Hairspray

Actually, it's just a bit of Daddy's fancy L.A. Looks, but there's no movie out right now called Hairgel. I had fun taking photos of Noah last Friday. Look closely and you can see his little mohawk hair. I know, the background is kinda dark...here, try this one...please overlook the fact that he's wearing a "muscle shirt" with a dinosaur on it (his dad despises this outfit!) and that he looks a little tubby in the next photo.

Cute, huh. I think every Friday from now on will be Spikey Hair Day. I don't want to put that goop in his hair all the time, because after a few rolls on the blanket, it gets flaky and gross, but it's too cute to not do every once and a while. Noah had a great time playing with the cat on Friday as well as chewing on my cell phone. For all of you who wonder what's going on during the silence on the other end of the phone when we try to get Noah to "talk" to you, this is basically what happens when we hold the phone to him for him to listen to you talk... So now you know! The other day while Noah was "playing" with the ringtones I have, he also managed to get "online" with my phone and I'm just fearing the day the cell phone bill comes and I find out how much his web surfing will cost me.

Happy August Day

Alfabet Souf

Today's list of pleasantries is brought to you by the Letter F. These are the first things that come to my mind when I think of things I like and am thankful for that start with F... I'm thinking this might be a hard letter...

1. Florida. It is such a beautiful place to live, year round. As much as I complain about missing seasons and Colorado every chance I get, I must admit that I live in an amazing, scenic state. It has beautifully warm weather 12 months of the year, with gorgeous beaches and palm trees everywhere. That being said, I can't forget...

2. Fall. The season with the beautiful leaves changing. I love it when it first becomes that cool breezey, sweater kind of weather. The sound of crisp, crunchy leaves under your boots. Yes, boots. Ahhh...

3. "Firsts"--I have been really enjoying experiencing Noah's "firsts"...like the first time he slept through the night, the first time he sat up by himself, first time swimming, his first tooth...and I look Forward to hearing him say "Mama" and "I love you" for the first time, his first steps, his first Halloween costume, first Christmas, the list goes on and on...Firsts are great, aren't they!

4. Fudgecicles. Ahhh, my husband and I love these as our after dinner treat. Only 40 calories. Yum. Unless of course you have more than one, which WE NeveR do...

5. Fridays. They don't mean quite as much to me now that I'm at home with Noah, but oh do I remember the feeling of finally making it through the school week successfully to another weekend! There's just something FUN about Fridays.

Welp, that's all for me...I think next week is a break, so see ya in 2 weeks for the letter G!

Shark Tooth

I should have posted this a few days ago when I took the photos, but I forgot temporarily. Here's the official first photos of Noah's first tooth. If you click on one of the bottom two pix, you can see it. It came through right around the beginning of the month, at 5 months of age, but I didn't get a good pix of it until now. It is definitely a little shark tooth! He is still chewing on everything, especially his finger, so I'm wondering if there's another one out there getting ready to come through. I haven't felt any more yet. I'm good with one, for a while, actually. Look at those big eyes! He looks more and more like Matt all the time, but his eyes are definitely a Hays thing. They go back and forth between looking green and a blueish gray color.

Noah Scooting

Click on the play button (TWICE) in the middle to watch Noah as he scoots backwards across the floor. Also, make sure the volume is all the way up so you can hear him squeal! So cute! He is so close to figuring out how to move on purpose! At the end of the video, there are 8 little pix on the bottom LEFT of Noah in the first 5 months of his life. Click on those and the videos will automatically pop up also. AHHH Where did the YouTube video go? I'm going to try to insert it using blogger...

Hungry Noah

Click on the play button in the middle and watch Noah enjoy his rice cereal. Be sure to turn the volume up to high because he's quite a noisy and demanding eater.

First Attempt at YouTube

So...I have been wanting to check out this YouTube thing for a while now, but Matt is a little bit leary of me blasting our child all over the net. He was in agreement that we should buy a video camera at Christmas, but he groans whenever I break it out. The other day when I wanted to film him wrestling around with Noah, he made a comment that sums up his intended use for it...he said something like "come on, it's not like it's a birthday or something.." Hmmmph. So he wants to only film birthdays; I had intended to film every detail so our parents could watch Noah "grow up". For instance, tonight I filmed a few seconds of Noah using his highchair for the first time. I know, a momentous occasion, right? I would say I'm winning this issue so far, but everytime I sneak out the camera, he's not overly thrilled about it. I've finally figured out he doesn't mind it as much as long as he (Matt) doesn't have to be in it. There are too many days when he "doesn't feel pretty". And as long as it doesn't showcase some bodily function or fluid. I can live with that, I guess. (But those are the really funny ones.)

