Rejoicing!

We just recently overcame a big thing with Elizabeth. Elizabeth had been doing great at taking a morning nap in her own bed after I rocked her to sleep (which didn't take long). The afternoon however was a different story. I would rock her and lay her down and she would wake back up. We found that putting her in the swing put her too sleep so she would occasionally sleep there for a couple of hours. Then it happened!!! Later last week I was home alone with Elizabeth and I was doing some things around the house. She was playing on her floor mat and would watch me walk back and forth. Then one time I looked down and she was asleep!!! She is still doing this which is awesome! If I see her fall asleep on her mat....I then graciously pick her up and put her in her bed so she gets comfortable with her bed. (she kind of wakes up but goes right back to sleep in her bed) I still am able to rock her to sleep in the morning. (I love cuddle moments with her since Hayden doesn't do much of that anymore)

This picture was her asleep just a couple of weeks ago; looks just like Hayden. Love the way they sleep.
My two precious children!! Still crazy to think I am a mom.
Hayden had just given Elizabeth a kiss in this picture.
Next on our agenda of things to learn is sleeping in her pack n play. She sleeps all night swaddled in her sleeper (like a bassinet; which keeps her upright some) but we need to practice sleeping flat in her pack n play. I wanted to make sure she is sleep great at night. I will continue to do better at posting!

Meet my family

Please meet Elizabeth Ann. I can now say I feel more rested. Elizabeth has been a great baby from the start but even better now because she is sleeping til about 7:45 in the morning. So I am getting about 9 hrs of sleep at night. She is one very happy baby. She was giving me 8 hrs of sleep but that was adding it all together. The only time she fusses is if she is sleepy or hungry. Big Brother is doing great with her!! He loves her and is always asking to see her. He also makes sure she gets a hug and a kiss before he goes to bed. Elizabeth will be going in to the doctor in a week for her 2 month checkup!!! I can't believe its already been 2 months. We are very happy now and are very excited that we now have a precious boy AND a precious girl!! Its been an adjustment but we are surviving! Here are some pics we have taken through these past 8 weeks!

Elizabeth is here!

So I haven't done too great at posting lately. However, I wanted all to know that Elizabeth Ann is finally here! She arrived October 17th. She is doing great and Hayden is doing a great job at being a helper for me and also as a big brother. He loves on her a lot! Once we get more pictures uploaded I will update with those and more stories about the big day! For now here are my 3 favorite people!!!

Exciting week for the Bucks!

This past week was a big week for Hayden as well as for the family. We are coming to the realization that our little man is growing up. Kind of sad but also excited to see what he is learning and able to do. Hayden started Pre School at the Mother's Day Out here in Gatlinburg. (where I also work) Here is a picture of his first day this week.


This next picture is just for fun and to see how much he has been growing the past year. This is from his first day at Mother's Day Out last year. Funny thing is Hayden can still wear those clothes.



The other big thing that happened this week is Hayden is now tall enough to ride his big boy bike. We took him to a park in Pigeon Forge that has a great walking path and flat. He can now pedal his bike all by himself; except for a small push start. He loved it and I'm excited that I can walk and he can ride his bike!!! Here is a link to a short video that Joey made of this new experience as well as a picture.

Baby Buck Reveal Party

So we have had one exciting week this week!!! Mom and dad came in this past Saturday and after they got here we were looking forward to our reveal day. When we had a sonogram about a month ago I had the nurse put in an envelope if the baby was a boy or a girl. The envelope stayed in our safe deposit box til this past Thursday. I then gave it to a friend who was going to make either a pink or blue cake. This reveal was this past Sunday June 12th. Here are a few pictures that captured the moment.







IT'S A GIRL!!! Elizabeth Ann Buck will be here in October!!
Dad passed on a sweet moment that he experience with Hayden the Monday following the reveal party. While at the playground at my parents condo a couple of girls came up to play and Hayden being his friendly self was talking to them. Dad didn't hear it all but he did here, "that's my little sister's name." So when Hayden came over to Dad, he asked Hayden if one of the girls names was Elizabeth and he said yes. Hayden is going to be a great big brother.

