Crossing a threshold

When I work downtown and take the L home, I walk through this courtyard because I love the lines. It feels peaceful. This is where I leave everything from work at work and I begin to focus on homelife. Hardly anyone is ever there so I take a slow stroll through and enjoy the silence. Then I come home to these cute munchkins and life is even better.

Sayings

I try to write meaningful sayings on my board at work. These are the ones I currently have up. With so many things going on at home, work, and just in the world in general, I remind myself to look at my board and take emotional inventory every day.

Splashing around

It was an interesting evening of loud children's voices (ok more like screaming their heads off). But they wanted to play with the faucet and they ended up sitting in the sink splashing themselves and each other. It was fun to watch through their eyes.
There are so many times we are reminded of how lucky we are to have 2 amazing children and tonight was one of them, even through the non-stop crying. Our girls are healthy.

What a day

We've been so careful about giving the girls one food at a time so we could monitor any allergic reactions. We finally made it to strawberries. They had a little bit on Sunday and a little more on Monday. We noticed Rayla's eyes were a bit puffy on Sunday but we thought it was from her crying and her 2 plane rides back from Christmas in Montana. Then on Monday we noticed she had a rash all over the trunk of her body. We linked the two and decided she was allergic to strawberries. Well, after further thought and the help of Dr. Fran (aka Yaya), we now think it isn't an allergic reaction at all, but rather Roseola (a virus). Looking back, she had a fever, she threw up, and was has been highly irritable. Poor baby has been miserable. Guess we will try strawberries again in a few months. Here's hoping the virus bypasses Payton.

365 (or as many as we can remember) days of the Hyems.

Today we found out that our girls love to clean. And they aren't happy with the tiny little broom. Oh no, it has to be the big gigantic one they can poke people (and dogs) with.
Learning to share?

Forever in motion!!!

Rayla and Payton have been changing so fast! They are such cutie pies! Here are a few things that we love about this stage:

Rayla
- She bulldozes her way through everything. She crawls on top of Payton, Zen, Brogan, toys and anything that is in her path.
- She slaps her hand at a toy hoping it flips closer to her so she can pick it up.
- When we say "Uh oh", she says "Uh" and lets the "oh" part hang without a sound.
- She uses her tongue to make a clucking sound that she learned from watching us.

Payton
- She tries to stand up from a sitting position, without help from anything like furniture or large toys. Needless to say she has done a few face plants.
- She methodically picks up toys with her thumb and pointer finger.
- She starts laughing hysterically for no apparent reason.
- She sucks in her cheeks to make a fishy face with a sound. We think she is trying to mimic what a kiss sounds like.

One of our most favorite things to witness is when they are both crawling all over and then they look up and see each other. They get the biggest grins on their faces and then they start to smile, then laugh, then they pump their whole bodies up and down in excitement.

Their 9-month appointment is coming up in a couple of weeks. We can't wait to show them off and see how much they've grown.

Catch UP!!!

Ok so we haven't been the best about writing on the blog but that is going to change ;)! What can we say but we have been a little busy. We will be posting a time log of what has been happening over the last 6 months. We also have some great videos that are posted so check them out. So look out for more catch up over the next few days but here is a start.

Rayla December - Smiled, Moved up to size 1 diapers, Cried real tears, Eating 4oz., Slept more then 3 hours, Went in the big girl tub, Had pictures with Santa, Turned 2 months old, Went to court for adoption, Made bubbles with her mouth, Went sledding, Listen to her first book, Enjoyed her first X-mas tree, Saw and touched snow

Payton December - Smirking/beginning to smile, Cried real tears, Slept more than 3 hours, Eating 4oz., Went in the big girl tub, Had pictures with Santa, Smiled on her two month b-day, Went to court for adoption, Made bubbles with mouth, Went sledding, Listen to her first book, Enjoyed her first X-mas tree, Saw and touched snow

Rayla January - Eating out of a big girl bottle (Nuk), Looking at us and smiling, Bubbles and lots of drool, Slept for 8 hours for Mamo's b-day, Started to talk to Payton, First music class, Wanda starts full time

Payton January - Eating out of a big girl bottle (Nuk), Looking at us and smiling, Bubbles and drooling, Slept for hours for Mamo's b-day, Started to talk to Rayla, First music class, Wanda starts full time, Sees the dermatologist

Rayla February - Smiled when Mamo came home, Shared a spiritual moment with Mom, Rolled over from back to belly, Slept in her own crib, Weighed in at 14lbs 2oz at the doctor, Discovered her feet

Payton February - Smiled when she saw Mom, Shard a spiritual moment with Mom, Slept in her own crib, Sitting up straight with assistance, Weighed in at 13lbs 3oz at the doctor, Slept for 8 hours two days in a row, Blows bubbles

Rayla March - Discovered her tongue and leaves it out forever, Rolled over from tummy to back

Payton March - Put pacifier back in her mouth all by herself, Laughed a full hearted laugh, Slept 10 hours, Discovered her tongue