for the determined! I'm now in Management Information Systems (in layman's terms...... Computers in Business). It shouldn't be too bad. Eight more weeks and I'll be done for the semester, WOO HOO!

Aerie's been adapting to her new home well. Matthew called me this morning to tell me that she did something new today and that's reaction. He had her in the living room watching something on TV and apparently at one point there was an audience clapping and then she started clapping. Whether it was by sheer accident or on purpose, either way... it was pretty cool he said!

Aerie gets her booster shot on Wednesday and goes back for a check up on her pink eye. I can't believe our house burns and she gets pink eye in the same week. We'll never forget that, that's for sure!

Well, time to fly! I've got a million things to do!

Anyoe have some sanity?

Ok seriously! Does anyone have some sanity to share? If you haven't figured out by now, life is a bit crazy in our lives and hopefully it will return to normal at some point. Let's recap...... On Oct. 6, our home for the past 2+ years caught fire, leaving the house uninhabitable. Thankfully, we had insurance as many of our possession were water damaged from the fire on the two floors above us. We were forced to move in with family and frantically search for a new place to live. Miraculously, within the week we found a new home (a house all to ourselves) and moved in that weekend. Our new home is still in Washington; very close to Washington Hospital (We can actually hear life flight from our house). It’s a beautiful neighborhood with a nice mixture of families ranging from the elderly down to our age and even many with children. Our house is small compared to our apartment, but at least we don’t have to share it with anyone. We also have a beautiful fenced in back yard and garage big enough for a car and then some (Check out the pictures in the photo section I took while we were looking at it). I will post new pictures when we get things back in order (and it doesn’t look like we’re too lazy to unpack).At this point, we’ve begun to rebuild our lives. A restoration company has many of our belongings, attempting to clean and restore them to their glory; however, we lost our bedroom furniture, living room furniture, many electronics and Aerie’s playpen, swing and many toys. Thankfully, State Farm is really amazing and within a few days we had money to start replacing what was lost. Within a week we had new living room and bedroom furniture and started buying back all the things Aerie lost. It’s been a slow process because we don’t really have much and some of what we have can’t be put away yet because my shelves are with the restoration people. We’re basically living out of boxes and on the bare minimum hoping to eventually get back into a normal routine. It will come, one day …… hopefully soon. Keep coming back to the website as I redevelop it. De to changing from Verizon to Comcast, I lost our old website, but no biggie…. I’ll get everything back up soon. I think I’m going to look into buying my own webspace (more like I’ll have Matthew hunt to find me some webspace at a reasonable price) so I can do more with the website than the internet edit functions will allow me (plus have as much as much space as I want to have). Until then, this is the new website home.

Yeah! 6 Month Photos!

Aerie's six month photos were taken at Brownlee yesterday. She looked so adorable! We get to see them next Saturday..... Oh I can't wait!!!! A variety of poses were taken including putting Aerie on a bench with flowers, in a bath tub (my favorite), with rolls of toilet paper (it's adorable.... TRUST ME), and we even made her a fairy again in Aunt Barb's dress (bought months ago)! I can't wait to see them.... she's such a beautiful baby!!!!!!

Life is just as crazy as it's been! Run, Run, Run is all I do anymore. I attempt to find time to do homework and other things (like cleaning my house..... so totally not happening).... but there's only so many hours in the day and by the time I'm home from work, I'm just exhausted!

Well, that's my update for today. I have too much to do.

Insanity! That actually about sums up my life anymore. Time is something I just don't have, but I manage to get by day to day. So let's see, what's been going on over the last ten days since I posted something....

Well, last Saturday we went to the Cover Bridge Festival in Cherry Valley near where I went to high school. I wasn't overly impressed with it (I didn't really wanna go but Grandma Beatrice did). It was kind of a wasted trip since it pretty much sucked! I love festivals, but between the Indian (Cecil - this weekend - we're going - weather dependent), Apple (Hickory - Next Weekend), and Pumpkin (Oct 10-12) - they are all pretty much the same vendors in a different location honoring something... I usually pick/choose depending on my schedule.... Usually it's the Indian and the Pumpkin for the most part, but apparently Grandma Beatrice wants to go to all of them this year. UGH! I knew I wasn't getting out of the Pumpkin with the costume contest .... it just wasn't happening! Ah well, such is life!

