Hayes Family Photos

This many kids, tough job!

Silly Hayes family, I love Deanne's eyes.

Cute Mommy and daughter shot.

Daddy and his girls.

The best "normal" family photo. They are a great family, those boys are trouble though!

First Job

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take some family photos for one of my friends. This was the first time I have ever shot for non-family members. I was a little nervous but the family was beautiful and we had a gorgeous house to shoot at. Thank you so much to my friends for taking a chance on me. I am learning tons! It was an added bonus that my hubby was there to carry around all of my gear and help me out. What a lucky girl I am!

For Sharon

For you Sharon.
Her hair is a mess, she is wearing two different colors of stripes, and her skirt is on sideways
but. . . . she is smiling!

Stop Mom

Mom, stop taking my picture! I am so over it. Leave me alone.
I just know that is what she is thinking!

Somber Nora

I couldn't blog without putting at least one in of my kid. Here is my Nora, would you look at those eyes?

Mata Photo Session

Wee baby Abram's foot.

Cutie Boy, the cut under his lip makes him look tough. It goes with his mustache.

Coy Malia

Malia's big girl feet. They grow up fast, so do their feet!

True Malia. I love having them around so much.

Fall in Iowa

Someone gave this tree a haircut.

I love my new camera!

We went out on the boat for the last time this year on Sunday. We took a little nature walk as a family at the camp ground by Lake Delhi. It is a perfect place to take the kids boating. We will be eagerly awaiting spring. More pictures later of the kids.

One More

My cute baby Nora, who sadly is not a baby anymore. :(

More Pictures

Me and my gnomes.

Nathan posing in all his gnomeness.

Trouble!

Showing off his skinny bones. Should have had him go as a skeleton and saved myself the money!

Wearing Mr. Potato Head's ears.

Pictures

Nathan in his lawn gnome costume. Those are his letters at the top of his bag. I taught him to write his name today.

Nora's lawn gnome costume. No I did not make them.

Nora flying in the air.

In the leaves at Grandma's house.

Nora giving a very moving speech to the forest animals. :)
There will be more to come later. Some more of Nathan, that kid is hard to get a shot of!

Pictures

I will post lots of pictures soon. I have been so busy. Sorry that I am so behind. Amanda decided to post so now it is making me look bad. We are not friends, we are sisters!

Happenings

It's been awhile, how are all of you? We are doing alright. Lots going on. Nathan started home schooled preschool this Monday. It is going great. I am just amazed at how smart he is. Nora is picking up quite a bit herself. It has been tons o fun doing the lesson plans and activities for them. We will do two years of preschool at home and then go to regular kindergarten pending on decisions made in the next few months. Which brings me to my next bit of news.
At the end of September Dan and I will be going to Cincinnati Childrens Hospital to discuss our options for a bone marrow transplant for Dan. As some of you know Dan, my husband, has a genetic condition called XLP. That is the abbr. name, I cannot spell or pronounce the full name. Basically he cannot fight off certain viruses such as the anode virus (the common cold) and mono. This makes it really really hard for us to have much of a social life or for me to be able to send my kids to school. A BMT would reverse his condition and in time would have a more normal life. Like everything there are pros and cons nothing is decided yet. This is strictly an informational visit. We are going to Cincinnati because we have contacted three other hospitals that don't want his case. It is very rare to have someone with his condition and still be alive at his age. The other hospitals just feel as though they do not have the staff or knowledge on his case to be the best option for us. This is very overwhelming for us. there is so much information and choices to be made. Please keep our family in your prayers. Hopefully I can find time to start posting more soon. Sorry for those of you that this is our only form of updates. It has been a crazy couple of months! I will try to do better.

Ahhh...

I want to go to that place.
Life has been so busy lately. So much going on that I have no time for me. We did get to go and see most of the grandparents yesterday in Cedar Falls. It was really great to see everyone. I wish I had tons of money so I could afford to go and visit all the time. This summer is shaping up to be a busy one. Hope everyone is staying safe in this heat!

Nathan's Do

He will hate me for this when he is older but I could not pass it up! Look how sad he is!! Nora did a much better job than he did. Little stinker!

Nora's First Haircut!

