The "Littlest" Gudel Family

Happy Birthday My Sweet Ryan!

2008-08-08T10:22:00.001-07:00

Today is a little bittersweet for me. Ryan would have been 29 today. It is hard to believe it has been a little over a year since I have seen him or heard his voice. I miss him so badly sometimes it aches. But I bet he is having a big birthday party in the "sky" with all his heavenly friends. Wish I could be there bubba! I miss you and love you and you are always in my heart. Blowing you lots of kisses!

My little giggle bear

2008-08-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

So she is really on a roll with firsts! She officially let out her first belly laugh and it was so adorable I nearly cried! We have been waiting for what feels like FOREVER for her to laugh out loud. She always does this big open mouth "silent" laugh, where it looks like she wants to laugh so hard but never does. Last night, I stripped her down to her diaper and was letting her roll all over her soft blanket. So I take out the camera to try and get this on tape and of couse, she won't roll over for the camera. So my camera battery finally dies and Jon wanders in the room and starts kissing her and tickling her neck and then she let out the most adorable laugh! We both stood there shocked and so he did it again and she laughed again! It was like her laugh broke free from where it was trapped! Of course we started calling the grandparents and trying to get them to listen on speaker phone but the little stinker wouldn't do it... she was only saving it for mommy and daddy. Hopefully this means many more laughs to come!

And over she went!

2008-08-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

Hayleigh officially rolled over on her tummy all by herself yesterday! I was so amazed! My husband just happened to arrive home and she was laying on her little blanket. I walked out of the room and when I returned, there she was slowly working her way over. Once she got that arm out from under her, she was belly bound! I was pretty impressed for a 3 month old! Then my mom called me today and said that she did it for her! Go Hayleigh! Now if she could just figure out how to get back over.........

In other news, Hayleigh just took her 3 month pictures. She was an ANGEL! She is really becoming such a happy baby. She grew out of the "cry anytime anyone but mommy or daddy hold me" phase and now loves everyone. She is just such a joy and I am having so much fun with her every day. Just wanted to share her 3 month pictures.... she is growing and rolling so fast!

My little girl is growing up!

2008-07-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

So my little munchkin has hit her 3 month mark! It is crazy how fast time goes by. This week, I went through her drawers and closet and packed up all her newborn clothing and pretty much anything up to 3 months because she doesn't fit into them anymore. It made me a little sad. People aren't joking when they tell you to enjoy each day because your kids grow up so fast. Hayleigh no longer needs me to hold her head, she is perfectly capable of doing so on her own. She is able to roll herself over occasionally, and maneuver in her crib all around so that throughout the night, she is facing a different direction. She baby talks all day long, she loves listening to the sounds she can make with her mouth. And crazily, she has a tooth lingering just below the surface already. Her personality and smiles get bigger every day. She is showing so much interest in the world around her. I am loving playing with her and teaching all you can "teach" a 3 month old. Next week she is taking her 3 month pictures so I will have those to post. In the mean time, here are a few of here discovery of toys. She is starting to show more interest in them and this is a duck that grammy bought her the other day. We call him Howard.

Trying to eat Howard the Duck

Trying to find that tooth

Let's get a move on!

2008-07-11T09:17:00.000-07:00

So I have really determined that Hayleigh has zero patience for "baby stuff". The kid started out at the weight of a toddler (Well, not really but it felt that way to me at 9lbs, 12oz!) It already appears that she is probably going to get a bottom tooth, at the ripe age of 3 MONTHS, and she would rather just skip crawling and go straight to walking with the rate of speed she kicks those rather long legs of hers. to help strengthen those muscles of hers, I put her on her stomach on the floor for short spans of time so that she can get some exercise. I hate to say that I sit there and giggle but I can't help myself. Every time this little girl pushes up to lift her head, she makes a loud grunting sound or bellows happily. It is quite a production. Even Cooper comes over to check out what she is up to down there. Then I roll her over on her back and we practice rolling onto our side, though she does do that sporadically but with much propelling of the legs. She is definitely on the move though. I will lay her in her crib and and when I look at the montitor periodically throughout the night, she has turned sideways and usually by the morning, has turned herself 180 degrees and is now head down where her feet once were. It is very apparent that I will get plenty of exercise with Miss Hayleigh when those legs actually let her take off.

Working hard to get that head up

She thought mommy was funny with my camera in her face

What can I fit in here?!

2008-07-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

So Hayleigh's newest discovery has been her body parts. She is fascinated with her thighs... who wouldn't be though with all those adorable rolls? Of course, as we ladies get older, rolls on the thighs are more terrifying that facinating. But it is so amusing to watch her pinch at her thighs, stare at her arm as she waves it around, pull on her hair and ear as she drinks her bottle. The biggest discovery she has made though is her mouth and all the wonderful things she can try and fit in it! Not to mention all the wonderful sounds she can make with it. I feel this could pose a problem when she starts moving. Whatever she sees will most likely end up in the mouth but I will worry about that when the time comes. For now, I find it super cute! Her new favorite thing to do is to try and stick her whole fist in her mouth. She could seriously spend long periods of time trying to fit that thing in her mouth, gag herself after she gets it in there too far, and then try try again! I had to snap a few pictures of this spectacle, since I find it oh so adorable. Like I said, I probably won't find it so adorable when the day comes where I catch her putting a "no-no" in her mouth but for now, these little discoveries make my day.