Moving on, Sunday We all went to Oktoberfest in Canonsburg (I like this festival a lot) but this year was really disappointing! I did win a basket in the Chinese Auction though - go figure I couldn't use most of it ..... It was mostly for Matt since it had a big case of beer! He'll be happy for a while.

Our little girl is growing by leaps and bounds now. We've been flying through new foods - she's on Green Beans now. Our menu choices at this point include: Carrots, Green Beans, Sweet Potatoes, Squash, and Bananas. I think Tomorrow I'll start her on some Applesauce.

Yesterday at Grandma Martins, Aerie apparently took her first couple of steps at crawling getting both her arms and legs moving for a moment before crashing to the floor. Grandma Martin was quite impressed!

Yesterday, Aerie officially started Kindermusik in McMurray! She absolutely loved it. While at Kindermusik she took another stab at crawling and actually made it a few feed before having her strength give out. She's going to be completely mobile before we know it.... Time to hunt out the baby proofing stuff!

Kindermusik was wonderful last night. Aerie absolutely loved everything. She gets so happy and excited when we're there. She seems to really enjoy interacting with other babies her age too. For the most part, all the children are close in age. There's another girl about a week younger and two a month older and a few older/younger as well. It's nice being able to socialize her like that every week (plus I'm making cool friends). I think that's actually what's helped her figure out the crawling last night. She was watching two of the other children intently and then she did it. I was so happy!

Aerie's 2nd set of Brownlee photos are this week. I finally found her the perfect outfit at Toys R Us last weekend.... but I'm not telling just yet.... he he.... :)

Well that's about it for now. Perhaps I'll write something soon (hopefully).

Where to begin???

Where on earth do I begin?? I know it's been a while since my last post and your all probably wondering what in the world is going on in our little world. Well here's the brief (and I mean brief because I could type for hours on what's been going on) recap of the last few weeks.

Both parents have since been released from AGH. I didn't have time to post that though (I'm sorry). Mom's doing great and Dad is slowly recovering... he has a very long road to go before he's back on track with his health. Thankfully, there are enough people ready to put a foot up his rear end right now to keep him in line! I think it's safe to say he got one hell of a wake up call over the last month! Hopefully now it will stick in his damn brain that he needs to take better care of himself and not let it get to this point again, because then we'll all be ready to kick his butt!

Two weeks ago I started back at Waynesburg for my MBA (Yes, I know.... I'm nuts to add this lovely chore on top of working, parenting, and having some form of a life). I really enjoy it so far, my class rocks, the teacher rocks, and it's just really great to be back in the swing of learning again because it's such a wonderful experience.

This morning I finally set up Arabella's savings account (That I've been trying to set up since mid-August) at our credit union. A few weeks ago we emptied out her piggy bank and my parents rolled up the change while we were at work. She had a nice chunk going for her so I put it all into a savings account for her to use later in life when it will be useful (like for college or some awesome trip to Europe or something worthwhile).

Arabella's 6 month check up is coming in the next few weeks. It's hard to believe my little girl is going to be six months old next Saturday! Where on earth did the time go? Before I know it, I'll be making the preparations for her first birthday..... Yikes!

While we're thinking ahead, Arabella's six month photos at Brownlee are also coming up (October 2nd to be exact). Brownlee's is doing autumn photos outside (so cross your fingers for great weather!)

Since the 2nd is a Thursday, I plan on taking the whole day off to spend it with Aerie. After her photos, we might head into Pittsburgh since it's Radical days and certain museums are offering free admission. On Oct 2, it's Phipps and the butterfly garden is still going on so I thought it would be nice to take her out to the garden and see the flowers and the butterflies (or more like... me see the butterflies).... Then Thursday evening is our Kindermusik class so it'll be a great day for the two of us.

If you haven't checked them out yet, there's tons of new photos posted on the website of Aerie. I'm so addicted to taking pictures of her. She's such a beautiful little girl, how can I not take pictures???

So in the works, my mother is working on Arabella's Halloween costume (She started bugging me about it months ago with what I wanted to make her). I personally didn't care... so I just kinda let her roll with whatever she wanted to make....

... but we're not telling! :P At least, I'm not telling anyways..... You'll all just have to wait and see what we're going to make her (and no it's not the princess she already is!).

Well that's about all for today. I've got a million things to do, a sick boyfriend, and a desire to go home and play with my baby. I'm off!

Updates on my parents

Ok so for those that don't know yet.... life has been anything but normal! Let's go back a week....


