Pics and Hayley Update

Hello Everybody,

It has been a ridiculously busy couple of months. In addition to all the usual things we have going on we have been out to the coast, to Chelsea's parents house in Seattle to celebrate a birthday and Chelsea has been up to her grandparents house in Port Angeles.

Hayley is growing up- she turned 6 months old last Friday (Oct. 23) and we celebrated by going out to dinner for her and staying at the hotel that Chelsea works out. It was a really fun time. The next day, we went to a Halloween party and Hayley got all dressed up in her beaver costume. Don't read too far into the choice of costume- it was a hand-me-down from Hayley's cousin Milena but it is working great.

After a couple tough days last week we went to the doctor and Hayley was diagnosed with her first ear infection. We were able to get some medicine for her quickly and she was back in almost no time to her usual up-beat and energetic self. Thank goodness for the marvels of modern medicine.

Anyways, here's some pictures.Hayley and Chelsea at our hotel...

While at the coast, we were able to see a show with the band Blind Pilot... It was a really good show and we're glad we got to go. Thanks to grandma for babysitting.

Camping!

Wrapping up another great summer, we've done our best to enjoy the superb weather as much as possible, have as much fun as we can and manage to fit a little work in too.

In the last days of August I made a cake for a friend of ours, for their 2yr old's birthday party. It was a hit! White cake layered with blue buttercream, and a train made of rice crispy treats with cookies for wheels. The kids thought it was so cool.

The first week of September we ventured out into the wilderness at Fort Stevens State Park for our first family camp-out. We couldn't have asked for better weather. Sunny days and mild temperatures were perfect for exploring the old barricades at Battery Russell and lounging on the beach amidst the old Peter Iredale. Hayley got her feet in the sand and stared curiously at the shore while the waves came and went. The whole week prior I was so pumped about our trip I wrote lists, shopped and thoroughly packed to ensure not forgetting anything. Everything went as planned, pancakes and cocoa, smores, dutch oven lasagne and visits from curious animals. We went up to Astoria and took pictures at the historic Column. Even celebrated Skyler's nephew's birthday with some great Mexican food at Josh and Melissa's house.

This month we celebrated our second anniversary with a baseball game at PGE park, some shopping and pizza.

Just last week Hayley and I traveled way up north to Port Angeles to visit my grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa McAnlis. Grandma hasn't been doing so well and I wanted to be sure she had the chance to meet little Hayley. Our visit was very nice, we picked plums, made pasta and spent some much needed time with Grandma and Grandpa.
On our venture, Hayley and I took the Amtrak train together, she is a born traveler. Making for a stress-free trip.

Our latest update on Hayleyroo, we had a Dr. visit last week, she is about 5 mos. now and just over 14lbs. At 80% for her age group, shooting right up at 26.5 in. following her dad. We are excited to start her on rice cereal in the coming weeks, as she watches us intently when we eat and seems to grab at our food, and pretty much everything. She is now rolling over pretty well and starting to pump her little leggy's. Not moving anywhere but sure trying hard to figure the crawling thing out.

Summer Fun

Summer has brought on all new meanings for our new family of three. So far we've battled the ocean, survived the Rose Garden Arena, braved a plane ride to Utah, and are looking anxiously forward to a camping trip with Hayleyroo.

A few weeks ago we were able to visit Utah for Skyler's cousin Katie and Riley's wedding. We had so much fun! The ceremony was at the Salt Lake Temple, which until now I had only been on the outside. Wow, I now know why it took the saints so long to build it. Beautiful.

While in Ogden.. We also were treated to a tour of the Hostess plant! We couldn't take any pictures, but it was pretty awesome! Hundreds of loaves of Wonder bread zipping around above your head, watching tons of tiny donuts get fried and flipped and tossed in that so beloved powdered sugar, coconut or just pumped full of jelly. They were also making the chocolate 100 cal. packs, which was cool. Each mini cake frosted and put in the pack by hand... I think I am strangely attracted to factories. Thanks Jodee!

