We've had beautiful weather here in NC the past week. Hayden loves spending time outside, he will sit in his bouncy for hours just chilling. This past Friday I pulled weeds in the flower beds and washed the jeep inside and out. I enjoyed being outside the majority of the day. Two Saturdays ago I decided to check out some yard sales. I was doing a drive by scanning of one, it didn't really look like there was much there, but I decided since Hayden was sleeping I would check it out. I am so glad I did! There was a ton of boy clothing from birth to 12 months. Hayden is set to go for the summer for sure and maybe even some of fall depending how he grows. I also got a mobile for his crib for $3. I got everything for $8.Then that Sunday Ryan and I went on a Harley ride, my first since having Hayden. We had so much fun! Our neighbor watched Hayden and we rode for a couple of hours. Below are some pics from the last week. The girl on the picture with Hayden is our 11 year old neighbor Jessica who loves to come over and hang out with him.

Firsts

Hayden has been having lots of firsts within the last week. He smiled, took a bottle, and slept all night in his crib! Up until now he would spend part of the night in his crib and the other part in his car seat. He wouldn't settle in his crib after his middle of the night feeding, we aren't sure what happened but are glad he has it accomplished. We are having so much fun with him, he is such a joy to have around. He had his one month doctor visit and everything is good. He put on two pounds since birth. One of his first smiles for Daddy

He took a bottle with no problem

He loves the snugli

Favorite spot to sleep

A smile for mom

Tummy time on the boppy pillow

What a face!

Trip to PA

Wow! It has been a long time since we posted and we apologize. This post is from our trip to PA. We had a fun, busy time while we were there. It was so good for the rest of our immediate family to finally meet Hayden and for Hayden to meet his cousins. A special part of our trip is that Hayden and his cousin that was born 12 days after him were able to meet each other.

Brothers and sons

Grandma Martin and Hayden

First time meeting uncle Delbert, he sure looks like a proud uncle!

Chilling with aunt Doreen

Admiring Great Grandma Sensenig

Four generations

Great Grandpa Martin Great Grandpa and Grandma MartinFour generations on the Martin side

Grandpa and Grandpa Weaver with their two new bundles

Sleeping Cousins-Michael and Hayden

Ryan and Malakai

Regina and Hayden

Eric, Ryan and their sons

Denise and Malakai

Hyden and his new friend Malakai

Great Grandpa Sauder's arms sure were comfortable

Another four generation picture

Grandma Martin and Hayden

Delbert, Andee and Hayden

What's in a name?

Denise and I talked about names alot while she was pregnant, as I'm sure most parents do. We believe that someone's name is a significant thing, since it is something that will always be a part of who our child is. You can also see the significance of names in Scripture, the various names of God that each describe a particular facet of who He is, the times where God changed a person's name at a transformational time in their lives etc. A lot of parents focus on if they like the name, will the child get made fun of later in life because of the name and so on. While we obviously thought about those things as well, we also wanted our baby's name to reflect who God had made him/her to be. It is an awesome thing to be able to name another person... So we talked about a lot of different names and looked at their meanings as well. Hayden has a few different origins, including German, English and Welsh. The one we feel best describes our baby boy is the Welsh origin which means "fire" . Samuel is obviously a biblical name and has a Hebrew origin. It has several possible meanings which include: "his name is God", "God heard" and "God's heart" We feel like God has put a fire in Hayden's heart for Him and we identify with several different aspects of the Samuel in scripture. First the passion of his mother, Hannah, to have a child even though God had closed her womb. She prayed for a child and God heard her cry and answered. When she named him Samuel, she said:"because I asked the Lord for him". She also had made a vow that if God gave her a son, she would give him back to God to serve Him. After he had been weaned, she took him to the temple and said this to the priest: "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there." There is also the part of Samuel's life where God calls to him three times before he realizes that is God speaking to him, and he begins to have a connection with God that was rare in those days. When we decided that we wanted to have children, we assumed that it would happen almost right away, but it didn't. As some of you know, we eventually found out that Denise was having some problems with her pituitary gland which was affecting her hormones etc. and was able to be treated with medication. However for a while we didn't know what was going on and we prayed often that God would bless us with children, and many people joined with us on different occasions to believe for God's best plan for our lives. During this time one of the most significant things God showed us was that we should not focus so much on what a child would do for us, how it would enrich our lives etc. but to focus on how we could invest in our children and help them to be all that they could be. So in our hearts we say, the Lord has answered our prayer and we give him to the Lord. We also believe that Hayden will have a special relationship with God and will be able to communicate God's heart to people that don't necessarily know God's heart for them.

Hayden (a.k.a. "the stud") Weaver photo shoot

We wanted to get a good picture of Hayden for our upcoming birth announcement so we had some fun a few days ago..... Here are a few of our favorites.

More Hayden stuff...

Ryan's parents came to see little Hayden this weekend and spend some time in NC again. We were very excited for them to be able to see him, since we knew how much they wanted to meet him in person. We definitely enjoyed having them here again.

We were happy to have Denise's parents here for almost a week right after Hayden was born and now to have my parents here. It was a joy to watch both sets of grandparents interact with their new grandson....it is interesting to see a 50-something adult speak in baby language!

Here are some pics from the weekend, also some other pics from the last week or so....Enjoy!

Hayden and Grandma Weaver

the proud grandparents...

Heather Buckwalter and the kids stopped by with a greatly appreciated meal the other day, so Moses, Sarah and Silas got to love on Hayden for a while....

Moses Buckwalter and Hayden

chillin' like a villain

holding our little treasure...

Coming Home

Hayden came home yesterday (3/5/08). We are so proud of him and so thankful to the Lord for giving us a healthy baby boy to parent and invest in. Who knows what he will do and who he will become?

He had his first doctor appointment today and he is doing great. Denise is also doing well and adjusting to her role as Hayden's mom. Thank you to everyone who has visited him already and to those of you in Pennsylvania who are carrying us in your hearts, we love you!

Hayden and Grandpa Martin

leaving the hospital

Hayden and "Uncle" Matt

First bath at home

Hayden and Micah Barlett