Sunday - mom went into AGH to be regulated (blood) for surgery on Wednesday.

Wednesday - mom had surgery... went fantastic! Immediatly following she was up and moving around like she didn't even have any kind of operation!!!

Also Wednesday, my father's health (as most of you know) has gotten progressivly worse and worse and worse. Wednesday he looked horrible (partially contributed from stress from surgery on mom).

Thursday - after much yelling and screaming from a variety of family members, we finally convinced him to go to the hospital. He went to Canonsburg, was admitted and told he'd be seeing pulmonary doctors in the morning.

Friday - I went to work... mom was anticipating release so I figured I'd be closer to going to get her (seeing as how I was half way there). In the morning, Dad was moved to ICU... I stalled for about an hour at work waiting to see if mom was going to be released - she wasn't. So I went to Canonsburg.

Shortly after arriving, we were informed he was being moved to AGH because they couldn't do anything more for him there.

Basically, to make a long story short - where we stand now.......

He is in Allegheny General Hospital in MICU. Because of his size, they can not do some of the tests to determine what all is really going on. The doctors are treating it as if he has a blood clot and possibly Pneumonia. His size is also a factor in making any problem worse. He is sedated and on a respirator (sedation so he won't pull out the tubes). As of this morning, he was responsible when doctors were in - squeezing their hands in answer to questions. They also took him off sedation briefly this morning, gave him some water and then put him back under.

From what doctors have told us, this is going to be along healing process. Against our wishes, he let his health get progressivly worse and worse and now we're left trying to solve one problem at a time. We're certain he will be hospitalized for quite some time and from there who knows. There is no estimated time of recovery... it's just one day at a time. We're learning more and more each day.

Yesterday was a very long and emotional day. I haven't gone back to the hospital as of yet. They've been running tests and what not all morning so there wasn't much to be done. We're heading in shortly.

I tried to call as many people as I could to inform them of the situation but obviously our family is huge and I don't have everyone's number (and probably forgot a few people along the way). If I didn't call you, I'm sorry. I'll try to update the site as much as I can with information. Feel free to contact me anytime and I'll let you know what I know. I'll also post updates here so I can get info to the masses rather than calling a million people.

Currently, mom's still hospitalized on the 9th floor in AGH and Dad is on the 4th (I'm getting a lot of exercise, trust me). Hopefully, she will be coming home tomorrow.... I'm betting on it because then I have to contend with traffic from the Steeler game and that's my kind of luck.

Surprisingly, we're handling the situation ok. Keep us in your thoughts though and email me any time if you want a personal update (I'd post my phone number but I don't want some wacko accidently finding the website and calling me). But if you email me directly, I'll gladly give it to you. My email is hayleybykens@gmail.com and email anytime!

Thanks.

Wow I'm getting really bad about posting! It's been like 2 weeks since the last post. It's not that I don't want to post anything, it's just as usual August Kicked My Butt... thankfully the month (and insanity) is almost over for the year.

Well a brief recap (cuz that's about all the time I've got right now). Matthew, Aerie and I just returned from Baltimore on Friday night, Friday night I attended a fundraiser for my cousin Jake's friend who lost his home in a fire a while back (I won a nice spa certificate - thanks to mommy who gave me the dollar for it as a birthday gift - GO FIGURE, as well as a manicure at the Wellness Center). Saturday was our fantasy football draft (fun times), Sunday was a baby shower..... and now here I am on Tuesday working my butt off (waiting on some people right now) because we have 2 things due this week and I'm on vacation starting tomorrow (yeah!!!!).

So my goal over vacation is to get about 4 chapters in my school book read (I'll probably only accomplish 2) and do some scrapbooking and finally (and most importantly) spending wonderful times with Aerie because that's what I love to do the most!

Baltimore was ok - had some rocky issues with the hotel and what not but overall it was a fun trip. Aerie's tooth busted through while we were in the hotel Thursday and we went to the harbor on Friday. Overall it was nice, but it sucks Aerie is still so young because there's lots we could do but she wouldn't be able to really enjoy going so we opted to wait until my next trip down to take her to some of the fun places.

Life's been a buzz lately. I return to school next Saturda (oh my god did it really sneak up on me that quickly). I'm actually really excited about it too. Yeah it's a lot of work and what not - but the reward will be much greater). Plus, now I think is the best time because Aerie's still young. Too young to be involved in a variety of activities like dance, cheerleading, etc. She won't get there for a few years so I can knock out this MBA in the mean time.

