Celebrating daddy through the years!

This is a tribute to Kyle for what an amazing father he is to Hayden. He is loving, patient, a wonderful teacher, a fabulous example, a good listener, a good snuggly reading partner and so much more to Hayden. Kyle absolutely adores Hayden and Hayden feels the same way about his daddy!

Here are some great memories over the years of these two partners in crime! Most of them were taken during Kyle's special Father's Day celebrations and some were taken during some very important times in Kyle's life as a daddy!

First moment Kyle held Hayden, just minutes after he was born.

First time Kyle fed Hayden. 

First family photo. Hayden was barely two days old.

First changing session with daddy. I LOVE this moment in time!

Kyle's very first Father's Day- June 2007

I love my daddy. Hayden at 2 months old getting changed to go to the park on Father's Day- June 2007

I'm only posting this picture because Hayden's smile was definitely for his daddy. Hayden has adored his daddy from day 1!

 The day Hayden's adoption was finalized. Such a very special day for all of us- June 2008!

 

Adoption-finalization-celebration-dinner. Hayden has the best daddy in the world!

Kyle's 2nd Father's Day- June 2008. Hayden has always loved snuggling on daddy's lap and he has always LOVED cards too!

We became a forever family in August 2008 

The ceremony and the 24 hour flu took a lot out of our little man. He's always happy to snuggle up to his daddy and sleep!

 Hayden was blessed in Nana and Papa's home by his daddy and surrounded by all of those family members and friends that are very dear to us.  We had a special week full of such a peaceful spirit of the love and importance of family!

 Father's Day- June 2009. Hayden helping daddy open his presents and enjoying the card and daddy time WAY more than the actual present!

Playing ball with daddy before present and card time- Father's Day- June 2010.

 Bring on the CARDS!

Hayden gave daddy a very special present this year by falling asleep right before dinner time. It was a peaceful dinner with adult conversation... that's very rare for this little family!

Kyle eating his favorite chicken crescents while Hayden snoozes his dinner away on the couch. 

 Trying to get some food into him before putting him down for the night. He was OUT for the night and it was only 6:00! ha ha  What a good daddy!

Father's Day- June 2011. Enjoying more snuggle time and funny card time!

 Father's Day isn't complete without building a huge train track and playing trains for hours!

Father/Son photo-op June 2012

Hayden is wearing Kyle's suit that he wore when he graduated from preschool... pretty adorable if I do say so myself!

Always looking up to and hoping to be like his daddy in every way... he adores him so, so much!

Hayden wanted to have daddy open his Father's Day present early this year. He made him a "hang glider" that has many appropriate attributes to it: paper, flashlight, hangers and spy technology! He was so proud to give this to his daddy and he spent a good hour just putting it together and wrapping it for him.   

Father's Day- June 2012

Putting together a toy that we brought Hayden back from our trip. These two were in heaven figuring out all of the bells and whistles to this new M&M toy!

The #1 daddy in the world.

It touches my heart that he still likes to sit and snuggle on daddy's lap... he often tells me how BIG he is because he is 5 years old now. I'm just glad he's not too big for his daddy time. 

Looking over all of these pictures, Kyle and I laughed because he really DOES have some favorite shirts that he likes to wear and he wears them often, HA HA!  We also laugh and cringe at how young we looked at the beginning of these pictures, compared to now... yikes!

But on a more serious note, it has been marvelous to watch these two grow such an amazing relationship over these past 5 years. Hayden looks up to his daddy so much and often likes to tell me that he is going to be as tall as daddy some day, or work like daddy some day, or play golf like daddy some day, or get married like daddy someday... and the list goes on and on. Hayden is so lucky to have Kyle as his daddy AND Kyle is so lucky to have Hayden as his son. These two are special, amazing, fabulous, fun and loving boys. I'm glad that they have each other! We are truly one happy and blessed family. 

Happy Father's Day Kyle. Thank you for blessing us all with your awesome shirts (ha ha) and thank you for being such a wonderful father AND husband. We love you as big as the sky!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Hayden & Mommy

Check one off the bucket list!

Back in March, Kyle surprised me for my birthday with a planned trip to Las Vegas and tickets to see Celine Dion.  I have always wanted to see Celine in concert and I was SO excited when the time finally came this past weekend to head out on our trip to Vegas. This has been one of my most favorite trips that I have ever been on with Kyle!

We stayed at the Bellagio. It was my first experience actually staying at a nice resort in Vegas and I LOVED it.  Here's some of our favorite highlights!

 The Bellagio was full of all kinds of fun hot air balloons, beautiful colors and fresh flowers EVERYWHERE!  We will definitely be going back. :)

We loved eating at Fix. This was MY favorite restaurant of our trip.  Good setting and yummy food.

The New York, New York roller coaster is by far one of our favorite activities to to do in Vegas. We are kind of crazy that way!! ha ha

Picking up some goodies for Hayden at M&M World. He loves this store so much!

Yummy food at Todd English's Olives... so good!