It starts with trying to fit the toy in there....

Then, discovery of the hand which tastes WAY better.....

Little Swimmer

2008-07-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting around to posting these. A few weeks ago, I decided to take Hayleigh swimming for the first time and my parent's house. She LOVES the bath so much that I figured the swimming pool would be like one big bath tub to her! I whipped out my "what to expect the first year book", I often refer to that as my bible because any new mom question I have, I look up in that book. LOL, Anyways... I looked up what was "acceptable" for a baby her age and swimming pools and as long as the temp was between 84-87 degrees, and I protected her skin with sunblock, I was good to go. (I really think I was just looking for an excuse to put her in her bathing suit and take pictures of her). So I put her in her little suit and matching hat to keep the sun out of her face..... took about a billion pictures, and then it was off to the pool. She was very intrigued but a little startled by the fact that the water just wasn't as warm as her little bath. She adjusted quickly though and enjoyed swishing her hands around in it and kicking her feet at it. Unfortunately, the pictures my dad took didn't turn out to well (wrong setting on his camera, come on grandpa!) so we only have a few from my camera. We plan on trying this swimming thing again this weekend (since it is friggin 110 degrees here!) so I am hoping for some better ones. So basically, consider these swimsuit model pictures.... not actual "swimming" pictures. Swimming pictures to come......

Hayleigh's first 4th of July

2008-07-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

Well it definitely wasn't the hottest 4th we ever had but it was in the 90's and pretty hot for a little baby. for the acutal 4th, we took Hayleigh outside to watch the fireworks that all the families on our street were doing. At first she was intrigued but I think the loud pops scared her a little because she would hide her face in my chest and slowly peak out again to see. That only lasted about 10 minutes and we decided she just wasn't that into them... but I don't know many 2 month olds that would be. The next day was my husband's annual family BBQ. It was definitely a hot one. Hayleigh had the cutest 4th of July outfit that my mom got her but I finally stripped the kid down to her diaper since we were both sticking together from sweat. My soon to be sister-in-law's little nephew Clayton was there. I decided since he was SO CUTE that I needed to make him Hayleigh's boyfriend. I am already working on arranging the marriage. LOL Hayleigh did pretty good though for her first whole day outside in some hot weather. A bunch of us with kiddos hung out under a big tree at my in-laws house where there was a nice breeze and the kids could stay cool. Not sure if it was because of all the excitement or heat, but Hayleigh slept from 9pm-7am.... ALL NIGHT!!!!! I of course flew out of bed this morning because something had to be wrong for this child to sleep that late. LOL. Though she is sleeping through the night for the most part, she enjoys getting up at 4 or 5am so you can imagine my surprise. Overall, it was a nice first 4th for little Miss Hayleigh.

Her 4th of July outfit!

Grammy, Big Daddy & I got her to laugh:

Hayleigh's new little boyfriend Clayton. We put them in a little wagon together

Going in for a kiss! They were too cute!

Hayleigh & Daddy hanging out

My niece Carson being silly

"Shade" bathing

And Along Came Hayleigh......

2008-07-01T21:52:00.001-07:00

I am trying to play a little catch up here so that I can get Miss Hayleigh's "story" chronicled without too many missing pieces. I definitely did not have the easiest labor with my first baby. It has made me a tad fearful, okay petrified of having a second, so I am just going to wait until I have some serious amnesia before I do it again. I also didn't like throwing up day and night, getting fat, being swollen... where is my violin? Seriously though, I worked my tail off to get her into this world and suffered quite a few complications but her big smiles more than make up for all I had to endure. LOL. She is so worth it. I love each day with her. Here are some pictures from the first few days of her life.

My very first BLOG!!!!

2008-06-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

Well..... hopefully this is the start of something big. After being inspired by "others" to chronicle the happenings of my life, I saw this as a great outlet to talk about my "adventures in mommyhood" as well as all the other happenings in my life. This last year ironically has been the worst and best of my life. I lost my sweet brother Ryan a year ago June 14th, miscarried my first baby that same week and then was blessed to become pregnant with Hayleigh 6 weeks after I miscarried. I truely feel that Ryan blessed me with my sweet little angel. I think it was his gift to me to help me through the pain of losing him. While their isn't a moment that doesn't go by that Ryan doesn't occupy my whole heart, Hayleigh has brought so much light and joy into my life. I feel so at peace because I know Ryan is her guardian angel. I have his picture over her crib so she knows he is watching down on her.
So this is just my way of sharing my thoughts, my stories, my life with all who care to listen and for me to to have for myself to reflect upon. I soooo feel like Doogie Houser right now! LOL