Hayden is TWO!

At 1:11pm on May 20, 2009, Hayden Douglas Lott officially turned 2 years old! You've heard it said a million times, "HOW does time fly so fast?!" but it just couldn't be more true! I never would have imagined how much joy, love, purpose, and adventure it would be to be Hayden's Mommy. Happy Birthday, Sweetie.

His birthday party last Saturday was a lot of fun. We rented out a super kid-friendly coffee shop in Seattle called My Coffeehouse. It is full of toys, a big Thomas train table, Lego table, play kitchen, and enough space for our 30 guests, including 8 kids.




All the kids really enjoyed it, and it was nice to have espresso service for those who wanted. We also brought in our own snacks, drinks, and birthday cake. I ordered a plain chocolate sheet cake from Costco and my mom and I decorated the top with little construction trucks and crushed cookies as dirt. I was really happy with the way it turned out and Hayden seemed to REALLY love it! Especially the M&Ms I loaded into the back of the dump truck! The cake, plates, napkins, cups, balloons, and decorations were all construction truck theme. Hayden's favorite!







When it came time to open presents, Hayden was pretty distracted by the awesome train table, so I helped him a bit. His cousin Ethan and friend Lucy enjoyed helping, too. He loves all his new toys - Thank you everyone! Even Mommy enjoys playing with all this fun, new stuff!



We brought the video camera with us, but totally forgot to use it. I'm so sad. :( Next time, I need to designate someone else to be photographer and videographer so I can do all the other hosting duties as well as enjoy the special event.

For Hayden's actual birthday on Wednesday the 20th, Hayden experienced Chuck E Cheese for the first time! Unfortunately Phil had a business trip to Chicago this week, so he couldn't join us, but Grandma Judi (my mom), Grandma Doris and Grandpa Jim (Phil's parents) were all there. It was hilarious to see Hayden take in all the sights and sounds, running around trying to figure out what to do and look at next. He loved it! There was one giant Monster Truck ride in the middle of the arcade area that really captivated him. He didn't really have the attention span to ride on the rides, and some were a little too scary once they started to move, but he really enjoyed putting coins in the slots! There was also a "Toddler Town" area that had rides and a climbing structure better suited for his age. I wasn't sure if he'd be scared of the stage with the moving character show and the life-size Chuck E Cheese who was walking around the place greeting the kids and getting photo ops, but he did ok. He got a little scared when Chuck E came up close to him, but then warmed up to him when Chuck E gave him high 5 and played Peek-A-Boo with him.










Earlier last week, we also had a group birthday party at PEPS for all the toddlers, some turned two already in April and a few will be turning two very soon. We did a book exchange and had cupcakes. It was so cute!





Along with the three birthday celebrations, the other big event this week was Hayden getting a new Big Boy Bed. We decided his 2nd birthday was better than waiting until after Brooklyn is born, where he might feel Baby Sister was stealing his crib. We set it up last Sunday afternoon in the living room so when he woke up from his nap, it was a fun surprise. He loved it right away, climbed on it, laid down and said, "nigh nigh"! Phil and I were really amazed at how well he has made the transition. We rearranged his room so the new bed could be in the same place his crib used to be (thanks for the tip, Rachel!) and the crib is moved by the window, for now. We had to move the glider into our room to make the extra space, but I think it will be nice to have it in there for nursing Brooklyn and not disturb Hayden in the night.



The first night, it took Hayden almost an hour to finally fall asleep in his new bed, but surprisingly, he never got out of bed and slept until 7am! It has been great to have the new video monitor so we can spy on him. The past couple days, he has been falling asleep within his normal 10-15 minutes, and sleeping great for naps and bedtime. He loves the Construction Trucks bedding (Pottery Barn Kids), too. It's so cute to see him in a Big Boy Bed!