To celebrate our birthday's Sky and I thought it would be fun to visit the Lagoon Amusement park! We were quickly joined by Sky's sisters for a great day of water park rides and really fast roller coasters.

Each Thursday this summer we have been going out to the Elementary school nearby and playing Frisbee with ward members. It's been a great summer tradition through the heat spells and the freak rain storms!

As for the Hayley update, now 4 months old. She LOVES singing "The Wise Man built his house.."song. Laughing, giggling and shrieking with excitement the whole time. Just recently she decided to hold her own bottle! Still getting a feel for how to get it into her mouth but enjoys getting her lil hands up there. We just moved her bassinet into her own room, hoping to help her sleep better (and us). So far we've had a few 6 hour stretches but still a success. Hayley found her hands awhile ago but in the last few weeks has enjoyed grabbing her feet to suck on them and grabbing at anything in her reach :) She loves to sit on the counter in her Bumbo and watch us cook.

Splish Splash!

What an exciting an month! Our lives have settled down a bit since our last posting, however Hayley is still growing, growing, growing! She is quickly progressing in controlling her body, she loves her play mat and is learning to roll onto her side! Sometimes we check on her and she is totally turned around the other way!

Last week we had the chance to visit a really cool outdoor pool/park with some friends. It was so fun to dip Hayley's tiny feet in the water and see her take in all the action. She quickly fell asleep but we had fun going down the water slide and watching our friends lil' guy splash around and get all excited to go on the slide with his Dad. We're excited for summer next year so Hayley can enjoy it a little more :)Last week I was able to find an hour or two to get my canning fix. We visited Baggensto's Farm and picked raspberry's and marionberries. I made rasp. jam, white rasp peach jam, marionberry syrup and strawberry rhubarb jam. Yumm! I cant wait for the Oregon peaches to come into full harvest I'm still thinking about what to make with those gems :)

A couple weeks ago Skyler and I (and Hayley) traveled north to visit my parents and go to my cousin's baby shower. We somehow squeezed in a Mariner's game! We had great seats and came really close to some foul balls! At the same time we found out Hayley has grown pretty attached to us and had some separation issues when it came time to leave for the game, though she gave in to grandma and grandpa eventually.

On the horizon.. We're taking off to Utah at the end of the month to see family and go to Skyler's cousin's wedding! So much for escaping the heat though : ) We are also trying to prepare for our first plane ride with a baby, hoping to make it a seamless trip. We are happy to be flying with Sky's parents too.

Oh yeah... Hayley's warming up to bath time too :)

Growing up... (sigh)....

The last few weeks have been quite the whirlwind of activity in the Archibald house. At one point during all the chaos my father said, "As if the chaos of graduating and having a new baby were not enough, they decided to move at the same time."

It is true... We seem to be gluttons for punishment.

On June 6 we moved from our old apartment in the Cedar Hills area to our new place. It is a bit closer to Portland and we have a lot more space, a great view and no longer have to deal with the hassle of trudging up two flights of stairs with our laundry.

We were heavily aided in the preparations for the move by family. Chelsea's mom spent a week at our old apartment helping us to clean and pack and then we had an army of family show up on moving day to assist us. We were able to get done in just a couple of hours and I didn't even hit anything during my first uhaul truck driving experience.

Just one week later we welcomed even more family back to the Rose City for graduation. Yippeee... Actually graduation was a bit anticlimactic because I am returning to Portland State in the fall for some post-bac classes before I hopefully land on my feet at grad school somewhere and sometime in 2010.A pic of those that gathered....

A couple of days later, Chelsea, with mixed emotions, returned to work. She has worked the past couple of weeks part-time and is enjoying it. She was sorely missed at the hotel. Luckily, depending on how you look at it, she has been working early mornings. The new development has left me to spend more and more time with Hayley and it has been very rewarding. We have gone on walks, played, watched lots of Seinfeld and even spit up on each other...

Here are some recent pictures of the little bundle... Enjoy!!!