We made it!

As an update on our little Hayden and her struggle into the teething world, I am proud to say we survived and all are doing well:) That was a rough week we had but for the past few days there has been a significant change in behavior and sleeping patterns. She has been such a big girl with going to sleep when she is supposed to and taking naps when she should. We are so grateful to have a happy baby again. I know it won't always be so easy and we will have stages that we have to push through and it might get tough, but the smiles and giggles make all those times worth it.

This last weekend was General Conference. I really do look forward to these meetings and any kind of spiritual uplifting I can get from them. They always remind me of the many blessings I have in my life and what is really important. I love my family and I love the gospel. I can't wait to read these talks next month when they come out.

Speaking of family, have I ever mentioned that I have the best husband? Well, I do. He is my best friend.
It's a great feeling to know I can be myself around someone and know he will love me for it.


Also, I have the funniest dog and an even sillier little girl. They definitely make my day a little more interesting. Who wants the toy more?

Today is my grandma Lily's birthday(my mom's mom). She is who we named Hayden Lily after. I don't remember much of her but I know she was a beautiful person and a loving woman. Happy Birthday!

Teething Sucks.

Our poor baby is getting her first tooth(maybe teeth)and it has not been very much fun. Not only does she have to deal with the pain of a little tooth piercing her little gum, but I also stopped nursing all in the same week, so double whammy for her. I will admit, I feel a little guilty for 50% of her crabbiness, but the other 50% is all mother nature. She does love her bottles though, and gets excited every time she sees us making one up, but I will miss those special moments with her. But I guess I won't have to deal with any chance of her biting me.....that can't be fun.

Now about those teeth...for the love....stop hurting my child! I know it must be painful for her, but hopefully it won't last much longer. These sleepless nights are just about killing me and Carl and my little girl needs her rest. Tonight was especially hard for us, there was just nothing else we could do for her. We gave her Tylenol, some baby orajel, lots of love, clean diaper, bottle..everything she would need, but in the end she just needed sleep, so we let her fall asleep on her own, kicking and screaming the whole way. She did it though, she fell asleep and it broke my heart, but it worked and the crying only lasted about 15 minutes, or at least that's what Carl said since my whole night seemed to be one big blur.

I'm so sad that these little babies have to deal with any pain at all, even if it is just a little tooth coming in. They are so sweet and innocent. I wish it didn't have to be like that. (Can you tell I've had an emotional night? Because I can.)

So here are some pictures to brighten your day. I attempted to get one of Hayden's new tooth, but it is kind of hard to get an 8 month old to sit still and flash her pearly whites, so I'll take what I can get!

You're probably thinking I made the whole thing up about her teething because you can't really see them in this picture, but I assure you, there is a tooth. If you have super vision you might be able to see it here. Good luck.

I love her eyes in this shot.


Cute nakey time(with a diaper, I learned my lesson the hard way)


Daddy daughter time


Sweet baby


P.S. We just realized that Ella is in one of the photos. Can you find her?

A few things....

1. HEROES started last night and we have been really excited about it. Needless to say it kept us in suspense as always. What in the world is going to happen?!? From here on out we are basically couch potatoes, secluded from the world to get lost in the fantasy of TV land. We love the fall and all the shows that start up again. Next is The OFFICE on Thursday and then we have to wait a long time for LOST, but we are excited. Bring on the anti-socialism.




2. Ella....what a funny dog. She's definitely got a personality and knows how to push our buttons sometimes, but she is so dang cute that it is hard to stay mad at her. The other day we came home to a very happy dog, as always, but I noticed there was half of a candy wrapper on the floor that wasn't there before we left. This always makes me nervous because Ella has a very sensitive stomach and a lot of times gets sick if she eats anything other than her food. So I was hoping she didn't actually eat it but when I went to check her out, sure enough she had some yellow laffy taffy stuck in her white hair by her mouth. Busted!(Thanks, Jess, for making me laugh every time you say that word. It was fun seeing you!) She ate the whole thing plus half of the wrapper, so we waited for the puke and diarrhea to hit. Luckily it never did, thank goodness. I now know not to leave laffy taffy laying around. You would think I would have figured that out by now.......(If you look close enough, you can see the yellow taffy in her beard in that picture.)