Hayden is definitely a two-year-old, with his share of testing, curiosity, and individuality, but I am hopeful that it won't be The Terrible Two's. He has moments of disobedience, but for the most part, we are enjoying the journey. I have been looking into some parenting/discipline philosophies and just finished a book called, "Love and Logic for Early Childhood" by Jim & Charles Fay. It has been helping me be proactive in helping Hayden learn who is in charge without being a drill sergeant. The Love & Logic philosophy is basically to love your children with empathy and support, while allowing them to grow and live with the consequences of their choices. To paraphrase a few nuggets from the book: "By setting limits in a loving way, and turning every mistake or misbehavior into a learning opportunity, the child learns to make good choices and be a respectful, responsible person." And the whole point is to have more fun parenting and less stress. So far, it seems like a good approach. I don't agree with everything they say, but I feel better going into the Two's with a Game Plan.

Philippians 4:19

It's not breaking news that the economy is rough and everyone is having to find ways to save money and make better financial choices. We just has to make a really tough choice ourselves. Phil decided we should sell his beloved Subaru WRX. He's downsizing to a less expensive car so we'll eliminate that car payment and even have a little extra money in the bank to help us out during the 3 months I plan on not working after Brooklyn is born.

If you know Phil, you know he loves cars. This WRX has been his passion for the past few years, using birthdays and Christmases as an opportunity to add various after-market parts to make it even higher performing and personalized: wheels, struts, iPod sound system, MOMO steering wheel and shift knob, etc. It sold in just a few days and he just put a deposit down on a 2003 Ford Focus SVT. It will be ours by the end of the week after the dealership replaces some worn tires and gives it a full auto detail.

Bye-Bye WRX:

Hello Ford Focus:

It couldn't be better timing. Work for me has been slower than normal. I had even hoped to work a little more over the next couple months to save up for maternity leave. Various clients and projects have been stalled in moving forward with some jobs, leaving me twiddling my thumbs and starting to get nervous about finding more work for the first time in my freelance career. Of course, I worry that as soon as I line up some new work, these other jobs that have been delayed will all come through and then I'll be overloaded, but I think that would be better than nothing at all.

We also refinanced our home mortgage and are taking a serious look at cutting all the non-essentials from our budget.

Just as we were feeling pretty depressed about our financial circumstances, God came through for us in a big way. Out of the generosity of one of Phil's coworkers, we were recently given a bunch of brand new baby gear: Schwinn double jogger stroller, crib mattress, extra car seat, video monitor, and some other baby health devices. It was an incredible blessing and we are just in shock at how amazing it is to receive all this stuff for free. Wow.

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" - Philippians 4:19

Funny Kid

Just a couple funny stories about Hayden so I don't forget and can look back on them when I need a good laugh:

So... Hayden likes to look at our photo albums. Mostly the pictures of the red toy Jeep at Grandma's and the elephant that went "poopy" at the zoo. So it took me a minute to understand what was so special about this picture:


He was pointing to his face and making the sound he makes for a cat's "meow". Every time he'd go to this picture, point and "Meow". When then I realized, he was pointing to the shadow on his face and our cat's name is "Shadow"!! I was really impressed that he connected the 2 words. I guess that is pretty confusing, though, if I point out "there's a shadow on your face" and he isn't seeing our black cat!

So another funny story: The other evening I was really sick and camped out on the couch. I was flipping through the channels and Top Gun was on TV. It was just at the part where the "Take my Breath Away" music was coming on and Phil said, "This was always the part my parents made us fast-forward." (Because it is the steamy make-out scene with Tom Cruise in Kelly McGillis's bedroom.) We thought Hayden was completely immersed in playing with his car, but just as "Maverick" and Kelly go in for a big smooch, Hayden pops up from behind his car and goes, "Mmwaa" -- which is his sound for kiss. It was so hysterical that he totally understood that they were kissing, and that Phil had JUST commented about how it wasn't an appropriate scene for kids! Wow, now you all know why I am usually neurotic about having the tv on around Hayden! Phil and I were laughing so hard our sides hurt.