Almost Christmas...

It's almost Christmas and I couldn't be more excited this year. I just can't wait to see Hayden's little face Christmas morning. I really don't have anything new to report. So here is a little video of Hayden this morning. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!!

He's growing up!

So my little boy is growing up. In the last month he is sleeping in a big boy bed and learning to go potty. Of course the bed has been a breeze compared to teaching him to go potty. I'm lucky that I am a stay at home mom and can spend that extra time teaching him. However, I never knew it was this time consuming. I feel like I have to keep a constant watch on him all day. Watching his posture and facial expressions just waiting for the right time to send him to the potty. It's a little exhausting. He's gone a couple times but it seems like every time I say ok we'll try again later the minute I put his diaper on he goes in it. I pray for patience because I know I've got a long road ahead of me.

Although Christmas is only a short time away, it sure doesn't feel like it. The weather here has been ridiculous. Last week we had a few flurries and ice on the road and then BAM the next day its 77 degrees outside. What the heck! Its so strange. Don't get me wrong its nice to be able to go outside and play with Hayden but it's the holidays, its supposed to be cold. All week it will be in the 70's. Even though we do have beautiful weather in NC, even this is a little strange for us.

Nothing new really to report here Greg and the new store are doing well. His schedule is starting to calm down finally. He actually has 2 days off this week. We are all very excited about that. Especially me cause that means I get a little break too. Hayden is starting to talk a little bit more. He still has a very limited vocabulary. I'm sure it would be a little different if he was around other kids during the day. But, I can't continuously talk to him all day. His favorite word is still "no", imagine that! He tries to copy every thing I say and if I tell him what something is and he doesn't believe it he says "no mommy" and then tells me what he thinks it is. For instance we were looking in a word book and I pointed to a lemon and said "that's a lemon" and he said "no mommy boon". He thought the lemon was a balloon. I guess it could be. Anyway, just a little update for those who are interested. Thanks for reading!

I've been having problems uploading videos so all I've got is pictures. Sorry!

So busy...

Gosh we've been so busy lately, as I'm sure everyone else has too. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, it's always so nice to see family. Hayden had a great time playing with all of his cousins. We all really had a great time. Even Greg got to join us on Thursday.

Other than turkey day Greg has been busy at the restaurant and I've been busy here at the house trying to keep Hayden busy. Mark stayed with us a couple days last week while he was interviewing at a couple schools in the area, Duke (Boo) and Carolina (Go Heels!). Just kidding both schools are great. Our blood just runs Carolina blue in this house. For those of you who don't know Mark he is Greg's cousin Adria's husband. It was a delight to have him here we look forward to seeing more of them when they move to the area.

Here is a new picture of the restaurant like I promised. I didn't get to take any of the inside I was a little busy dealing with Hayden. This weekend they did a mock service by invitation only. They let friends and family come in and eat for free to give everyone a chance to practice. We went this morning and had wonderful food and service. Greg really has something to be proud about. They've done a great job and everyone was so nice. Fridays opens to the public on Tuesday, so everyone please keep your fingers crossed that this restaurant will be a success. I'm sure it will be.

Yesterday I got a little festive and decided that since everyone on our street has already decorated for the holidays, I might as well also. Some of my lights already went out so I'll have to fix that this week. But, it works for now. Hayden thinks it looks pretty and that's all that matters. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving...until next time.

a couple videos for your viewing pleasure...nothing to exciting!

Mr. Potato Head

Hayden has a ton of Mr. Potato Head toys and he's been playing with them quite a bit lately. Just a little bit ago we sat down together and here are some pictures of our creations. Can you tell which ones I made and which ones he made?

It's been a while..

Its been a while since I last updated. This week has been especially hard on our family. I never knew how tired and exhausting it would be to not have any help with Hayden. This is just the beginning and I don't know how I'm going to do it. Greg has been at work it seems like for 4 days straight. He leaves around 8 in the morning and gets home around 1:30 am. I don't know how he's doing it. He looks completely worn out. We only see him for a couple minutes before he leaves for work in the morning. Please keep us in your thoughts and pray that we can make it through these next couple months without going CRAZY! I've been trying to keep myself busy by organizing the house. I think I've rearranged my kitchen cabinets a million times this week. I even organized my can veggies. I've never been this organized in my life! My mom can vouch for that! ha ha!