Well, what I was waiting for is here so I've gotta run. I'll try to post more while I'm on vacation.

Is it really August??????

Wow! Is it really August already? My birthday only 17 days a way.... UGH! I'm getting so old! So if you haven't checked out the website recently, do so to see the new pictures of Aerie attemping to eat a bag of raisins.... it's quite amusing. Diana (Matthew's Mom) took them at her house while she was watching her one day. Quite a treat. One's included here.

We had quite a busy weekend this past weekend. Yesterday was our Mini golf Tournament (last one for the season).... I was only 4 strokes away from placing (BUMMER). Ah well, next year! I can't wait until next year when Aerie's walking and talking. We're going to have so much fun. I will be taking her golfing as much as I can because it's great for the body, mind and soul (and cheap on the wallet). Matthew thinks I'm crazy.... but who cares!

Aerie's eating cereal really well now. We've discovered she really loves the Apple flavored one and eats it like crazy. I think in a week or two we'll introduce some Oatmeal into the mix and then soon the fruits and veggies. Matthew is just waiting for the day of Banana Puddings and has already claimed giving her that jar of food! Of course I might have to hide it from him or buy him his own... I fear he may eat it all and not share with his daughter! HE HE HE

So in 17 days is it not only my birthday, But I'm on vacation until after Labor day (woo hoo five days off). I can't wait! I want to spend more time with Aerie... lots and lots and lots of time with Aerie. I also want to accomplish some scrapbooking (I'm about 2 months behind) and clean the house a bit. I believe my plan will be to have my mom come over to watch Aerie while I clean and scrapbook a little... that way she's not feeling neglected (plus I don't want to take their favorite day of the week away from them).

Surprisingly though, Life as parents hasn't been all that bad. It's a little crazy at times, but our house isn't a disaster, our daughter is happy and we're not screaming at each other 24/7 .... so I'd say we're surviving rather well!

Aerie's getting into the really fun stage of life now. She's so amazed by everything and has to touch an feel anything within our reach. She's actually started petting Artex (who loves to lay by her when we're holding her)... or my favorite time... is when I put Aerie in her bumbo seat on my desk in the backroom while I'm doing something on the computer and Artex has to naturally squeeze his big ol' butt in between my keyboard and her chair. So she reaches down and pats him while he's close to mommy and sissy. It's absolutly adorable!

So as usual, August is a nightmare on my schedule. Saturday we have a birthday party. Sunday I had thought about going to Brad Paisly but I think I'll pass and just focus on going to Martina McBride and Brooks and Dunn (maybe). Then next Wednesday we go to Baltimore for 3 days (WOW that came REALLY fast) and then Saturday is our Fantasy Football draft and Sunday a baby shower... I come back to work for 2 days and then I'm on vacation ( WOO HOO).... A much needed vacation after this insane month.

Well time to get back to insanity! Later all!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Jason Michael Carrolll.........................................

Wow, I'm so dragging today! Last night I went to see Jason Michael Carroll at the Rhythm House in Bridgeville. It was such an amazing show! I've been dying to see him for over a year now. Many of you might remember, Matthew was going to take me to see him in Youngstown Ohio for my birthday but about 3 days prior to the show, I discovered it was cancelled (and man was I bummed). But life goes on, he actually did play with Alan Jackson last summer being added to the bill after I bought lawn seats (Again, BUMMER!)... so I was pretty determined to see him.

A few months back, I found out he was opening for Martina so I rallied the cash together for myself to buy 4th row seats with my best friend, Leeanne. THEN three weeks ago, I find out he's playing a free Happy Hour Concert sponsored by Froggy last night.... Ok... MUCH BETTER THEN 4th row!

So now, here we are with me haulin my butt to Bridgeville knowing the place is going to be packed because he's such a huge freakin star! Thankfully, I was lucky enough to find a friend up close by the stage to hang and talk with and stay up front in the sea of madness that was the Rhythm House last night.

Ha ... ironic moment of the day. I'm listening to Froggy right now and "Livin' Our Love Song" just came on..... (His song). Ok back to my night though, seriously! So .... I've been up front at shows and I've been back stage... but for some reason that I can't explain... he's just so different. From the moment I heard "Alyssa Lies" the first time on the radio I was in love with his music. Matthew bought me his cd a short while later when it arrived in stores and for over a year now it's never left my car/cd player for very long. His music and voice is just addictive....

