6 weeks and Smiling!

Grammy is good at getting Hayden to smile!

Mission Trip

Eric left on Saturday for the Dominican Republic for a medical humanitarian mission and will be gone for two weeks. Hayden is 6 weeks old today and I know he will probably change a lot while daddy is gone. Eric was definitely sad to be leaving him but we are both grateful for this short deployment. My mom flew in to stay with me and help with Hayden. We are enjoying lots of time with Hayden and I'm enjoying the chance to get out of the house during the day. I started back to the gym this week and am feeling good. Here is a link to an article about the mission that was in the Montgomery Advertiser yesterday. Eric even got a quote!
Airmen Set up Village Clinics

Easter 2009

We traveled to Columbus, GA to have Easter dinner with Eric's family. The whole gang was there and we were able to get some cute pics with the cousins.....
The family!
Emma, Hayden, Aaden, and Alyse
Hayden in his Easter outfit

1 month old!

Hayden's Big Adventure

We recently returned from a long road trip to Virginia. My best friend since first grade, Meredith got married to our friend Greg on March 21st. When I found out I was pregnant her wedding date was already set and it turned out my due date was just 4 days ahead of time. We hoped for the best and I decided to still try and be in the wedding, hoping to have the baby early so I could be there. I just couldn't imagine not seeing her walk down the aisle as she has always been there for me. I don't think anyone actually thought I would make it but with a lot of prayer Hayden was born a week early. Eric was totally on board with the decision to go and was a trooper driving the 12 hours plus stops over 2 days. The trip became a little more stressful when Hayden was put on phototherapy for a few days due to being jaundice. We had planned to leave Wednesday morning and arrive at my sister's Thursday afternoon. Hayden wasn't cleared to leave until 4:00pm on Thursday evening so we immediately left and drove late that night. We stopped at a hotel for 4 hours for Eric to get some sleep and got back on the road Friday morning. On Friday we also had to make a stop at Ft. Belvoir to have Hayden's blood drawn to check his bili. This became a long process because we were not in their system so we were delayed 3 hours there. I ended up missing the church rehearsal but we made it to the rehearsal dinner. Friday was a long tiring day but I was so happy just to make it! Saturday we had to drive back to Ft. Belvoir to be tested and then the wedding preparations began. Eric was by my side with Hayden the whole weekend so I was able to break away for feedings when needed. My parents and sister were also there to help. The wedding and the bride were beautiful and she was the only person that had faith that we would be there. :) Somehow everything timed out right and we never had a conflict with wedding events and photos so I didn't miss anything. Hayden was a great traveler and mostly slept and didn't fuss much at all. On Sunday we stayed the night with my sister and left early Monday morning. We made great time on our drive home and got back to Montgomery on Tuesday morning. We were so happy to be back! Travelling with a 1 week old was definitely an experience! Here are some pics from our weekend.....
Jessi, Meredith, and Angie
Mere and Greg
Hayden and Mommy
The Vaillant Family
Aunt Vicki and Hayden
Hayden Lucas
Fun with cousins.....Sarah, Hayden, and Ryan
Ryan and baby Hayden
Rockin in the sun