Where did this come from?

What a precious but different night we had the other night. It was Saturday night that we laid Hayden down for bed like any other night. About 3 minutes later I'm taking my makeup off and Joey is in our room doing some last minute work; we hear Hayden crying. (Just before that he was talking because I could hear him through the bathroom) We went in there and he said, "I just love you so much." Joey and I reassured Hayden that we were not going anywhere and that we loved him as well. During this time he also cried that he just wanted to be a big brother. I once again reassured him that the baby was on his/her way. This continued for a few more minutes but what sticks in my head still is him crying and saying, "But I love ya'll so much."

What brought this about than any other day? Who knows but what really makes me smile is how big Hayden's heart is. We knew that the day he was born he was a very curious baby as he just watched and listened to the new sounds. To this day I still feel he is looking around and listening to what is going on around him and curious and concerned to how others are feeling.
The day before this took place we were at a birthday party for a friend's daughter. While she was opening her presents Hayden came around the table to us saying, "I have a question for you daddy." He leaned over and said, "I love you." Wow!! If that doesn't make your heart melt I don't know what would. (he doesn't understand statements and questions yet; Ha!)

Praise the Lord for the heart of our son and for the excitement he has about being a big brother that he is just ready. He is going to be an awesome brother! Something else that is amazing to me is that God's love for his children is soo much greater than this. Wow!! That is huge!!

Mommy and Daddy love you so much too Hayden!!!

Spring has arrived

Well I believe Spring is now here. However, right now it feels as if summer is here. This past weekend it was in the 80s but this week looks like it could be in the 70s which I am excited about that. Since it was a beautiful weekend (even thought it felt hot) we were able to enjoy some outdoor activities. We had an Easter Egg hunt at the church for Hayden which he of course loved. After that we were going to Dollywood to play while daddy made some visits. Our "playing" consisted first the air conditioned theater for a show. Of course the trip ended with bowls of ice cream and some rain to cool us off. I will say that others had the same idea as us in going to Dollywood. It was pretty crowded.
The evening consisted of pizza on the front porch, which it felt great at that time.

There were a couple of things that happened this weekend that I would like to share; mainly for grandparents to hear. Someone who has Hayden in a class with her came to me and was very complimentary of Hayden. She said he is so well mannered and is always saying please and thank you. She also said that he opened the gate for her (from the playground) as they were leaving and just thought that was the sweetest thing. That brought a smile to my face because we do work with him on his manners and to hear from someone else that he is doing these things is the rewarding part of parenting.
Also as we were headed home last night Hayden was hold his stuffed bear in the backseat and talking to him. Its what he was saying that really caught me. He was telling him the story he learned in Sunday School which was Jesus washing his disciples feet. (Hayden got to be the helper and be the disciple) What a precious thing to hear.

Today is currently April 11th and so that means two weeks from today we will begin our journey to Branson where we will be with family for a week. We are sooo ready for a getaway!!!!

Joey and Hayden Conversation

Conversation with Joey and Hayden:

Joey: "Hayden, come sit with me and read with me. Let's read my magazine. (Popular Mechanics)"

Hayden: "How about my magazine. (leaves to his room) Let's read this book daddy!"

Joey: "Ok" (sad he can't read his magazine)

Hayden then climbs up into daddy's lap and says, "daddy you need to scoot over."

Joey: "You sure are making things complicated." (mostly sad he has to scoot over in his chair and he isn't getting to ready Popular Mechanics) Ha!

Hayden: "Yeah Yeah I am."

It was pretty hilarious. If it doesn't seem funny it must have been one of those "you had to have been there" type of moments.

What a fun blessing

Today when we got Hayden out of his class from church he was nonstop about the story he learned. The story was Daniel and the Lion's Den. He kept telling us, " Daniel was thrown in the lion's den; God made the lions nice lions; God protected Daniel; the lions did this (showing us he couldn't open his mouth)"
What a huge blessing to know the excitement of learning about our God and telling others. His teacher even said he was asking questions! If Joey started talking in the car Hayden would say, "shhh I'm talking about Daniel!" Love it!! Maybe we can get it on video of him telling the story of Daniel.

