Vaillant Family Blog

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Hayden's 3rd Birthday!

Our big man turned 3 on March 11th! Hayden has changed so much in the last year. He can be strong willed and stubborn but mostly he is a sweet and silly little boy who keeps us laughing. His favorite things at the moment include monster "fighting" with daddy, playing hide and seek, and watching Lego Ninjago. He also loves his school, going to the gym with mommy, and church on Sundays.

I was able to be class parent at Hayden's school the Tuesday after Hayden's actual birthday. I brought a birthday snack for the kids and we sang Happy Birthday to Hayden! He loved it!

Monkey Cupcakes!













Mmmmm



















Make a wish!













We had Hayden's birthday party on St. Patrick's Day at an indoor bounce house place called Pump It Up. Eric's mom flew in for the big occasion and stayed with us for the weekend. Aunt Tammy, Uncle Wayne and Emma also flew in and stayed with us. It was so great to have so many family and friends celebrate Hayden's birthday. Here are some pics from the party and weekend.....

Climbing













Wee













Family Slide



















Cake













Monster Fighting













Playing with my cousin Emma













My sister Vicki made the trip for the day by herself with all 3 kids!



Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Emily Morgan

A few weeks back I was able to meet my new niece Emily Morgan. She was born on February 23rd and is so sweet! Hayden and I traveled to Fredericksburg to visit with my sisters family for the weekend. I had fun taking lots of photos of Emily. Here are a few of my favorites....














































While we were visiting we were also able to see my nephew Ryan play basketball. It was so much fun to see him in action. He has mad defensive skills! Go #2!













Some cute photos of Hayden and Sarah being silly...













Pirates!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

All about Eric!

In trying to catch up on the blog I realized a lot of what I wanted to post included Eric so I thought I would just combine it all into one. Eric had a really busy month after his New Year's vacation. We figured out he had one full day off in a 38 day stretch. Today is the last day of a 9 day vacation for him. He definitely needed a nice break and so did we! We were able to fit a lot into 9 days. Here are some pics to document what we've been up to since I last posted.

As a 2nd year resident Eric was required to build a birdhouse. What does a birdhouse have to do with Orthopedics?? This annual requirement came about a few years back when one of the residents had a hard time using orthopedic tools in surgery. Since orthopedists are considered bone carpenters, the attending told him to learn to use everyday tools such as a hammer, drill, etc. by building a birdhouse and now it is something everyone has to do. Eric decided to do his using wood dowels and I think it turned out pretty great. He also added wine corks and an Air Force coin which made it a little more personal to him.

































Eric turned the big 31 on February 4th. He was on call so Hayden and I made a trip to see daddy at work. We were able to grab dinner where I got this cute shot of him and Hayden.














For his birthday, Eric decided he would sign up for a tough mudder race with friends in Atlanta. At the start of his vacation my parents stayed with Hayden and we flew to Atlanta for the race. The tough mudder is a 12 mile course with 27 different obstacles along the way. He ran with 4 other teammates. It turned out to be 30 degree weather and windy the day of the race. It didn't help that the 3rd obstacle was a garbage dumpster filled with ice water. It seems like torture to me but they are already talking about which one they will do next year. :)

Here Eric is running through electrical wires that shock you with 10,000 volts of electricity. Fun!



















The team at the finish!













Eric, Pat, and Matt celebrating after the race!














Me and E














Me and my ATL friends, Teresa and Steph














Once we got back from Atlanta we still had 7 whole days with Eric home. We started the week off with a Valentine's playdate at our house with some of my mom friends. The kiddos decorated mailboxes and filled them with Valentine's from eachother. I was proud of the Valentine's I made. I got the idea from pinterest of course. I spent way to much time making them but I think the kids liked them!


























Hayden enjoying his first pixie stick. :)

















On Valentine's Day, Eric was able to be the class parent at Hayden's school. Hayden loved having daddy there. I got this pic of Hayden giving out his Valentine's with daddy.













The rest of the week we were able to catch up some stuff around the house and just have fun with Hayden. Its been a great vacation for all of us!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Nana & Papu Visit

Eric's parents drove up from Alabama on the Thursday after Christmas. It had been a year since they last visited and we were all very excited to have them here for a few days. On their first night here we got a babysitter and went out in Ellicott City for drinks and dinner. We had a great time catching up! Hayden enjoyed lots of trips to the mall with Nana and Papu and on New Year's Day we visited the train museum again! We also got a chance to visit with our brother-in-laws family who live in the area. Mel & George left early New Year's day to get back on the road. We had a great time and hope to see them again soon! Here are a few pics from their visit....

Walking to the the trains!



















Eric & Hayden checking out the trains



















Excited the real train went by



















Playing in the caboose














Mel & George



















Happy New Year!

Christmas Day x 2

Christmas day Hayden woke up to many presents under the tree and was very patient waiting for daddy to get home before he opened any. Everyone was excited to see Eric and get the opening under way. Hayden made it through 3 or 4 gifts and just wanted to play with his new firetruck. He ended up taking 3 days to get through all his gifts. :) Eric was originally supposed to work Monday but they gave him the day off last minute so we were excited to get to travel to my sister's house Christmas night to do a second round of Christmas Eve and Day with my niece and nephew. Hayden had a great Christmas and is enjoying all of his new toys, books, puzzles, etc. Here are some pics form our Christmas x 2!

Hayden's first look at what Santa brought.



















Ryan and Hayden tackling Eric



















Opening gifts



















Opening gifts is exhausting















More gifts at Aunt Vicki's



















Hangin with my daddy