Enjoying the Weather

It has been an awesome year so far in the Sonoran Desert. Every day has been 70 degrees and perfect carbon copies of each other.

We put in fake grass in the backyard and we are loving it. The girls enjoy it and of course Matty wanted a putting green so a small portion of the grass is just that complete with a couple of holes. Sometimes we just lay around outside enjoying each other's company. In fact Savannah and her friend Kathy, her Best Woman from our wedding who was in town, laid on the grass literally shooting the breeze for 2 hours.

We also celebrated our 5th anniversary on the 6th. We can't believe it has been so long. We went to Dominick's Steakhouse in the Scottsdale Quarter for the occasion. It was great and we really enjoyed an adult night out.

After dinner we walked to Eddie V's for dessert which is another nice restaurant in the Quarter. They are known for their bananas foster which is legendary. It is not like traditional bananas foster since it has a soft cake like base but it is glorious and we scooped up every last bite.

You will also see pictures below of a visit to our community park, and to the train park. We were lucky and got to the train park early to beat the crowds. It was a great time.

For the development of the girls, Ellie is now walking all over the place and she now prefers to walk (as opposed to crawling). It is now VERY rare to see her crawling at all. She still takes her tumbles but she is getting better every day. She is still very cheerful and her smile is championship level. She is also much more cuddly than Hayden was at this age as she will walk up to you and give you a big hug with no prompting.

Hayden still thinks she owns the world and she is as sharp as a whip. Her mind blows us away at times and now we need to be on our game. In fact, if we have told her something to do or not do, then we break that rule at any point in the next 6 months, she will call us out on it.

Recently we were flipping around the channels on TV and we stopped on The Sound of Music for about 3 seconds before flipping again. She yelled out, "Daddy, I saw Mary Poppins! Go back!" We were bown away as she saw Julie Andrews, in a different movie with a different hair color, but made the connection.

So we are enjoying our family life and watching both girls grow. Perhaps the best part is that they both love each other. Hayden frequently invites Ellie into her room to play and Ellie loves doing anything Hayden is doing. She even calls out for Hayden, though it is indiscernible to the untrained ear: "Tay-Duh". It sounds somewhat like "Dada" but slightly different. Thanks for reading and for the comments. Enjoy the photos.

Click for Slideshow

Magg-i-ano's!!!

Dave and Sarah met us at Maggiano's for dinner. I think some little girl likes almost as much as her Daddy!

Spring Break '11

In March, Vin, Sheila, Vincent, and Stella Lecce came down to visit from Rochester. They were greeted with amazing weather for the entire weekend and we all had a blast.

On Friday, the guys played golf and the ladies went to get their nails done. Vincent and Hayden even spent some time out by the pool and shook their booties a bit.



After the guys got home from golf and the girls went out to the nail spa, the kids woke up and wanted to go outside. So we went out back and Hayden and Vincent wanted to put their feet in the pool. It was pretty cold, but our feet got used to the temperature after a little while.



Then that night we all went to El Encanto Mexican restaurant in Cave Creek which is a great small artsy, touristy town about 15 minutes north of us. The food is great but the coolest part about the restaurant is that they have a duck pond in the middle of the restaurant. We had to wait a little for our table so the kids fed the ducks and loved it. We were even treated to a couple of songs by a great Mariachi at the end of our meal. He took a liking to our youngsters and the feeling was mutual.



On Saturday morning we ate a feast of a breakfast which included, scrambled eggs, potato pancakes, bacon, toast, and belgian waffles with blueberries and whip cream. YUM!

Then we packed up the kids and went to the Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale. This is one of the coolest parks in the city as it is train themed. There are huge decommissioned engines, rail cars, and cabooses all over the place. Plus, they have a brand new model train building that has all different sizes of model trains. Vincent and Hayden really loved it (and so did Matty and Vinny, their inner boy may have come out).

Also in the park they have a little train that goes all around the park on which park guests can ride. We went on the train and the kiddos loved that too.



Hayden and Vincent also went on the Merry Go Round and played in the giant playground as well.

After the park we went to In and Out Burger, which Vinny loves and must get every time he comes west. However, after tasting a Double/Double Animal Style one more time, he proclaimed that Five Guys Burgers was now at the top of his best burger list. Matty agreed and it was settled for the world.

When we returned home, the kids played around before going to bed. It was good to see Hayden and Vincent get some quality time together as they did everything together from throw balls back and forth, to pushing each other in the wagon. They were great at sharing and taking turns, amazingly enough.

