Hannah

November 28, 2012

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Clayton,
 
I just wanted to let you know what an amazing and mature little girl, Hannah is. I'm sure you already know this, but sometimes it is nice to hear it from someone else. She has been so sweet and sensitive to Lydia in our class. Lydia is our spotlight student this week and she said that she does not have any friends. I 

think it was so thoughtful of Hannah to take it upon herself to reach out to Lydia. She brought her that          present the next day and she said the kindest things to her on her spotlight page. She has even made an effort to play with her at recess. It has made the world to Lydia and her mom. Her mom told me that Lydia has been praying for a friend and then Hannah came along. Lydia is a very smart girl and she has a wonderful family. They would love  to have Hannah and Lydia get together some time if you are interested. You can call me 

or send me an  e-mail and I can give her number to you. Her mom's name is Wendy and she said that she 

would love for you to call her and Hannah can come over and play. I just wanted to compliment you on        raising such a kind and thoughtful girl. She just does it naturally and it is so fun to witness.

 
Thank you,
Mrs. Fox
 
==========
Laurel Fox
Hannah Clayton's 2nd Grade Homeroom Teacher
Reagan Academy

We got this email from Hannah's teacher and it was an amazing feeling, not that 

Rob and I can take much credit because Hannah does these things naturally without being asked or told to, but it was so awesome to see how her kindness had 

touched someone else's life.  And honestly it came at a good time because we 

definitely have our struggles with Hannah, she is so stubborn and strong willed 

that at times we can get into pretty ugly arguments and we had been having a lot 

of them lately.  Seeing Hannah through her teacher's eyes helped me to sit back 

and remember how truly amazing Hannah is, how she is constantly giving of herself to others, she often brings home treats from school she has saved for her 

sisters and brother or Rob and I.  She can easily see when other people may be 

feeling bad or left out and makes an effort to be a good friend. I am so lucky to be her mom and I love her oh so much! 

Maddy and Hadley

Maddy and Hadley went in to see Dr. Farnsworth for their well-child exams, Maddy's 4 year and Hadley's 2 month.  Miss Hadley weighed in at 10 lbs 12 oz (38%) and 22.75 inches tall (66%) and head circumference 15 in (48%).  Maddy Cakes weighed in at 33 lbs (31%) and 39.5 inches tall (41%).  They are both healthy and doing great!  

Hadley-2 months old

 So, I know I take a bagillion pictures of Hadley, but I just can't help it, I could just eat her up she is so dang cute!  These two months have flown by and she is slowly settling into a schedule a little bit more and I am starting to get a few more things done around the house, though I still don't like to take her out of the house because she does not like the car seat and it is unpredictable if she will be happy or not because of that.  She is such a smiley baby and loves to talk and coo and is pretty content most of the time.  She wakes up 1 or 2 times at night usually and she is still sleeping in the bassinet next to our bed at night and usually takes her naps on our bed during the day.  She is taking the binky a lot better now and that has helped to make naps and bedtime easier, I am also trying to use it during the night to make her go longer between eating.  We just love you Miss Hadley!  Happy 2 months!

Little things...