Watching the fountain show at the Bellagio. We loved the show at night better than during the day. It's absolutely breath taking with the fountains choreographed to Time to Say Goodbye, by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman... LOVED it!

Waiting for the Celine Dion show to begin. It was seriously one of THE best live shows that I have ever seen. I didn't want it to end!

 You always have to end with dessert. This isn't an awesome picture, but this Nutella and strawberry crepe was SO AMAZING! I will definitely be back to get another one from the Jean-Philippe pastry shop soon. I would love another one right now, please!

 It feels like we just traveled the trip of a lifetime. I finally got to see Celine in person and I will remember that show and vacation forever. Kyle definitely knows how to take care of me and I'm so glad I get to spend my forever with him. I'm a lucky, lucky girl!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Adrienne

Hayden graduates from preschool!

Hayden graduated from both of his preschools over these past couple of weeks!!! We are so proud of him. He has learned how to read, write (some what legibly) and do some math problems. He is definitely READY for Kindergarten and is counting down the days until it's finally here! I did a before and after photo of each preschool... I can't believe how much he's grown up over this past year.

Before: Hayden's first day of neighborhood preschool September 2011... he's grown so much from a year ago!!!

Watching his graduation video with his buddies on the last day of class!

After: even his shirt is too tight on him! Hayden absolutely ADORES "Teacher Vicki"! She is an amazing person and he often asks if he can just go take her a drawing or go and visit her. Good thing she lives right down the street from us. He is excited to take a few summer school classes from her as well. What a special lady!

I'm so proud of my little graduate man!

Before: Hayden's first day of Challenger School August, 2011... and now a smart and adorable "big boy preschool graduate"!! It's amazing how much he's changed and learned over the past year!

After: Hayden's last day of preschool EVER!!  He's even sporting tattoos again... too cute!

After: Happy graduation day buddy!

He was so sad to say goodbye to Miss Lauryn and Miss Shauntel. He loved them a lot. They did a fun circus party for the last day of class and all of the kids got to come in costumes. Hayden was SO excited to be Bumblebee!

He was super proud that Miss Lauryn was able to paint a Bumblebee face for him as well... what a special day for the end of a very special year.

We are so very proud of you Hayden! You are a loving, gregarious, happy, passionate, stubborn, smart, always-curious-to-know/do-more, special and amazing little boy. You keep us on our toes and we are always so, so proud of all that you are and all that you do! We love you so much buddy!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Mommy & Daddy

A good day for the zoo!

Today we decided to head down to the zoo with Nana. It was the perfect day- not too hot and not too crowded. It was kind of cold when we weren't walking, but it was a wonderful day and most of the animals were out!

We love visiting the elephants.

We spent about 30 minutes watching the otters and chasing them back and forth between the two windows... good times!

This seal swam upside down the entire time. Hayden thought he was pretty funny!

Nana got Hayden a matching baby polar bear. He has named him fire and snow... yup, you heard me right!

Love spending time, up close and personal, with the giraffes.

He's a little bigger than the juvenile, but he's still a deliquent!

Enjoying one last train ride before rushing to our warm car!! It was super cold by the end of our stay.

We are so excited to bring our next little one to the zoo with us all of the time. Hayden will show him the ropes and make sure that he's well cared for. Yesterday, I over heard Hayden asking a friend if he takes care of his little baby sister all of the time.  It was so adorable and I know that Hayden CAN'T WAIT to take care of "his little baby" soon too! 

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Adrienne

The most wonderful 12 years...

Kyle and I celebrated being married for twelve years this past week. I made the best decision of my life when I said yes to this amazing man. It's been the most wonderful and the most rewarding journey that I've ever made with anyone. I'm glad that I get to make the journey with Kyle.  

Our wedding day... I love this man more and more every single day!

I told Kyle that this is my favorite year of celebrating with him. We've been through a very tough time these past few months after our failed adoption and we've come out stronger and happier together than ever. We are excited to welcome a new little one into our family and we know that our time is coming very, very soon!! What a blessing our marriage has been. It's brought so much joy into our lives and through that joy we were able to welcome Hayden into our family, whom has brought us even more joy. 

Celebrating 12 years at our favorite restaurant Ruth's Chris

Families ARE forever. I love my man and I am excited to see what this next year brings. I KNOW that it will bring unfathomable joy because I will be spending it with Kyle!  I love you more than ever babe!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Adrienne

Tee Ball Season 2012

Hayden started Tee Ball this week. It's the first time he's ever played it with a team and he is so excited to be a "Fire Ball Raptor".  The coach asked the boys what they wanted their team name to be and Hayden shouted out "Fire Ball Raptors" and the rest of the boys agreed that that was the prefect name.

Hayden is loving his new team shirt and baseball hat. He wears his new hat everywhere now!  I love this sweet boy more than anything!!

First hit of the season

He smiles when he runs... too cute!

Loving all of his new friends. There are 12 boys on the team and Hayden has a smile on his face the whole time!

We are counting down the days until his next game. This summer is going to be full of lots of fun!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Adrienne