Santa has Arrived!

Hailey woke at 6:30 and we were downstairs checking out what Santa brought by 7:00.  Hailey slowly walked down the stairs, pretty unsure of what to expect.  The closer she got to the tree, the more excited she got....especially when she got up close to the doll house.

Christmas morning!

Taking a walk down the stairs to see what Santa brought!

Hailey has been talking about Santa and a doll house for about two months.  If anyone had asked her what she wanted, it was always the same answer....a doll house.  I'm not sure what would have happened had he not fulfilled her wish!

Wow...Santa did a good job!

Yes...a Dora doll!

Opening up her stocking!

Look what Papa picked out for Hailey....Choo Choo train.

Alex and Hailey finger painting...Hailey was having a great time making a HUGE mess!  Paint was in her clothes, hair, and all over the door.

Making ice cream cones with the Play-doh present from Nana and Papa Belote

Hailey and Sydney with their Christmas stockings.

The night ended with a family meal of ribs, scalped potatoes, and green beans.

We had a wonderful Christmas with both our families.  It is such a joy having Hailey and Sydney in our lives and we enjoyed every minute with them this holiday season.  Thank you to both families for all your love!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas....

Christmas Eve was spent with family eating pizza, attending church, and getting ready for Santa to arrive.....not to mention a few Tom and Jerry's.

The Papp Family

Nana Sue and the girls!

Nana Nancy and the girls!

Preparing a cookie tray for....and a little "wunk" for Santa.

Hailey went right to bed and was excited for the big morning...she has been looking forward to Santa coming for some time.

Sydney....1 Month Old

Sydney is already a month old!  It seems like just yesterday we were coming home from the hospital with her.  She has been a super easy baby...so far.  She does tend to want to be awake between 11 pm to 2 am, but we are working on that. 

 

Look at me...I'm one month old!

 One month stats:  9 lbs 4 oz.  

What I've been up to this month:  

*Rolled over for the first time at 3 days old.  We thought it was strange, but she does it all the time. She hates her tummy.

*Went to her first movie with the family and slept through the whole thing.  We saw Tangled.

*First ear infection at 4 weeks old.

*Took first road trip to Big Sky to visit the Melby family.

*Eating every 2-3 hours during the day and usually every 4 at night...sometimes even 5 hours.

*Cousin Avery Leigh was born on December 20th.

*Ate her first cracker...well we dug it out, but it was in her mouth...thanks Hailey.

Sydney is starting to smile responsively.  She is very attentive and loves to look at lights...what baby doesn't.

Hailey LOVES Sydney.  She loves to kiss and hug her and has been such a good big sister.  She is a huge helper and is very concerned about what Sydney is doing, where she is, and if she is okay.  She has gotten so much better about being gentle with her, but still has her moments when she doesn't understand what soft means or that Sydney can't play with her.  She also doesn't understand why she can't put her in her little play stroller and take her for a walk.  I'm sure one day when I'm not looking, Sydney will end up in there.

Our beautiful girls. Thanks to Catherine for the cute Christmas shirts.

Hitting the Slopes

This weekend we joined up with the Melby's in Big Sky for a little family fun.  This was Hailey's first attempt at skiing.  I  think Kevin has been looking forward to this day for a long time and is looking forward to taking her out again.

Hailey and her Daddy getting ready to hit the slopes.

Riding the magic carpet!

Hailey had a great time and loved it.  She was pretty good too...well, for 2 years old anyway.  By the 5th run she was getting her balance down and doing better at not crossing her tips.  She even told Daddy that she wanted to do it by herself!

Daddy and Aunt Sarah helping Hailey down the hill!

Parade of Lights

This past weekend we attended the events at the Downtown Parade of Lights.  The high on Saturday was something like 23 degrees and during the parade we were at 18 degrees.  Maybe we shouldn't have had our 10 day old baby outside for hours, but we didn't let the cold stop us from getting out.  Sydney actually slept the entire 4 hours we were out and never made a peep.  Of course she was bundled up good and tight and under her car seat cover to keep warm.

First stop...visiting the ponies and the ice-cream shop.  There were probably 5 ponies and she wanted to see them all.  Here is Hailey kissing the horse at Big Dipper.  She also enjoyed brushing them with horse combs.

Next stop...the carousel.  Hailey loves to visit what she calls the Horsey Park and she always wants to ride with Daddy....which is good because I get way sick on that thing...it moves really fast.  She is really into collecting the rings from the dragon...which Daddy has to do for her, but she gets to hold them.

 Visit with Santa.  We actually took Hailey to see the Santa at the mall first, just to see what she would do.  Last year she went ballistic.  Same again this year.  She went into super panic mode and was climbing up Kevin trying to get away. We eventually got her to go in and talk to him.  By the end she was giving him high fives and did tell him she wanted a doll house....you should have heard her quaking, nervous voice.  After leaving Santa at the mall, all she talked about was wanting to see Santa again and she wanted to sit on his lap this time.  Oh how quickly things change........

So, when seeing the Santa downtown she was a little reluctant at first, but did have a chat with him about wanting a doll house and did sit on his lap.  She did great and we are very proud of her.  We didn't think she was going to do it this year.

Hailey and Brooke checking out Santa from a distance.

We had a few minutes before the parade was to start, so we went for a hot chocolate.  Hailey loved the whipped cream and enjoyed the chocolate too....or as she called it, her hot coffee.

Waiting for the parade to start.  All bundled up and keeping warm with her hot chocolate.  It was 18 degrees but Hailey was a trooper and never did complain about being cold.  Me on the other hand,  I was freezing.

Hailey sees Santa coming down the street.  Look Daddy...there he is!