Stella and Ellie also played together. Stella is 3 months older and much more advanced physically, but she took a liking to Ellie. She expressed her love this way:



That night we had more guests join us as Afton and Ashley came over and our good friends Heather and Fermin Moreno were in town from Seattle. We then had another feast for dinner: a blue cheese lettuce wedge salad with crumbled egg and bacon bits was the first course, then the main course was chicken marsala and vodka penne with sausage. Savannah was smart enough to suggest dinner at 8pm so that the kids would be in bed and we could peacefully enjoy it. It was great. For dessert we had silcilian sundaes: freshly baked chocolate chip cookies topped with ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. Sensational.

After dessert we played some games and it was a magical evening with great people. We are happy to share those kinds of nights with the ones we love.

The next day was Sunday - the day of the baseball game. We were on our way to Salt River Fields at Talking Stick - the new Spring home of the Colorado Rockies.

It was a gorgeous day for baseball and we were going to see Ubaldo Jimenez, one of the best pitchers in baseball, pitch. It was a fun day as we had pizza, garlic knots, and ice cream at the stadium. Matty and Hayden were even selected as fans of the game and were on the Jumbotron! (We narrowly beat out Vinny and Vincent, most likely because Vincent was wearing Yankees gear and Hayden had a Rockies shirt on)

The Rockies won, and after the game, the little tykes decided to start their own journey to the majors by running the bases, on the little kid field of course:



It was another great day to keep our string going. That night, Hayden and Vincent decided to have a dance party to Vincent's favorite song, Dirty Bit by the Black Eyed Peas:



The next day the Lecce family packed up and went back east. What an amazing time and what memories. Enjoy the videos above and the photos below.

Click to View Slideshow

August Through Labor Day Weekend

We had a good last month of the summer with plenty of pool time and relaxing.

Daddy and Hayden went to a baseball game to see the Rockies versus the D-Backs. Hayden loved it and talks about it all the time. We had hot dogs, a pretzel, and some ice cream too. She even a month later she still remembers all the things we ate and she tells the story to people saying, "He threw it," referring to the pitcher.

Savannah attended her Heritage Makers conference which was held here in town. At the final dinner event, she was invited on stage as she won an award! We were so proud of her.

For labor day, we took a mini family trip up to Flagstaff. It was great to get out of the heat as the temperature up there was 80 degrees. We had a picnic in the park, toured an art fair, and Hayden got to play in some bouncy castles which she really enjoyed. Near our hotel was a line of train tracks and Hayden loved seeing the trains go by, "Chug-a Choo Choo!!!" We stayed at a cute little inn and though we thought we had reserved a suite, we only had one room. So when we put Hayden down to sleep, we had to go into the bathroom to watch a movie on the laptop. It was quite comical as we cramped into our little movie theater. The next morning we had a big breakfast and drove back down the mountain.

We also were able to finalize Anabelle's room. Thanks to Uncle Dan and Aunt Susie for the awesome tree that we were able to put on the wall (with Uncle Ashley's help). It looks awesome and makes the room look great.

Click to See Photos

July Recap

Hello friends and family. Sorry for our delayed posting! We had good intentions to post more often but life seemed to get in the way, which I suppose is a good thing.

July kept us busy with a trip up north for the Fourth of July, Hayden's swimming lessons, a work trip for Matt, setting up Anabelle's bedroom, and a visit from Oma (Savannah's mom). It's been great that the summer has gone by so quickly because we are ready for cooler weather and ready to meet baby Anabelle.

Hayden has been doing great at daycare and really enjoys going there every day. She learns so much there and we love to see what new stuff she's picked up on. Most noticeably, it seems like her vocabulary is increasing almost daily. Some of the new phrases we heard in July include:

"What happened?"
Every day we drive by a Quizno's restaurant that was having its Grand Opening. They advertised this Grand Opening with a large red balloon. Every day Hayden would point to it and say, "red balloon". Well, at the end of the month the red balloon was taken down and now Hayden wants to know "what happened?" She's quickly picked up on using this phrase in every day conversation and frequently asks us "what happened".

Calling Matt Daddy
Hayden used to call Matt "Dada" but she now calls him Daddy. Every once in a while she calls him Matt or Babe.

Saying "Oh"
As in: "Mommy, what happened?"
"The show is over so I turned off the TV."
"Oh."

Saying her Name
At school Hayden learned to say her first and last name. But, we think that the teacher may be pronouncing it a little differently than we do. Here's how the conversation goes between us and Hayden:

Us: What's your name?
Hayden: Hayden Wal-dak
Us: No, it's Hayden Wal-lick
Hayden: No! Hayden Wal-dak
Us: No, Hayden Wal-lick

We hope every one had a great July! Thanks for all of the postings! We love to read your comments. Click on the picture below to see some of our favorite pictures from July.