Also on our way home we were driving by the condos that my parents stay at everytime they are in. I made the comment that I was excited about Nenaw and Papa coming in June so we could stay in their condo. Hayden said maybe they will be in room 118. I told Joey we would have to write that # down just in case it ended up being that number. Well then Hayden perks up and says just like Weekend of a Lifetime. I'm pretty sure that the room he stayed in with Grandmommy and Grandaddy Buck at this conference was 118 and Joey and I were 119. That amazes me that Hayden can pull some back up from a few months ago. As Joey would say, "He's a genious!"

Dollywood is open next week!! We are all ready!

Baby is getting bigger!

Another funny from Hayden today.
As I was getting Hayden out of the car I was telling him that my tummy wasn't feeling so good. He said "why?" I told him it was the baby and it was probably cause the baby was getting bigger. He said, "well lets get it out." I said we can't get it out yet. He responded with but the baby is bigger. He doesn't realize how much bigger the baby needs to be before coming. Very cute!!
He continues to make us laugh!!

Pets we didn't know we had

This past week Hayden is branching out to act like animals. This week we have had a pet frog named Hermit and today he is now a dog named Herpson. (Herpson is his last name but we can call him by that) We have one silly boy on our hands.
I believe you all have heard Hayden mention his girlfriend Ashley. Well we had her and her husband over for dinner. We did not tell Hayden that they were coming. First he hid and finally when I got him out of his room (me holding him), he was holding on to me so tight that I could put my arms to the side of me and he was still holding on. About 15-20 minutes later he was running alllll over the places. Not sure if you are aware but if we see any of our friends that are in shows from Dollywood Hayden acts soooo shy and won't even look at them. Hopefully we will be growing out of that but its also so funny that he acts like that. Ha!

Just wanted to add a couple of things on here that Hayden said today.....The first you may needed to have been there but this morning Hayden came in our room as Joey and I were still in bed and opened up the blinds. I said, "Hayden does it look like its going to rain?" He responded with, "Probably so." That is a big word (to me) for him to say so to hear him say that was really cute.
The next thing was we were at ChickfilA this evening for dinner. On the kids meals you can give back the toy in exchange for ice cream. So we got the ice cream for Hayden. We had to put a napkin tucked into his shirt and it kept falling and we would fix it. Hayden responded with, "when I become a big brother I will put this (napkin)on the baby. " We responded with that would be a very good big brother. Such a sweet kid!
Katy

Long Time No Talk

Wow has it really been about 2 months since I last posted. Well some of that excuse is we have been doing lots of going and going. In January we had a 3 week vacation. Oh it was soo fun. However by the end of it we were exhausted and ready to sleep in our own home. We thank each of you for being available to see us, feed us, love us, "play" with us.....etc. It was definitely a trip worth remembering. Here are a few pics to recap our trip!!!

Big Texas at SFA campus with Hayden

Uncle Philly

Mason and Hayden....sweet Cousins!

Grandaddy Buck and Hayden

Flor and Chloe with Hayden and me

One thing else I would like to start doing on this blog is posting the fun and cute things Hayden has done or said. I will start off with this story.
This past week Hayden came in after naptime and asked me....get ready for this, "Can we cuddle?" My answer was well of course!!! How do I pass that up. So once we got him, Max, Bear, and Clifford all settled in, I hugged Hayden and gave him a kiss on the back of his head. He then in response turned around to give me a kiss on my cheek. These are the moments I live for. Hayden also today on his "My Day" sheet from Mother's Day Out said he was wonderful and that he has great manners. That tells me we are doing something right; he is doing well at applying what we are teaching him outside the home.
As I am writing this it is about 9:40. We laid Hayden down at 9. He just came out of the room and told us we were being too loud while he was trying to sleep. (shh....I blame it on Joey; he kept talking and walking and doing things; I was just sitting here with the computer)

Katy