We finished the evening by going out for pizza.  This was our first "real" outing as a family of four, other than Walmart, and we had a blast.  We are looking forward to the Holidays and being together with family!

Sydney....Two Weeks Already!

Wow...has it already been two weeks.  I can't believe how quickly time is going.  The first two weeks have gone extremely smooth and we've had no major bumps in the road.  Hailey is loving her little sister and can often be found laying on top of her!  She wakes up and goes to bed talking about Sydney.   I can't even guess how many hugs and kisses Sydney gets each day from her big sister!
 

 All smiles!

Sydney is an extremely easy baby....I know... I just jinxed myself.  As of now she is sleeping 18-20 hours of the day.  When awake, she is very alert and loves to look around and check it all out.  Very seldom does she cry, except when needing to eat or be changed.  She is eating about every 3-4 hours during the day and has gone as much as 5 hours during the night.  She is a true blessing and we are loving every moment with her.

Hailey is also adjusting well.  So far...no jealousy that we have noticed.  She loves to help out: burp her, get her things, cover her with blankets, help change diapers, etc.  Because Sydney sleeps so much Hailey is still getting lots of attention, so  I will update you on the jealousy thing in a few months when Hailey isn't getting as much.

As for Kevin and I...we are doing great.  We may be surviving on little sleep, but Sydney is SO worth it.  Kevin is gearing up to leave for India on the 11th, but will only be gone a week. 

I took this picture today....2 weeks old.   I am taking all of Sydney's newborn pictures....so LOTS more to come!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

Christmas is my favorite time of year, so I wasn't going to let having a brand new baby keep me from getting my Christmas stuff up Thanksgiving weekend.  Actually, it was pretty easy considering Sydney sleeps all day long.

 

When Hailey came down the stairs from her nap, all the Christmas stuff was up and the tree was ready to be decorated.  That night we got all the ornaments out and separated them into piles:  safe for Hailey to hang and not so safe.  Needless to say, Hailey hung as many as she could...even the ones we thought she wouldn't be able to hang.  I had figured she would be bored after hanging a couple, but she could have gone all night.  Of course she can only reach the bottom few feet of the tree, so you can image the heavy load of ornaments on the bottom.  Some branches had as many as 6 ornaments hanging of it.  When all was said and done, Mommy rearranged the ornaments and balanced things out.

The finishing touch....the angle. 

Hailey was obsessed with getting to hang the candy canes and kept asking when she could hang them.  We told her she could hang them at the very end.  She was so excited when she finally got the chance.

Eating them isn't so bad either!

Hailey also got her first "taste" of snow for the year...literally.  Nana and Papa Melby took her out one morning to sled, make snow angles, and sit in a fort.  However, all Hailey wanted to do was eat snow!

I took Hailey and Sydney out the other day for a little more fun and again all Hailey wanted to do was eat snow.  She does also like the candy cane decorations that we put up.

Welcome Sydney Alex Papp

Sydney Alex Papp arrived on November 22, 2010 at 2:15 in the afternoon.  She weighed in at 8 lbs 2 oz. and was 20 1/4 inches.

Kevin and checked into the hospital on Monday the 22nd at 5 am.  By 6:00 am I was administered a pill to speed up my contractions.  By mid-morning I was having contractions about every minute and a half and very regular.  Nothing painful....I was still up and walking around.  By 1:00 my doctor arrived to check on my status and he decided that I would not need PIT and we would just break my water (I was 4 cm at the time.  Within minutes my contractions went from mild to extremely painful.  I called in the nurse and ordered my epidural....and go figure, he was in a C-section.  They told me it would be about 20 minutes.  He arrived at about 1:30 to administer the EPI and I was told it would take about 15-20 minutes for it to kick in and then they would run my drip.  Well, after 20 minutes I was still feeling everything, so they gave me another block...and still  I was feeling more than I should have.  At that point I was feeling the need to push...they checked me and I was at 7 cm. Yes, I went from 4 to 7 in about a half hour. With the EPI still not completely working, they gave me a third round.  At this point it was taking the edge off, but I could still feel everything.  Again, feeling the need to push, the nurse checked me and  I was 9 cm.  Doctor Burke arrived, I pushed once, and she was born.  Needless to say, it was way faster than we thought it would be and I definitely would have liked my epidural to have been working.  Of course, I was way numb for about 2 hours AFTER Sydney was born.

We were able to keep Sydney in the labor and delivery room with us for about 2 hours.  With labor being so short, Sydney was in great shape: no swelling, bruising, and no cone head.  She looked great.  I was able to start nursing and she took to it right away.

My parents brought Hailey up to meet Sydney for the first time.  She was so excited and couldn't keep her eyes off her.  She wanted to hold her right away.  She was very gentle and was being so kind.  She just kept asking to hug and kiss her.  She was also very concerned with me.  She was asking about the IV's, bandages, tape, my gown.  She had the most concerned look when they took me out in the wheel chair.  Hailey did change her mind when she was able to ride on my lap to our new room.

Such a proud BIG sister!

Kevin, Sydney, and I stayed in the hospital until Wednesday morning.  We had a very peaceful two days in the hospital to bond with our new little girl.  During our stay, Missoula got it's first official storm of the winter.  On Tuesday, schools were closed and it was -10 degrees.  At our house, we got 7-8 inches of snow.  

We were happy to return home and see Hailey.  She has been amazing with Sydney and loves her so much.  She is always asking where Sydney is and what she's doing.  She will stop what she's doing to go give her a hug and a kiss.  One week in and we have seen NO signs of jealousy.  Kevin started work today, so we'll see if that continues.

Thank you to all for the phone calls, FB posts, visits, etc.  It means a lot to us!  Most of all, thank you to my parents and Jen for taking care of Hailey while we were in the hospital.  We appreciate you very much.