I have, however, managed to capture a few fun moments on my digital cam, which is so easy to put on the computer. Here is my first attempt at YouTube. So I haven't figured out how to actually import the video to my blog, but I'm pretty proud of myself just for figuring out how to upload the videos without help.

If you go to YouTube and search for "Hungry Noah" (it's the 1st or 2nd one that comes up, the one with Capital Letters!), then click on mayjayhay on the right side. . . I think the rest of the videos will pop up (scroll down to see the bottom of the screen). Click on the play button in the middle of the video. I'm not sure why the first few don't have a frozen picture like the others do. If you know what I need to do to get them to import here, comment me!

Al pha bet soup time..

Today's Blog is brought to you by the letter E....
1. Elliptical machine! By far my favorite machine to use at the gym, and now at the house! My wondeful husband decided that it would be a wise and worthwhile gift to ask for for his birthday, so that we could both actually work-out from time to time. When we added our anniversary money to the bill, we have it nearly "paid" for. Since then, I have been amazingly consistent with it... especially when I can watch one of my guilty pleasures such as...
2. Extra, Entertainment Tonight and the E! channel on cable. They go together because they're the same lovely trash and I don't want to admit to them under two different numbers.
3. Easy Mac --I know, I know, you wish you'd thought of it first. Isn't it grand?
4. Eating. Yes, I think that it deserves it's own line. I love eating. speaking of eating, how about...
5. Elephant Ears--the fried doughey stuff from the carnivals, yum.

Welp, that was Exhausting! You try thinking of Eeeeeeees!

August 14th!

....the now infamous "airport day".
Matt and I (and Noah, of course) were able to get away yesterday for a quick trip to the Gulf Coast of FL, a place I've actually never gotten to go before! Here are a few pix I caught of Noah in the stairway window-- yes, he is standing nearly on his own with his hands holding on to the window sill--and then one of the beach house where we stayed the night. It was gorgeous!

Morning Blessing

Yes, it is 5:20 a.m. as I make this post. I have been up with Noah, trying to help him get to sleep for over an hour. And before that, we were up at 3:00 a.m...If you aren't aware, he has reverted back to waking up quite frequently in the night, and now can't seem to put himself back to sleep without help. Since Matt has to work in the morning, I always find myself trying to do whatever I can to keep him the quietest so we don't wake up Matt, which usually means picking Noah up and sometimes feeding him or laying with him till he falls asleep on the bed, then transferring him back to the crib. I know it's not the best, because he's not getting better at going back to sleep on his own, but it's the habit we're now in that I can't seem to break. So, since I get a wee bit irritated at this time in the night/morning, I thought I should post some adorable photos of the little man I love so much....reminder of why I lose the sleep that I do...
Day of his first baseball game
Cute new sweater outfit. The colors are a little plain looking in the photo, but the sweater has a little pink/striped sailboat that matches the little pink striped shirt. Too cute.
Cute little tooshy
Yes, he has discovered how to reach his toes. And his dad was encouraging him this day. Now that's a chubby little foot! He finally fits in one the Cubs outfits we were given, and I started calling him my chubby little cubby.

ABC Soup Take Two

Alphabet Soup....
I'm two letters behind Sherrie D. and the rest of 'em, and if you know me, you know I can't do something only half way, so....another double dose of abc soup. But after this I'm caught up.
Then it's once a week...

My favorite things that start with the letter C...
1. Cameras--surprise, surprise, to anyone who knows me. I take a ton of pictures and hate to go anywhere without my camera. Mostly I take photos of people, but I do love to capture nature, too...just haven't done it as much in a while. I love the new world of digital, by the way.
2. Colorado. Love it, miss it so much. The mountains, the mountain streams, the waterfalls, the cool air, snow falling, hiking, river rafting, leaf crunching, Fall, aspen trees, wild flowers in the spring, thunder storms (we do have that here, actually) etc. etc.
3. Caedmon's Call--one of my all time favorite music groups. Love their voices, their acoustic stuff. Very coffee house-ish.
4. Candles--I love to have the house filled with candles. Never a bad gift.
5. Chinese food--not even the real authentic stuff, the take-out kind. For some reason I've really taken to this in the last year or two.
6. Christmas--I love the whole holiday time and that it's celebrated for all of December. The music, the lights, the cookies, the food, the family time, the caroling, the parties, the decorations, the only thing I don't like is shopping at this time of the year, believe it or not!


And now for the letter D....these are the things that light up my life...
1. Dove milk chocolate-- I love to keep a bag at my house and have just one piece of chocolate every day as a treat (...can't you just smell it while it melts on your tongue?) Problem is, the bag never seems to last as long as it should, since I'm "only eating one a day." Hmmm...I wonder where they all go?

2. Dairy Queen ice cream--best there is. Don't even need all the blizzard toppings, just a good ol' vanilla cone is good enough for me!
(Thanx to Shorty for both of those!)