July 2010

More Pink!!

May 2010

May was a great month! We found out that we're having a baby girl! YAY!! We're so excited to keep the pink theme in our house. The doctor said that she looks great and healthy and we scheduled a c-section for September 20th. She has started moving around a bunch and we've both felt her move. It's such a great feeling to feel the baby move and know that she's in there growing.

In early May we attended Madeline Coy's 1st birthday party at the park. Hayden LOVED the swings, which was quite a change because they normally freak her out. She swung with Madeline and Alden and then played in the sand with Savannah Farr. That evening Uncle Ash and Aunt Afton watched Hayden for us so we could attend Viva Las Vegas at City North, hosted by 20/30 VOS.

In mid-May we had a very successful garage sale and were able to clean up our office to make room for a guest bed. The guest room will be cleaned out and repainted for baby girl Wolach. After the garage sale we spent the afternoon with friends playing bocce ball (hosted by the Coys) and unfortunately placed 4th in the tournament. Boo - no money for 4th place.

This month we started potty training Hayden and it's proven to be a little more difficult than we thought. She gets a jelly bean after each successful trip to the bathroom so we've also become more diligent with teeth brushing. We celebrated her 2nd birthday with family and we'll write about it in another posting.

ABCs and Potty Pees

Click to View Slideshow

Hello friends and welcome to another edition of Pachelbel's Cherubs. Now 23 months, we are seeing some quick development out of our little one.

She is getting very good at her ABCs as she sings the song with decent accuracy now. She will also repeat what contestants ask for on wheel of fortune:

Contestant: "Is there an R, Pat?"
Hayden: "R!"

See the video below which shows her counting her ABCs. We are really loving the school that she is in because we go through things with her a bit at home, but there are days when she comes home and we are blown away at what she knows. The ABC song is an example of this.

She is also in the middle of potty training. She pees in her little toilet with some regularity and she often tells us when she needs to pee. The only thing is she tells us too much. There are several times when she says, "Go potty" and she runs in to the bathroom, drops her pants and diaper, and sits on the toilet reading a book (seriously), but nothing else. She then jumps up to wash her hands. So she loves the idea of it, even when she doesn't need to do it. It is cute for the first 33 times. I can't believe I just wrote a whole paragraph on my daughter using the bathroom and you can't believe you just read one.

Hayden also loves to help out with whatever we might be doing. She especially loves cooking and cleaning. She pulls her chairs up to the counter when we are preparing food and is eager to have a job (will she be like this when she's 15???). We give her butcher knives and tell her to chop meat. I'm kidding! She chops vegetables with the knives.

Actually she usually stirs something, or drops bread in the toaster. But whatever she does, she enjoys it. She then loves to set the table, except that she uses tupperware, which she can reach as it is kept in a low cupboard. When she sets the table with the tupperware, she walks around to each place and says the name of the person who sits there (we are creatures of habit): "Dada, Mommy, Hayden, Ashey (Ashley), A-ten (Afton)." She sets the table for Ash and Afton even when they aren't there. Then after dinner she loves to sweep - yes, she goes into the pantry and takes the broom, and comes out and sweeps the floor. Then she gets a wipe and wipes down the table. No idea where she learned that as she certainly hasn't seen that at home. Maybe she's trying to tell us something???

Her vocabulary is also getting very strong as she is now putting words together:

"Go Mommys Car."
"More School Bus." She loves seeing school buses on the street.
"Thank you, Dada."

It is pretty cool to actually be able to have a conversation with our daughter.

With our other little one who is still baking, we are 18 weeks along. Savannah is feeling much better than she did in the first trimester and she's eating well. We find out what the gender is next week and we are really excited. We have also scheduled the date of delivery (planned C-Section) to be Sept 20. Expect a lot of postings around that time.

Thanks for the well wishes many of you shared for our parents, Dave and Sarah Wolach who are going through tough times with cancer. They are doing quite well, albeit tired, and we are so happy for them.

All the best. Enjoy the pics and the video and thanks as always for the comments.

Happy Easter, Everyone

Click to View Slideshow

We had beautiful weather for Easter. Hayden completed her very first Easter egg hunt very well, finding all 9 eggs. Of course there was some direction given and the eggs weren't exactly impossible to find.

Enjoy the photos and vid.

March Madness

Click to View Slideshow

We are quite sorry that it has been so long since our last official post in January (a couple of the posts below were backdated to fill in missing pieces - but look at them, they are nifty).