Nora after the haircut. It doesn't look that different. It is just all even now and we gave her some layers. It was sad to see her curls on the floor. They will grow back though.

Before the first cut. All parted off and ready to go.

Alyssa trying to part her hair. She kept saying " how do you do this everyday?" Notice Nathan in the background. Why yes he is standing in the window. Sorry girls, I already have mom of the year award. Better luck next year.

Kitchen change-a-roo

I got a little crazy yesterday and totally cleaned my kitchen. Pulled out the fridge, the baker's rack, and the stove. Scrubbed everything down and made a few changes. For those of you that have not been to my house, sorry I have no before picture. For those of you that have and know what it used to look like, Enjoy! I am really enjoying the change. I swaped the fridge and the bakers rack. I think it opens up the room a little more. I am going to hang my cast iron skillets on the side wall by the bakers rack. Now I need to move on to the kid room. Sort clothes, sort toys ect. Wish me luck!

Decision Time!

This is my life. No it isn't that bad! The school has given us until Saturday May 30th to accept their offer. After that they will take the cash bonus away. We are fasting and praying to do the right thing. We could use everyone's prayers these next few days. On a happier note we are going to my nephew Jerry's wedding on Sat. We are all very excited for him and his little family. They are going to have a luau. Tons o' Fun!!

New Start

Life has been so crazy lately. My Grandma Arlene died this last Saturday. She was such a wonderful woman. There has been so many trials in my life lately but also so many blessings. Amanda and family came back for the funeral. It was great to have the kids play together. The weather was great. I will try to find pictures of them playing outside together. They really get along great! They are now on their way home.
Now I need to take some time for me and put my life back together. There are so many things I want to do this summer with my family and I really need to get things together so that can happen. I hope everyone enjoys this beautiful weather!

Peace

I am waiting for peace. It has been awhile since I have posted. My life has been so crazy lately. Earlier this month Dan's uncle Ralph died in a house fire. It was a tragic death that could have been avoided. he was such a sweet man. I had the privilege of putting together picture boards of his life for the funeral. I was very grateful that I was able to help out as much as much as I did. A few nights before the funeral Dan's Mom was taken to the ER. She has MS, wheelchair bound and never complains about a thing. She seemed really tired all day then at dinner she just couldn't even eat by herself. Turns out that she had phenomena , a UT infection, and an infection in her blood. She is doing a lot better and is home now. During all of this there were a few misunderstandings within the family. It made me really sad that those feelings were happening in a time like that, this was a time where we should have all been working together. Most of us did really well together and grew closer from it. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to be so involved and get to know Dan's family even more. While all this was going on Dan is still working nights. I really hate it. I never see him. When I do see him he is so tired he can't even have a conversation. He was really bothered that he wasn't able to be there with his family. I really hope he gets put back onto days soon. I don't know how much more of this crazy schedule I can handle.
Things have been busy at church as well. We had our Ward Conference, my first one that I was involved in, I am second counselor in the Primary. It went really well, turns out that we have a great Primary, I knew that but it is nice to hear that you are doing a good job!
Mom and I are trying to see if you can go to CO again for Abram's blessing. I hope we can. It will be great for all of the grand kids to be together.
What else? Oh the house, we are waiting for the school to get their final building plans done. Then we will talk with them again. Such a long process, I had no idea it would drag on this long! We do have a few house options if we do sell. One of them is to move into Ralph's house. The house needs to be totally redone. It is right behind Dan's parents house. I would like that because then I would be able to take better care of them. We will have to wait and see what happens with that. I think that is all that I know. The kids are doing alright. They are sick right now, no swine flu. They got tested just in case. Some sort of virus, Nora's lungs are really bad and I think they are going to put her on steroids today. Poor girl!

House Again

I thought we were done with house thing but apparently not. There is a new deal on the table right now and it looks promising. If you want more info give me a call or email me.