I've been meaning to do a post about the little things in life that are going on, the ones that pictures don't capture.  I hope I can remember at least some of them.
-Wyatt gags when the baby spits up and he runs away saying, "that almost made me throw up!"
-Wyatt is always telling me, "Mom, you look so pretty," he is sweet.
-Hadley has captured everyone's love here at our house, the other night she was laying on my bed, I was changing her diaper and getting her ready for bed and she was cooing and talking to us all.  Everyone of us was crowded around her listening to her and I looked up and everyone just had huge smiles, we are all in love with her sweetness.  She laughed for the first time that night, it is the cutest little laugh.
-Maddy grunts at you every time you ask her to do something she isn't happy about and Wyatt has picked up on it too.  She is getting pretty stubborn!
-Hannah continues to cause drama here at home, I sure wish I could deal with her better and figure out ways to have a more peaceful relationship with her.  She sure knows how to push my buttons and get me upset and even when I try to stay calm she is so persistent, she never quits bugging me, it is so frustrating!
-Megan is the queen of the dramatic cry, she always sounds like she is getting her arm cut off or something horrible even for the tiniest thing.  Neither Rob or I really react anymore when we hear her cry because it is usually nothing, though the other night she did get windex sprayed in her eye and that was a little more understandable.
-Hannah still is obsessed with saving up for a horse and wants horseback riding lessons, I wish they just weren't so expensive.  I would love to let her take lessons every day and get totally into it, but that is just not possible right now, probably never, but I hope to figure out some way for her to live her dream of riding horses.  The other day she was looking on KSL for horses for sale (Rob must have helped her get on there) and she found one for $100.00 and wanted to buy it NOW.  Oh my, what are we in for!
-Maddy is getting into the playing with friends stage and it is getting harder and harder when the girls run out the front door to play to keep her here and keep her happy, she just wants to join them or have a friend over herself.  I guess its time to plan more things for her.  She absolutely loves going to preschool and counts down the days until her next school day.
-The girls are still taking piano, though their teacher is off for 2 months for maternity leave.  She says they are both doing really well and they seem to like it except the occasional day when Hannah tells me "I hate piano!"  I really want them to learn to play, but I was thinking last night I bet Hannah would choose horseback riding lessons any day over piano, I just think the piano skill would be so great for her...so I don't know.
I know there is stuff I am missing that I had thought about wanting to write, but hopefully I'll catch up on some other stuff later.

More of Hadley

 Hadley-7 weeks old.

Megan loves to hold Hadley.

 The kids decorated these halloween cookies Grandma sent down.  She was supposed to babysit them one night and then we cancelled our plans, but Grandma sent the cookies down she had planned to decorate with the kids with Grandpa anyway.  They had a lot of fun.

 Hadley-8 weeks old.  She is such a sweet, smiley baby.

Halloween Night

October 31, 2012

 When the kids got home from school we started carving pumpkins, I had to empty the guts out of all of them!  Hannah did a lot of her own and I just did the final scrape, but I had to do the other three.  Then they worked on the designs, which they taped the papers on and poked the holes themselves.  Nicole was over and she helped Maddy with hers.  When Rob got home he and I carved Megan, Maddy, and Wyatt's for them and Hannah did her own.

Megan and her Bat pumpkin

Maddy and her Kitty pumpkin.

Hannah and her Witch pumpkin.

Wyatt and his Jack-O-Lantern face

They all looked so cute!

The kids planned it all out to go with their friend Nicole and so Daddy took all the kids around and I stayed home with the baby to pass out candy.  They were so excited.  Rob ended up bringing Maddy and Wyatt home after a while because they were tired of walking and Maddy had fallen pretty bad and scraped up her legs.  He went out with the older two to hit a few more streets and Hannah ended up coming back alone because she was tired and wanted to pass out candy.  Megan was a trooper and just kept going.  They have been eating way too much candy, soon I think it will be time to take it away. :)  Maddy loved answering the door and giving out candy.  We also watched Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin Patch because it was on TV.  It was a very laid back Halloween, just how I like it.

Trunk or Treat

October 30, 2012

 Batgirl, Queen Belle, Spiderman, Greek Goddess, and our little Bunny.

 Isn't Grandma the cutest Jessie. :)

We had a great time at the Trunk or Treat at Grandma and Grandpa's ward.  We saw Angie and Nick and the girls and Bryce and Nicole and Ryan and Melinda and the kids, but they were so busy being in charge we didn't see them much.  The kids got a good start on their halloween candy that night and it was such a warm night to be outside.

I need to find Rob and I some cool costumes so we can be fun and dress up next year.  Grandma said she is planning to get Grandpa a Woody outfit, I hope she does.