3. We went on a beautiful hike up Rock Canyon on Sunday to see the changing colors. We still are a couple weeks off from having very vibrant oranges and yellows, but it was still pretty. It's nice to get out as a family and be active, since I was talking so much about being couch potatoes before. I love these times to ourselves in nature.






4. More attempts of Hayden crawling:


5. My stalker is no longer stalking. Farewell, old friend. I did become fond of our daily meetings in the hallway, but I know you are on to bigger and better bugs to eat than the ones in our hallway. Thank you for freeing us of any annoying insect.

Fall Colors

The trees in the mountains are starting to change their colors and I love it! These are the view of the mountains from our courtyard. Fall is definitely on its way and I welcome it with open arms. Hayden and I took a walk to a store called Rod Works today, a cute home decorating store that has fun Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations and I just sat and stared at them all.(I would put a link to the site but they haven't updated their blog in a while, but you can look it up on your own if you want:) I can't wait to decorate our house for the fun holidays coming up.




What would a post of mine be without a video of a cute, silly girl. This is Hayden on the edge of her seat, giddy with excitement to watch her new favorite video. Thank you, Baby Einstein. You are my new best friend.

59-0 Are you kidding me??!!

I know most of you probably missed the BYU - UCLA game so let me break it down for you. BYU scored, then scored again, and again, and again, and again, again, again, kicked a field goal, then scored again. Oh and if you are wondering what the big PAC 10 team UCLA did, well I believe they fumbled more than anything else.


I got so sick last week when all ESPN could talk about was how lucky BYU was that the refs called that "crap" call against Washington. Nobody talked about the fact that BYU blocked the extra point. I am glad they came out with a vengeance and that it was against a good UCLA team that had beaten Tennessee two weeks ago. Take that Ute fans and everyone else that doubted the Cougars!

Sorry but I just wanted to gloat a little and Devin's blog seemed like the perfect place.

Hayden, of course!

So, I'm not in a hurry for Hayden to start crawling, but that doesn't mean I'm not excited to see her propping herself up and getting close. I've been hanging out with the camera in my hands for that one golden moment when she starts to crawl. I've captured a few cute attempts, but she is still a work in progress. This little video is just a start of what's to come:





I'm beginning to wonder if Hayden is really my baby. I don't think we look alike all that much, but she sure does look like her daddy! I think I would rather her look like him anyway because he is so darn cute, and so is she!!!







Hayden is a trooper. She has to endure all sorts of humiliation from her mom and pops just so they can get a good laugh every now and then. This video is no exception. Don't worry, we didn't make her eat all of the applesauce.....you'll see what I mean. We aren't that cruel.....
P.S.....this is the first solid food she hasn't liked. Aren't all babies supposed to LOVE applesauce? I thought that was the rule. Oh well. You can't win them all.

Family = Fun

There is so much to be happy about and grateful for. I am a lucky girl because I am surrounded by the best people who make me laugh and I know love me, no matter what my flaws and weaknesses are.



My family is great. We we lucky enough to have ALMOST my whole family with us a couple weekends ago for the first BYU home game, which we won, no big deal:) We missed Brian and Flora, but really enjoyed having everyone else stay with us. Hayden loved playing with her cousins, Spencer and Connor, and we really loved being with family again. My parents are so generous and really helped us out to make sure everyone was comfortable and had enough to eat. Our pantry will never look like that again!:) Thanks guys!! Go Cougs!

Also, my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary while they were with us....congratulations to them!! They are an inspiration. They both got what they wanted, my dad got to go to the game and my mom got to be with her grandkids. Everyone is happy!:)



My in-laws are awesome. Gma McCain is a very talented woman and made this beautiful blanket for Hayden. They are very supportive of us and have helped us so much. Plus, they have raised a pretty darn good kid, well 5 darn good kids, so kudos to them!




What a pair. I seriously couldn't make it without these two in my life. Carl is the best hubby you could ask for and has been so supportive and helpful to me these past two weeks. I have dealt with anxiety for a while but it has been rough the last little bit, but he has stepped up and been a hero to me in helping me deal with it, and I love him for that! Hayden just makes me smile. She truly makes me happy. I'm a lucky girl.