Life

Oh the turns my life has been through these last few weeks. I have been to Colorado, Utah, Colorado, and back to Iowa in the span of ten days. Good times! I am so grateful for the way that my family and friends pulled together to help out with the Mata's. Amazing things were acomplished in these past ten days.
First an update on the Matas. . . Mom and I traveled out to Colorado to help with Malia and to set up their house for them. Things came together very quickly and the house looks great. There are still some things for Amanda to sort through but I think that she feels better about her living situation. Abram is doing great. He does not seem to have any other medical concerns at this point. It is so amazing what the priesthood and the power of prayers can accomplish. Abram is still struggling with nursing. Amanda is really putting up a fight to breast feed him and I applaud her for that. I know that with patience that things will work out for her. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to serve her and her family.
Second an update on my family. . . Nathan and Nora spent the ten days that I was gone with Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Bart. I am so grateful to them for keeping my little punks. I also have to give a shout out to David, Sharon's son for watching them as well. It was a very stressful week for them. My kids are so active and accident prone. Nora fell and had to get three stiches in her forehead. I am thinking about keeping her in a bubble from now on! She is recovering and seems to not care about it at all. Nathan has been raving about how much fun he had there. I don't think that they will be invited back anytime soon. I think that they need a break!
Third an update on our house. . . We are not selling our house and are going to continue to remodel it. We are currently done with the school thing and plan on staying here until we decide to move. I am very excited to go ahead with house projects and improve our little house.
I am so grateful for the church in my life and for the strength that it gives me to endure all of the trials that I am faced with. I know that I am so blessed because of the choices that I make in my life. I have so far to go but I am proud of who I am and where I have taken my life. Thank you for all of the people that support me and that have helped me to become who I am. Most of all I am so grateful for my husband. He has made me a better person. I love him so much and I am always amazed at his support of my crazy ideas. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Kind of a weird blog, I know, but I am weird.

Good News

Abram is doing so much better!! He is off of his ventilator and breathing on his own. He is still on oxygen but it has been lowered over time and will continue to go down. He will be taken off of the antibiotic and pain meds today. He will only be left with one iv and that one is through his cord. Amanda might get to nurse him today which means she will get to hold him for the second time! Mom and I have been getting their house set up for them and are getting things ready for Abram to come home. He is so beautiful! I will try to remember to bring Amanda's camera so I can post a picture of him. Colorado Springs is beautiful. They live in a great area where you can see the park from their living room window. Malia is doing great and I know that she is going to be a great helper when Abram comes home. Amanda is healing, we keep having to make her slow down and explain to her that she just had major surgery. She forgets that she won't heal as fast as she did with Malia. David will be deployed in May. He will get some leave before he goes so that he can have time to spend with his family. Thank you all for your prayers and fasting. Please continue to keep them in your prayers. A special thank you to Grama and Granpa Caley for keeping Nathan and Nora. It has been a huge help to me. I miss them but it is for the best. Thank to everyone one again!

Abram David Mata

Amanda had an emergency c-section last night and gave birth to their new baby boy. Mommy is doing fine. Abram was transferred to another hospital to receive more care. He was 6lbs 3oz and 19 inches long. Born at 7:30 on March 10th. He is having complications he has received two blood transfusions and in on a ventilator. My mom and I will be leaving tonight to go out there to help with whatever they need. Please do not call Amanda. You can call me if you have questions. 563-564-9037. Please keep them in your prayers.

I'm leaving on a jet plane!!

I just booked a flight to Colorado Springs!! I will be leaving March 16th. I want to get there before the baby is born so I can help Amanda set up her house. I will take Nora with me and Nathan will stay with my mom. During the day he will have to go to a sitter. A friend in the ward is going to keep him for me while mom is at work. I sure will miss him. I bet he will have tons of fun though! This will be Nora's first time on a plane. I hope it goes well. I am adding some kid movies to my zune so she will have something to watch. It is a night flight so hopefully she will just sleep. Mom and Nathan will be leaving Iowa on the 25th. They will drive out, we will stay there until the 30th and then go home together. My poor husband will be so lonely!! Does anyone have any tips on taking an 18 month old on a plane? I am sure it will be a really great time!

Aquadoodle

The other day the Hayes boys came to visit. Nathan and Nora got an aquadoodle for Christmas from Santa. We only have two pens so I took q-tips and gave them a cup with a scilicone stopper filled with water. They could put the q-tip in the cup and not get everything wet. They all had a really great time together. I even taught John how to write his name. He is a very quick learner. It was good to have someone for Nathan to play with. Nora didn't have much fun being the only girl. I think she was missing Malia.
We did hear back from the school. They gave us another offer. If you want more details email me.
I can't wait to go visit Amanda. I wish I could leave now and help her set up her house. I would love to get there before the baby is born. Oh well, I guess we will get there as soon as we can.

