Cake Decorator in Training

Here's a belated post to honor Michael's birthday. He recently turned 30-something, and I let Hayden help decorate his cake. Hayden did a fantastic job, and of course, Michael loved it!

He started spooning a few sprinkles at a time...

then decided it was quicker to just dump the whole bowl!

The finished product!

Silliness with Stickers

The best thing about Wal-Mart has to be the smiley face stickers. On a recent trip, the greeter gave us a whole sheet with a ton of stickers. After we came home, Hayden started decorating himself. Silly boy!!

Breakfast with Santa

Last Saturday, our church had a "Breakfast with Santa." Hayden had a great time eating pancakes and enjoying all the Christmas activities. He decorated a sugar cookie with lots of sprinkles. Of course, he didn't eat the cookie, but he did eat all the sprinkles! Then, he made an ornament for our tree.

And, of course, Hayden got to visit Santa and Mrs. Claus! He was a little scared at first, but once he realized Santa was handing out candy canes, he got over his fear and sat on Santa's lap.

Christmas Conversations

I love having conversations with Hayden. Sometimes, he just cracks me up! Here are two recent conversations that had Michael and I laughing...


Me: When Baby Jesus was born, where did they lay him?

Hayden: In a manger

Me: Who came to see Baby Jesus?

Hayden: The wise men

Me: What did they bring him?

Hayden: Supper... rice and beans!

That kid is still crazy about El Acapulco. I think he would eat rice and beans everyday!


We had talked about the North Pole and how Santa lives there and that's where he makes toys. When we asked Hayden a little while later where Santa lives, I said "He lives in the North..." and Hayden said "North Carolina!"

She's Still a Girl!

Just wanted to update on "Baby G," as Michael and Hayden call her. "G" is just for girl since we haven't yet decided on a name. My friend did another ultrasound for us a few weeks ago, and the baby was still definitely a girl! Not that she would change, but I've heard lots of stories of ultrasound mistakes. :) Anyway, I feel much more certain after seeing the last ultrasound confirm the gender. She was so cute during the scan. She kept opening and closing her mouth, then she sucked her thumb. It was precious!



At this point, I am 27 weeks, so I guess this is the beginning of the 3rd trimester. I'm still feeling great, just getting a little nervous that I have a little less than 3 months to get everything ready!!! We're wrapping up the remodeling here at the house and have ordered new furniture for Hayden so we can move the nursery furniture into her room and get it settled. Now, we really need to decide on a name! Any suggestions!?

In Mommy's Shoes

I was looking back over pictures I've taken of Hayden in the past few months, and I noticed there were quite a few of him wearing my shoes and no pants. He is too funny! He loves putting on our shoes and always wants me to take a picture of him. I'm not too sure why he never has pants on when trying on my shoes!

Hayden's Halloween

Well, of course I'm late posting again, but I wanted to share pics from Halloween. Hayden figured out how trick-or-treating worked this year, and he thought it was a lot of fun. He spent the next few days wanting to look at all his "treats!"

We started Halloween night by trick-or-treating at our neighbors', then we stopped at our friend Kaden's house to get a pic of the boys.

Then we went to Gramma and Grampa's house to trick-or-treat. By this time, Hayden realized he got treats when we went to the door, so he was practically running up the sidewalk! We stopped to pose for some family pics on their front steps.

Next, it was off to the Fall Festival at our church, where Hayden played games, ate, and trick-or-treated some more.

This is what Hayden enjoyed most during the night...Dum Dum suckers! Here he posed with his friend Rylan.

And finally, back home again, where I had to take some pics since I realized I hadn't even captured Hayden alone in his pirate costume. What a fun night!

It's a . . .

Well, here's the little outfit that I bought at Old Navy today after our doctor's visit. Can you guess what we're having!!??

Yes, it's a girl!!! I was so excited when the ultrasound tech told us, and I'm still somewhat in shock. I really thought it was a boy. The baby looked great, so we are really excited!

Ten Things Tuesday

Here's my list for the week. Sorry, it's mostly focused on the remodeling. Guess you can see what's on my mind these days!

1. Hayden slept until 8:30 this morning, so I did too! It feels great to sleep in occasionally!

2. We had another great Ladies' Bible Class this morning.

3. Jenny and I did two wedding cakes and two groom's cakes last weekend and survived! And, for the most part, everything went smoothly.

4. Our cake business has really taken off.

5. While we worked on cakes all weekend, Michael and my dad worked really hard at the house and finished our new shower. Here's a sneak peak, although the finishing touches still have to be done. Thanks Jamie, for your shower inspiration and ideas!

6. We're getting the rest of our new carpet installed on Monday!

7. Then I'll be able to get our bedroom in order and find some things that are still in boxes.

8. We have possibly found someone to refinish our kitchen cabinets, which is a project both Michael and I have been dreading.

9. If that works out, it will be the final major indoor project left in the house! But believe me, there are enough minor projects to keep us busy for a while.

10. We have our ultrasound tomorrow and will hopefully find out whether Baby Shumate will be a boy or a girl. Check back tomorrow for the big news!

10 Things ...Thursday

Since I can't seem to get it together on Tuesday, this is a little late. But, I have a lot to be thankful for, so here are my 10 things for the week.