Times have been busy since January: Olympics, trips to Vegas and Utah (and San Diego for Matty), a birthday, 2 diagnoses of cancer in the family, an amazing Sweet 16 run by Cornell, and visits by all of Hayden's grandparents.

Hayden's words are now too many to count. She loves to say things like School Bus "Skoo Buh", the moon, happy, and 'how are you'. She is a lot of fun when she is in a good moood, but we are seeing bad moods as well now that she is in the "terrible two's" timezone. We know it is just phase though.

She is polite as she says "please" and "thank you" and is nice about sharing food - she offers something to us (after she picks it up with her grubby hands) and if we decline she eats it herself. We know that the nice-ness is also probably a phase.

In AZ we are loving the awesome weather we have had (this is the best time of year for us) and the town is alive with spring training and the smell of orange blossoms in the air.

Enjoy the pics and video.

#2 on the Way!

After 12 weeks, a sonogram, and getting to hear the heartbeat we are writing to announce that we are pregnant with baby #2!

In keeping with tradition we decided to nickname the baby. This baby's name is "Peanut" (as referred to by me) and "Number 2" (as referred to by Matt in his best Doctor Evil voice). We should be able to find out if we're having a boy or a girl at our appointment in May and then we'll give the baby a proper name, thank goodness. :)

Our due date is September 27th but we'll schedule a repeat C-section sometime during the week prior. And yes, I realize that I will be as big as a house during the hottest part of the year in Phoenix. I'm really looking forward to my swollen ankles! But seriously, I hope to spend a lot of time floating in the pool.

We'll send out additional updates as we get them. Hope all is well with each of you.

Love to everyone!

Bouncing 'Round the Room

I totally forgot to include this video in the last posting so enjoy:

Merry Christmas, Everyone

Click to View Slideshow

We had a fantastic Christmas in the Wolach household. We spent pre Christmas with our local friends, the Malcolms, Damiris', and the Coys. And we spent Christmas and post Christmas with Grandma Sarah and Grandpa Dave as well as Uncle Ashley and Aunt Afton.

Hayden received a plethora of presents (bonus points for whoever names that movie). She actually kind of knew how to open them. It may have just been her fascination with tearing paper. Each time she opened a new gift it was the coolest thing she had ever seen until she opened the next gift.

All in all it was a great season. Thanks to all for the nice gifts and cards and we wish you a wonderful 2010.

A Happy Thanksgiving in Wyoming

Click to See Slideshow

We had a great trip to Wyoming for Thanksgiving. The food was wonderful, the air was crisp, the football watching was plentiful, and the relaxing family atmosphere was serene.

Many thanks to the both the McNierney family and Bob and Susan for their wonderful hospitality.

Enjoy the photos and the videos.

One and a Half

Click to View Slideshow

It is hard to believe that Hayden is now a full year and a half. She is progressing quickly. After dinner she grabs a broom and "sweeps" the kitchen floor. When it is time for bed we tell her to put her toys away and she does. We will try and remember this time when she is older as we're sure it won't last.

One of her main traits at this point is that she loves being around us. It has good and bad points. It is great when she runs up to us and says, "Dada!" or, "Mama!" and gives us a big hug. She'll sit on our laps and follow us everywhere. It is more difficult when we put her to bed and she cries since she misses us.

We had a couple of birthdays for friends' kids since our last post, and both were a lot of fun. These kids are growing up fast.

Enjoy the photos and the videos.

Halloween 2009

Click to See Photos

Halloween has come and gone and it was great in the Wolach household. First, the weather here has cooled off and we can now drive with our windows and moonroofs open. Yipee!

For Halloween, Hayden was a Ladybug and was adorable - yes, we are biased. After seeing what all the comotion was about, she picked up the whole trick or treat thing quite well. "You mean I just go up to these people and they give me candy???"

3 yr old friend Alden Coy was a good role model as the 2 went around the neighborhood with the parents. Hayden even decided she liked it so much that she would invite herself into the houses when people opened the door. She would walk right in before we could hold her back. She held up pretty well but got tired at the end. The best part was that she is too young for candy so Mommy and Daddy reaped her treasure.

We have also been going to the park a lot as she has a newfound love for slides. She can go up the stairs and down the slide by herself, though we still make sure we are near her so that we don't have a panic attack.

She is very adventurous as she loves to climb everywhere. The other day we turned our heads for 2 seconds and she was standing on top of the kitchen table. Nice parenting that was.

Anyway, enjoy the photos and the videos. Thanks for the comments.

