Cousin Hailey is 6!

Our niece Hailey (not to be confused with Auntie Haley, or my college friend Haley) turned 6 on Friday. I can still remember seeing her in the hospital in Detroit Lakes the day she was born! She is growing up way too fast. I think the fact that we see her only a few times a year makes it seem like she is maturing way too fast. She is almost done with Kindergarten! I was amazed how many words in her cards she could read. The teacher in me wrote some words down for her to read. She also was working on a story with my sister, who was the illustrator. She must have Writer's Workshop in her classroom, where they are making books. Part of me misses the excitement 5 and 6 year olds have with writing print!

Anyways, Jake and I went to Big Fish Lake to celebrate Hailey's birthday. Joe had to work, which was too bad. There were tons of presents to open up, as Katie's family was there, too. Hailey was in such a goofy mood opening her presents. She made out like a bandit. She loved everything she received, except for this cute cup that Meghan (Katie and Matt's friend) gave her. Apparently, Hailey DID NOT like the fact it had handles on the side, like a sippy cup would. Her face was worth a thousand words.

Hailey took both Jake and Paige in a ride in her Barbie Power Wheels Jeep (that she got at her 4th birthday.) It was cute to see her put her arm around both kids (they did go one at a time...don't worry!). She went on the slow speed. She even had to stop and check the engine when Jake went with her. She got out, popped the hood, fiddled around with something, and got back in. She is so goofy! Paige had a blast, too. Joe would have died seeing Jake in such a "girly" toy. Later in the day, Matt took all the kids one at a time, for a ride in the Bobcat. They all liked that! I have only one picture, which looks like Jake hates it! My dad took more pictures, which I hope to post later.

Hailey had a Tinkerbell ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Yummy! Jake loved it, too.

Jake is learning how to go down stairs by turning around and going down on his tummy. He had a little accident yesterday. He must not have completely cleared the step and bit his lip. We did not realize at first that he did it. I panicked slightly, as this was the first time blood was involved in an injury. Thankfully, people around me calmly told me to have him bite on a wet washcloth. He was fine after a few minutes.

Jake and I came back after dinner time. I thought he would sleep in the car, but no such luck. He did go to sleep after having some milk. It was a fun day!

Easter

Easter morning, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Bien's house. We were going to have brunch there and spend some time at their house. We were running a little late, since Jake was napping. We made pretty good time getting to Shakopee. Jake had breakfast before we arrived, so he did not eat much and thought it was more fun to throw his food on the floor. He does this at our house in the kitchen when he is done eating. The food was really good. Joe and I both love breakfast! Jake does too, just not this particular day.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan were there, along with Auntie Amber. Jake had a fun time entertaining the crowd. He had an Easter basket and gift bag full of books, sandals, and treats (his favorite...yogurt melts). Jake was very excited! It was so nice to only have one place to go. We are usually running all around town on the holidays. We even had time to drive around and look at houses, while Jake slept. We are hoping to move sometime in the near future. We are looking in the Shakopee area. It makes me sick to my stomach to think of all the work we need to do on this house, to get it ready to sell. I love looking at houses though!

Party at Knutsons'

Last Saturday, we had Jake's party at my parents' house. Everyone was there, except for Hailey. It was her weekend at her mom's. We were bummed she could not be there, but we knew we would see her the following weekend. My parents also decided to have the Easter egg hunt at the same time, since we were going to Joe's mom's house on Easter. It was funny to see Paige and Jake try to "find" the eggs. They needed a lot of coaching. Earlier in the week, my mom had the two in the living room playing with the eggs, to get them familiar with what they would be looking for. Of course, Jake always wanted to get the one Paige had. We were collecting the eggs in a duck Easter basket. This confused Jake because he kept going back to the basket and would pick out the eggs that had already been found. They did a good job!

We planned a head of time to have cake before presents, since Jake was so crabby at his last party. The theme of this party was Cars. Some of you know that when we were pregnant, our niece Hailey said we should name the baby Lightning McQueen (the main character in the movie Cars). I was very pleased with the cake from Cub, my all-time bakery of choice for cakes. Jake enjoyed this cake. We were waiting for him to really get messy. He needed some help from Jamie to make this happen. Overall, he stayed pretty clean.

After cake, we opened presents. Jake was somewhat excited. He received some swimsuits, some books, and toys. Jamie gave him a drum, maracas, a tambourine, and bells. Payback will definitely happen. We had turkey on the grill, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and fruit salad for dinner. Jake ate a lot of turkey, but was not a big fan of mashed potatoes, which surprised me. It was a great day for us to celebrate with family.

Jake is patiently waiting to see his Grandma and Grandpa Deters and Haley and Ben, so he can celebrate one more time!

I am 1 now...and I have a new 'do

I was trying desperately to take Jake's picture to go in the last spot in a frame we have been filling up all year. He was not having it. I tried to get him to sit in the glider in his bedroom, but he was more excited with the fact it moved and his hamper was close by. I moved him to the living room. He was a little more cooperative there. Here are some of the shots!

Jake's hair has been pretty out of control lately. His hair grows fast like mine. The back of his head started to look pretty ratty, too. I made him an appointment to get his hair cut at Kids' Hair. They do such a great job with kids there. I was nervous when we first got there because Jake was getting tired and didn't have a nap yet. Also, the boy sitting next to Jake was quite scared and upset. I was hoping Jake would not get any ideas. He did wonderfully! He was so enthralled by all the noises and people around him. He didn't even pay attention to Elmo, who was on the TV. He sat pretty still, which made things go quickly. The only part that scared him was when they turned the hair dryer on. I could see the tears welling up in his eyes, but he was trying to be tough. Then, he sneezed! One little tear came down his cheek. After that, he was fine. We are definitely going back there!