Nora

Nora got her cast off today. At first she wouldn't move it and said that it was still ouchie. She has no problem using it now and is only bothered that her skin is peeling off. We still have to go and get an x-ray in 4 months to make sure it is growing back correctly. So far so good though. I posted the pictures of the pony tail for Amanda so she could see how long Nora's hair has gotten. She is getting so big.

Dan's Job

Well there is good news and new news. First off Dan still has a job!! 15 people got laid off at his job, he was kept on. That is half of the workforce! We are so grateful that they choose him to keep his job. He will have new hours. Right now her works from 6am to 6pm. They have cut back on his hours so sometimes he goes in later. His new hours will be from 6pm to 6am. Full time, on an alternating schedule. It will take a lot of getting used to for Dan. He has never worked a night shift before. I think I will have to make him up a bed upstairs, get him some ear plugs and some really dark curtains. I hope that her can adjust to it soon. He might be able to go back to his regular shift in April. I hope they can switch him back soon. Bedtime is really special to our kids and he would miss it the nights he works.

We still have not heard from the school.

Nora might get her cast off on Friday, she might have to get a new one on though. I hope she can keep it off, she really wants to take a normal bath!

I think that is all, I have Amanda's new address, if anyone would like it email me and I will send it off to you. She is doing alright. David is in Utah getting their stuff out of storage, which means Amanda is in their new house in CO with nothing but a blow up mattress they bought. Malia is with Amanda with not much to do. Not fun for anyone. Call her, send her mail, cheer her up!!

Waiting for Spring!

Nathan went downstairs to the basement and brought up all of his bikes. I let them ride them in the house. They just want to go out and play but it is so cold here. We are getting a huge storm on Wed, full of snow. I just wish it would be warmer so the kids could go to the park.

New News, New Cast

Nora got a new cast on yesterday. She did really well, didn't fuss hardly at all. We did get more information on her fracture. She broke her humerus bone right by the elbow. Apparently this is a very bad place to break your arm. It is very hard for it to heal correctly. Once a week we have to take her to get x-rays to make sure it it growing alright. We don't have to take the cast off to do this, thank goodness! If everything grows alright at the end of four weeks the cast can come off but she still has to get x-rays every six months they didn't say for how long. If things don't grow as they should they said they might have to help it along. They used words like surgery and hardware. I don't like those words so we are not going to use them ever again. Okay? Now on to fashion. You see here that Nora is sporting a very cool cut off sleeper. You will be seeing this a lot. She will wear it for at least the next four weeks! You will also notice the hot pink barbie colored cast. Never let your kids break anything. The cast choices are awful!! I was hoping for a soft pink, no such luck! She also has a tattoo on her cast, complements of my mother. Mom always wanted one and is living her life via proxy through Nora. I don't care, I think she looks tough. Now moving onto the hair. Nora will be rockin' this style for days. You see Nora is very active, especially in the bath. I have resorted to giving her baths in the baby bathtub. We will only do this twice a week. It always results in me getting soaked. I don't really like it at all, neither does she. I think that is all, if you want any tips for you or your daughters on how you can have this look too, just post. I will see if Nora has time to comment back, she is very busy you know! Have a great day!

Nora's Present to Me

So at my birthday dinner last night Nora fell off her booster seat and broke her arm. She was a real trooper about it. It is just a small fracture but she will have to get a cast on it this week. We had to take her back to the hospital today because her hand turned purple. The ER Doc was a moron and didn't even think her arm was broken. Then he actually looked at the x-ray and said that it was and that he doesn't really know much about it. He called another Doc and they decided she was fine and we could just go home. Very irritating, I will just go to my reg Peds Doc on Monday. Hopefully they will get me in tough with an Ortho doc and something will get done. She is doing great though. Drugged up on Motrin and very happy with her new bear. She got that for free at the hospital today. Something good came out of our visit today! I was really sad that I missed church today. I was all done up cute and everything for my birthday. Oh well there is always next year!