3. Disney movies--the cartoon ones and all the Hailey Mills and the old fashion ones, too. My brother and sister and I used to rent 2 or 3 every weekend for 99 cents from the grocery store...that brings back memories...

4. Dave Matthews band--he's got the most unique sound and voice...

5. Dishwashers--I hate doing dishes by hand in the sink. For one, the water at my house never seems to get hot enough to sanitize anything, and I just can't get over the fact that after the first plate or two, the water gets "dirty" and you're now washing dirty dishes with "dirty" water. Same reason why I don't ever really feel clean after a bath. I know that's where the concept of rinsing comes in, but that's why I'd rather wait till the load in the washer is done than finish what's left over in the sink. (Thanks for the reminder of something I love, Sherrie's aunt in the garden.)

TGIF

Alphabet Soup

My friend Sherrie is doing this Alphabet Soup thing on her blog (I think her aunt started it). I've enjoyed learning more about her thru it, so I decided to join in on the fun. I missed A and B, so here's my catch up list, first.

My favorite things....that start with A...

1. Aspen trees in the fall....aaahhhh...the gorgeous, golden yellow leaves...I can see them now...
2. Andes chocolate candies, you know, the kind you buy for 10 cents as you leave a buffet restaurant (and Olive Garden gives for free :-)
3. Australian accents. I like other accents too, like my husband's southern one, but Australian ones are my favorite. Don't ask me to do an imitiation.
4. America--cheesy, I know, but I LOVE traveling. I have actually been privileged to have traveled to like 47 of the 50 states. I hope to someday soon make it to Alaska, Vermont, and Rhode Island.
5. August 14th/"Airport Day"--a special day for my husband and I--we celebrate our "airport day" more than Valentine's or the day we got engaged.
6. (The) Amazing Race--if there ever was a show I wish I could be on, and think I would be good at, it's definitely the Amazing Race. Any partners?
7. Acoustic guitar--I can't play, but I always wish I had learned. Maybe I still will. I LOVE the way it sounds.


And now--
My favorite things....that start with B....
1. Baby boys...especially my little Noah. I've always loved babies, but never knew I would love having a boy as much as we do. They're the best!
2. Speaking of baby boys, here is another thing that starts with B that speaks for itself...who doesn't love this:

3. Brickman--Jim Brickman, that is. I LOVE piano music. Probably from growing up listening to my mom play.
4. Blogging--my own, and reading others.
5. Beach--there's just something about the sound of the ocean waves that soothes the soul. We live here, and don't go often enough, but every time I do I think, man, I need to come here every day.
6. BBQing-- Nothing better than getting together for a relaxed summer evening of grillin' out, watermelon eating, and croquet/horseshoes/lawn bowling. Ya know?

That's all for now. What are your favorite things?

Flickr Photos

Check out more photos at our flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48114889@N00/

5 months, 5 months!

Today is the 3rd of August, which makes this day Noah's 5 month birthday. He has had a great day, despite the fact that he is officially cutting his first tooth now. We discovered it a few days ago, feeling it through the gums when he gnawed on my finger. I can now see a little bit of white on his gums, but it may be a few days yet before it pokes through. He's being a trooper with it, and other than a few fussy (read: screaming) moments through out the day, it's not been too bad. These photos are so cute! Photo 1: The chair has become a monthly tradition now; photo 2: I taught Noah how to hold up 5 fingers for 5 months!(just kidding, what a coincidence tho!) and photo 3: Noah has had enough of Daddy's lovin' for the time being. Enjoy!

What a Wonderful World We Live In

Family Vacation-Pigeon Forge, TN

Wooooh! We just got back from our summer of '07 family vacation. We were very glad to be able to join Matt's parents and sisters + men for a weekend in Pigeon Forge, TN. We stayed at a Blue Green Resort, drove through Gatlinburg (an event in and of itself), rode the Sky Tram and Alpine Slides at Ober Gatlinburg, go-carted, mini-golfed, Outbacked (also an event in itself!), picnicked in the Great Smoky Nat' Park, and even tubed the wild rapids of the Pigeon River. All this in just 2 short days, folks. The Hawkins really know how to pack things in. Noah was along for all the fun, and especially loved staying out till 1:00 in the morning...he was more wide awake than the rest of us! He loved his new little stroller and we got to use the Jeep carrying pouch, which we don't get to use enough. He also did great on the planes, as always--this is his third big trip on an airplane! We took an extra day in the beginning and one at the end in Nashville and got to enjoy a few wonderful restraunts with my sister Carrie--my first trip to the Pancake Pantry, and to Ghengis Grill in Cool Springs, which we all loved. We even managed to squeeze some bowling, tennis and golf into the long weekend. What a great mini-vacation! So good to see all of you, and thanks for the good times!