So, during these happy hour shows (Froggy has them about once a month), usually the artist goes on at 6 and is off around 7pm..... yea............ he went on at 6 and got off the stage at 7:45pm. Then stayed in the back room and signed autographs for everyone! (Yes I hauled my butt back there through the mob to wait for 40 minutes just to meet him..... and yes, it was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo worth it!

Last night was probably one of the best shows I've seen in a long time. You can tell Jason is a rocker deep inside, even before he played a few covers from Aerosmith and REO Speedwagon. He's just so full of energy and fun that the night just few by (I honestly didn't realize how late it was until after he was on for over an hour). I didn't care either because I was having a blast!

Meeting him was pure joy as well. I've met a lot of people in my life, but I don't think I've ever met someone who's just so sweet and nice. He stood around for well over an hour signing autographs and taking pictures and he actually took the time to talk to each person that was there. It wasn't a sign, smile and good bye set up (like so many autograph sessions are)... he seemed to really want to talk to his fans! I just wish I could have stayed longer because I bet he was hanging out afterward drinking in the bar with the rest of the guests! He just seems like that kind of person!

So I'm tired..... still in a fantastic mood and realizing now it's Thursday. This has seriously been one of the busiest weeks I've had in ages! Matthew and I have been somewhat of hermit like since I've been preganant. It's not even an issue of not having a lot of money or not having the time or a baby sitter... it's just a realization that we have someone to take care of and spending money frivilously isn't going to get us anywhere in life.

It's surprising how much I've changed my attitute toward a lot of things. Before, by now I would have spent well over $500 on concert tickets for the year.... and I think to this point I'm up to maybe $100 and that's for Martina and Toby. I also plan to go to Brooks and Dunn and Brad Paisly provided I can find a few friends to drag along with me.... I'm sure I will... I always do!

I can't believe it's pretty much August (And I haven't been to PGP once yet). Sunday is actually the first day I'll be going to PGP this summer..... it feels so weird too! It honestly feels as though I haven't been there in years.. when it's really only been about a year. Crazy! Toby Keith is Sunday. I'm so stoked to go too! My mom's going (Because I told her so) and my friends Dana and Melissa. It's going to be a riot!

As I was saying though, this has just been one busy week between doctor appointments, last nights concert, after work Matthew is hitting the meadows with money on his card for free play (I went the last two times so I figured I'd let him go this time), Saturday I'm getting a facial I bought months ago at a nice spa in Canonsburg.

So yes, life's a little nuts this week. I don't know why... it's always AUGUST that's nuts for me... Next weekend we've got our mini golf tournament, then the following weekend is my family reunion (still not sure if I'm going... but I might) and then Aug 20 we're leaving for Baltimore and then I come back to work for 3 days and I'm off on vacation until Sept 1 (Woo Hoo off for my birthday (Planned that on purpose)....

So yea... If I'm distant, forgetting to put things up on the website, or just confused.... now you know why!


FYI - Pictures from last night WILL be posted soon on the website (probably tonight or tomorrow).... :) :)

Yeah!!!! Cereal!!!!

Horray! Aerie's 4 month check up went well! She's growing and gaining weight just where she should be, which is what we want! Our littly lady weighed in at 11 lbs and 13 oz. Just under the 12 I was guessing! She also is over 23 inches long.... just under the 2 foot tall mark! I can't believe she's getting so big!

After Aerie's appointment, we took her home and I opened the box of cereal (that I bought over a week ago impatiently awaiting her check up and the go ahead for cereal. Well, what an experience! I took about 20 minutes to feed her about a tablespoon and a half of cereal... most of which went on the table, and her chair, and HER and eventually some into her mouth!

She did so well and caught on to the act very quickly. I was proud of her. She managed to keep most of the mess to her bib and me and the chair... and surprisingly nothing in her hair (I still gave her a bath afterward though.... cuz that stuff is STICKY!

I can see she wants to be independent because all she did was try to grab the spoon from me and feed herself! I eventually just gave it to her to let her feel the cereal and play with it. She even tried to put it in her mouth. It was so cute. Of course we video taped the whole event, but the file is 17 minutes long and will be much to large to upload to our website.... so you'll just have to enjoy the many pictures I posted on the site. ENJOY! I've included my favorite photo of her taking the spoon from me on here.