She Was Just Seventeen (Months)

Today is Hayden's 17 month birthday. She is starting to get into the tantrum phase and the "Terrible Two's" (which is a misnomer since it actually starts at around a year and a half - they don't tell you of that in advance). Every now and then she'll want something and when we don't give it to her, she'll fall down and start crying. Fortunately, she typically only does this at home. When we are out she is so into people watching she doesn't thin of the tantrum (that there is known as a jinx).

When she is not throwing a tantrum, she is a joy. She loves to read, and play on her horse, and throw a ball around. She now understands most of what we say and can say about 15-20 words herself and she picks up more all the time. If you say something to her you can see her looking at you and she repeats it (or tries to) and says it over and over practicing her new word.

Enjoy the pics and video!

Click Photo to See Slideshow

Things to Do in Denver When You're Alive

We had a great trip to Denver this past weekend. It was a family reunion, football fest, and food extravaganza all rolled in one. The Buffs and Broncos both won (amazingly) and lots of good times were had. It was great to see everyone but special thanks to Grandpa Bob for the amazing BBQ on Saturday (sponsored by the Forbidden Pig, have some next time you're in Laramie), Uncle Tim for the tailgate grub, and Grandpa Dave for the football, dinner, and just plain making the entire weekend happen.

In the pictures you will see Hayden pre-haircut, and post haircut as the pics span a few weeks. Looking back, her hair was craziness.

In other news, Hayden now says about 15 words (or semi words) including wa-wa (referring to water, not the Philadelphia convenience store), ball, more (of course, she's a Wolach after all), yeah, and no. It's getting nice because now we are starting to be able to understand what she wants which makes both our lives easier.

Also, due to the many ear infections she has had, she had tubes put in her ears on Friday. While it is technically surgery, it is very quick and easy. The ear tubes look like this and they let fluid drain out preventing infection. They fall out on their own after a year or so. They cleaned out a lot of gunk behind her ear drum and now the ear infections will be very rare and she'll be able to hear much better which will aide the growth of her vocabulary.

After some initial groggyness and whininess, we noticed an immediate difference as she was much happier and back to her old Hayden self.

Enjoy the pictures and videos!

Pics

Click above to see slideshow

Vids

Video Killed the Radio Star

Some vids to share:

1) She plays around and talks into a paper towel roll. Why we buy toys I have no idea.

2) She plays one of her favorite games: peek-a-boo. This time with the curtains.

3) She loves the Backyardigans, a cartoon. When they are done with the episode, she always says "Bye-bye" to the characters as they exit the screen. She then dances to the closing titles music.

4) Hayden passed her swimming survival class. This is one of her final exams. The instructor would literally drop her in the water from different angles and areas of the pool and the ledges.

Enjoy!

I'm 15 for a Moment

Caught in between 10 and 20, and I'm just dreaming, counting the ways to where you are.

The words of Five for Fighting may be talking about 15 years, but Hayden is 15 months old today so we'll apply them here. We just returned from a wonderful vacation in Rochester, NY with our friends from school and their kids: Vincent Lecce and Chadwick Carmody. It was wonderful to see everyone and to see the kids and how they've grown.

We went to Canada to see Niagara Falls which made Hayden an official international traveler. It was amazing to see the falls and even though it was hot and muggy, we had a great outing.

The adults also went on a wine tour to visit wineries up and down Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region. It was a fantastic day and a lot of good wine was had by all.

Unfortunately Hayden cut a molar midway through the trip which gave her a fever, a rash, and a nasty bout of screaming all night. She kept the whole house up as her tooth sliced into her mouth. The poor little girl was so sad and lethargic the second half of the trip but she seems to be over it now.

She did enjoy fun times like her first wagon ride and bike ride and her show "The Backyardigans" which had many viewings. She also enjoyed spending time with her lifelong friend, Vincent. They shared a chair together, a wagon, and a bath. All of which gave us great pictures which you can enjoy below.

Click to See Album Photos

July Oh My

It was a great July. The 4th was fun, Aunt Sheila came out to visit, and Grandma and Grandpa Wolach came to visit as well.

New developments include the fact that Hayden now knows what we are saying much of the time. When we tell her it's dinner time, she gets really excited and runs over to her high chair. If we ask her if she needs to be changed, she runs into her room where the changing table is. When we tell her, "Let's go play," she runs into her play room. It's a lot of fun seeing her understand and react to what we say.

Also, her swim lessons have gone great as she is in her last week. At this point, if she were to fall in a pool, she would be able to float for several minutes.

Enjoy the pictures!