A swingin' good time

Last night Gigi and Boom invited all of us over for dinner at their house. After dinner the real fun began, as Jackson and Maddie got out the t-ball set.

I think Jackson may have found his sport--the kid can hit the heck out of the ball!

Maddie kept checking on Lila who was fast asleep thru the whole thing.

We were all really surprised that Jackson didn't break something in their house. He was hitting the ball so hard!

Maddie's not there quite yet, although she can make contact, but she'll be a really good ball player next year I bet.

Jackson and Jared playing outfield for Maddie. Jackson kept hollering "hey batter batter batter!" So fun! Thanks mom and dad for a fun night:)

Happy Birthday, Madison!

Miss Madison turned 2 years old this past Saturday and there was quite the party to celebrate this big occasion. My Aunt Glenda took over party planning duties and made it such a fantastic party.

She was so committed to the circus theme, that she went out and bought a clown suit and dressed up for the big day!

Bubbles the clown did face painting for the kids, too!

After everyone got their faces painted, it was time for lunch. Corn on the cob and popcorn were all my child would eat. He has a new found love for corn on the cob.

Then it was time to blow out the candles. Aunt Glenda even made the birthday cake and it was so cute!

Thank goodness it didn't rain that afternoon. The kids got to enjoy pony rides and a petting zoo. Jackson said that the goats are still his favorite.

It really was a great day...

looks like Maddie thought so, too. Happy Birthday little girl! We love you.

Big Brothers...

do sweet things for their little sisters, like...

play them lullabys when they're fussy...

rock them when they're sleepy...

and get cool presents like these awesome monster feet.


After playing with lots of fun new toys, big brothers ask to hold their baby sisters...

and then give them sweet kisses.

Lila Grace, you are one lucky little girl. You have such a great big brother!

Lila Grace Hays

This has been a big week for the Hays family, to say the least! Last Wednesday night I was having a lot of contractions and they didn't subside until about 3am Thursday morning. I called my doctor first thing the next day and she asked that I go ahead and come in to just be sure everything was still alright. After doing a stress test on Lila (she was doing great) she checked my cervix. Imagine my surprise when she said, "well, looks like you're at 2 cm and 80% effaced and...did your water just break?" Say what?! Next thing I know, Jared and I are headed down to labor and delivery.

We were really in shock and just so excited that we were going to get to meet Lila that day!!


My doctor was supposed to get off work at 5:00, but stuck around a little longer to see if I had made any more progress. To everyone's surprise I went from 4cm to 10cm in about an hour, and Lila was born at 5:25 pm. She weighed 6 lbs 11 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. She has dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. The whole thing was pretty surreal. And wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

Gigi got to meet our little one while she was getting warmed up...

and then in came Big Brother!! He was so cute talking to her. He leaned in close and said "Hi Wiwa, how are you?" in this really high-pitched, soft voice. He loves her so much.

The new fam of 4--I love this:)

Then Poppy and Memaw got to meet our little girl

and so did Aunt Colleen and Boom Pa.

That evening our friends came by--here's Miss Lila with Jenny and Hayley.

The next morning we had a mini photo shoot. Our sweet little bundle of joy. I love this picture!

Then it was time for Lila to meet her great grandmother. When Meme got there Lila was a little fussy. No problem--Meme took her in her arms, whispered something to her and then just like magic, she hushed. Baby Whisperer, I tell ya.

Big Brother Jackson came back to see his baby sister. His face cracks me up in this pic. "I really get to hold her?!"

How cool!

He did so good at the hospital and wasn't crazy in the least. (We wish the same could be said for after we got home.)

On Saturday it was time for us to come home. Lila wasn't crazy about getting her clothes changed, so Jackson had to have a little heart to heart with her. Seemed to do the trick.

Soon we were all ready to come home!

Jackson is such a big helper...he even helped buckle her into the carseat...

and he carried the video camera for us!

Come visit us anytime!!

Dear Ambien,

You are my new best friend. Thanks to you I got a full night's sleep and only woke up 1 time instead of 10. Hallelujah! Sleep used to be so easy, but due to my recent large-bellied state, it is not. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I cannot wait to take another ambien again tonight and sleep like a little baby.

P.S. I'm sure since I've just figured out how to get a good night's sleep, something wild will happen tonight, like going into labor. Stay tuned:)

Easter Eggstravaganza

Even though Lila decided she's perfectly content inside my belly, we still had a really great Easter Sunday. We began our day at church with my family and then celebrated with both sides by having a tasty lunch. Here's Maddie, aka Shirley Temple, with her new bunny.

After we all had filled our bellies to the brim, I put the boys to work. Scott and Jared were on egg hiding duty.

Madison fell asleep right before lunch and didn't wake up for a long time, so J got to hunt all by himself. He found so many eggs!

Right as the hunt was beginning it began to rain. Gentleman Jack was so nice to offer his Uncle Andrew an umbrella.

Then it was back to being a goofball with Uncle Scott.

Finally Maddie woke up! She was so cute in her Easter dress that I had to snag one pic of her with Aunt Glenda before she did some egg hunting of her own.

Madison wasn't too sure about the whole egg hunt deal, but big cousin Jackson showed her the ropes. In no time at all she was running all around the back yard scooping up eggs.

The later it got in the afternoon, the crazier Jackson became. I thought this picture summed it up perfectly. "Hey Jackson, look at the camera."

Nope! Not a chance!

Hope you all had a Happy Easter. We sure did:)

Happy Easter!

This year Easter has already been so fun. Jackson got to meet the Easter Bunny at Willowbend Mall a few weeks ago. They became big buds very quickly.

Then yesterday we dyed easter eggs in the kitchen. He's getting to be such a big helper with things like this:)

This morning we went to church...

it's still just the three of us!

The Raines/Hays families after church. Happy Easter everyone!