1. I'm thankful that Michael absolutely loves his new job.

2. And he got a raise last week!

3. I'm thankful that Hayden is enjoying MDO.

4. And that his teacher bragged on his imagination. She said they were making things out of Play-Doh, and Hayden said he made an oval, a fondant ball (imagine that!), and pickled okra. Okay, so the last one's a little weird, but they were rolling the dough into hot dog shapes, and he said his was pickled okra...he and his daddy love that stuff!

5. I'm thankful that Hayden laid his head on my shoulder and said "I love you Mommy" while I was reading to him.

6. I'm thankful that cooler weather is on it's way. I just love fall.

7. We have another ultrasound next week. We'll hopefully find out the baby's gender, and more importantly, that he or she is healthy.

8. And I'm thankful that Hayden is over saying "No!" when someone asks if he wants a brother or sister. He says "sister" at this point, but it seems to change weekly.

9. Our new tiled shower in the master bath should be finished this weekend. After the master bath, we have only 1 major project (indoors, anyway) left!

10. My new washer is fabulous! Our old one was on it's last leg, and it gave up last week. So, we had to get a new one. The lid is clear, so you can watch it work. Hayden would sit through the entire cycle watching if I let him! I'll leave you with some pictures of him enjoying the entertainment...

The Past Few Weeks

The fair was in town a few weeks ago, and of course we had to go. Hayden had a blast this year! We went on Monday night, then Hayden got to go again later in the week with Gramma and Grampa. The other day we drove past the fairgrounds and Hayden said (with a great deal of concern), "Where did the fair go!?" He's talked about it almost every day, and he's worried about when the fair will return.

Daddy got to ride the train with Hayden.

Hayden really enjoyed riding the fire truck!

He also loved riding the "green spaceship."

This one's a little blurry, but I loved his excited expression!

Last weekend, Hayden and I went to Lake Frierson to his friend's birthday party. Hayden got to choose a fishing rod, and of course he chose a "Cars" one.

He had fun practicing his casting, but ...

he decided the actual fishing lacked the action!

He did have a lot of fun feeding the ducks!

On Sunday, we had a kickoff event at church for the "40 Days of Community" that begins tonight. There were inflatable jump houses and slides for the kids, lots of BBQ, and even a special guest. Howl, the Red Wolves new mascot, came to greet all the kids!

Hayden loved bouncing in the giant hamburger.

And he especially enjoyed seeing Howl!

A Great Day at School

Hayden started back to Mother's Day Out 2 weeks ago, and his first day was a little rough. Last week was better, but not great. But today, the first thing his teacher said was that he had a really good day! She said he played great outside, ate a good lunch, and went right to sleep. Atta boy!!!

The first week, he cried all through nap. Then last week, he laid down but didn't sleep. He's usually a great sleeper, still napping 3 hours most days, so it bugged me that he didn't nap there. I'm sure he was just getting used to everything since he hadn't been to MDO since May. Since I never got around to posting them, here are some pictures from the first day of MDO a few weeks ago.

Ten Things Tuesday

Here's what I'm thankful for today...

1. I subbed today and got to talk to Hayden on the phone during my lunch break. He is so cute when he talks on the phone!

2. Michael and my dad worked all weekend knocking down walls and building others to make a walk-in closet for us.

3. I finally feel like I may have some order and organization in this house soon. The lack of organization has been driving me nuts!!! The remodel should be done in the next month or two!

4. We have Oreo dirt cake in the fridge. Yum!!

5. I was in Hayden's room early this morning and heard him giggling in his sleep. I guess he was having a good dream!

6. I hear my hubby vacuuming in the other room as I type.

7. MDO starts Thursday. Time for all those errands I've been saving up.

8. Hayden's MDO teachers seem really great, and he loved his new classroom at Open House.

9. The school year has started, which means we can get back to our normal routine.

10. My morning sickness is easing up. I still have moments of nausea, but for the most part, I feel much better!

Jumpin for Joy

Hayden in the obstacle course

Trying to go up the slide!

He wanted all of these to himself.

Coming down the big slide!

Jack, Hayden, and Chase

A while back, we went to Paragould to "Jumpin for Joy." It wasn't crowded and had a lot of toys for little ones. I think the boys had a great time!

Hayden's Big Announcement

If you haven't heard, we're expecting baby #2! I'm due in early March, so I'm around 9 weeks at this point. The first picture is really dark, but Hayden is wearing a shirt that says Big Brother, which he wore to tell Daddy, my parents, and Michael's parents. It was really cute, beacause he wore the shirt and kept saying "I be big brother!" We had our first ultrasound on Thursday, so here are a few of the pictures we got. The first is a 3-D image, which I thought was really neat!

Grampa's Helper

Hayden is at the age where he wants to help with everything. He takes it very seriously, too. Last weekend, Michael and my dad cut down part of a dead tree in our yard. Hayden wanted to help Grampa move some of the limbs, and he was a great help!

Cheesehead

Earlier this week, Michael went on his first business trip with his new job. He spent a few days in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He brought this giant cheese hat back for Hayden!

Disney World - Magic Kingdom

I can't believe I'm just posting our pics from Disney World. I'm only 2 months late! We had a fantastic trip and were so proud of Hayden for doing so well. He was a fantastic traveler and did great with the long days. He even took a 2-3 hour nap each afternoon in his stroller while we were in the park! We spent several days at Magic Kingdom, so here are some pictures from the park. I have to warn you, I added quite a few posts and lots of pictures!

It's a Small World was the first ride we rode and Hayden still talks about it. Here he's taking it all in!