Hayden and I went by the restaurant on Sunday and it looks amazing. It doesn't look like your traditional Fridays. It's completely modernized. And Greg is so proud of it. I wish I had remembered my camera so I could take pictures. Oh well! My brain has been a little scrambled lately. Greg has his final walk through today and the restaurant should be guest ready by this afternoon. Yesterday he called me after the health inspector left completely distraught. The inspector told him he had to raise every shelf in the entire kitchen 12 inches. Keep in mind that all of the shelves are completely stocked with food and supplies. This includes all the refrigerators and freezers. This is what Greg has been working on all week. So last night he spent raising and restocking shelves. How much FUN! I know he'll be glad when they finally open the doors for service, which will be on November 27 if everything goes according to plan.

As for Hayden, he's still growing like a weed. I swear he gets a little taller everyday. He's so much fun to be around. We've been working on potty training lately and its not going so good. I figured he was ready since he comes and gets me every time he needs a new diaper. He's become quite independent these days. He has to do everything himself. If you open his yogurt or help him up into his booster he will throw a complete fit. Just the other day I learned that he doesn't need help getting in and out of the bath. In fact I put him in and he screamed until I took him out so he could climb in by himself. My little monkey is growing up I guess.

I love my family, they are the most important thing in my life. I guess that is why the holidays are so special to me. Thanksgiving is my favorite time of year. I love all the food and the smells and the joy of being near the ones I love the most. I love that there is no pressure of buying gifts, it is just a day to be thankful for the things and the people you have in your life. Until next time...Happy Holidays Everyone, I love you all!

Our Little Dragon

What an exciting day yesterday was. Greg actually had yesterday and today off so we've been trying to do somethings as a family since we don't see him that often. First we had an appointment with a new pediatrician which I am so excited about. The office focuses more on the children rather than money like most places. They only see 2 patients an hour, and have no answering machines so you always talk to a real person. They are open until 5:30 everyday even Saturday. On Monday and Wednesday they stay open until 8:30. We met all the nurses and doctors yesterday and everyone is so nice. I feel very comfortable having them take care of Hayden. On Monday we are going to a balloon party and getting our flu shots at the same time. Hayden was an angel at the doctor you wouldn't even have known he was there.

When we got home we decided to carve pumpkins which is not a good idea to do with an almost two year old. I don't know what I was thinking. Anyway we got it done and were pretty proud of them. Hayden refused to take a nap yesterday. He always does this when Greg is home. He sure loves his daddy. After dinner and tons of candy we started to get some trick or treaters. Everyone was pretty cute and there were some original costumes. It reminded me of when I was little and all the costumes my mom made for me. Since Hayden didn't take a nap he was pretty cranky and then you add a ton of sugar on top of it. He was quite a character to be around. He ran up and down the drive way all night long. He was hilarious. The only pumpkin that made it through the night was Greg's spider the rest Hayden got a hold of. We ended up getting a lot of trick or treaters apparently its a big deal in the neighborhood. We also met all of our neighbors that live on our street.

Hayden was by far the cutest dragon ever...and he had enough candy to last him until next Halloween.

The Perfect Pumpkin!

Today while Greg was at work I decided to take Hayden to pick out the perfect pumpkin. He is just too cute. I had a hard time getting him to look at the camera so these are the best pictures I could get.

He insisted on crawling up and over all of them, why? I'm not real sure. He also tried to pick up all the BIG ones. Even though we were only there for a few minutes he seemed to have a good time. The man selling the pumpkins gave him a lollipop. I think that was more exciting to him than the pumpkins.

Here is short little video of Hayden picking out a pumpkin. We ended up buying 3 pumpkins one for each of us. Hopefully Greg will have some time to carve them with us before Wednesday.

What a Rainy Week!

It's been raining all week long so Hayden and I have been stuck inside. There is only so much you can do when it rains. He has been playing with his trucks on the screen porch, but that doesn't last long. I'm not complaining about the rain because we need it now more than ever. We live near Jordan lake and when we drive by it is such a sad sight to see. The rain has given me a chance to do some things around the house. Everything is finally starting to come together.

Anyway, I don't have anything new and excited to tell but here are some new videos of Hayden from this morning. You know I'm not sure what level a 21 month old should be on but I'm pretty darn proud of what he's accomplished. His attention span was a little short this morning so he's not paying that much attention. I'll have to try and get a better video when he will tell me what more of the letters are. He just wasn't into it this morning. Well here you go...Enjoy!


I tried to take a video of him doing the motions to the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" but he wouldn't cooperate.

I have a better video of him doing the alphabet but I can't get it to upload...I'll keep trying.

Hello All!

So, I've decided to start blogging to keep everyone informed to what is going on in the Hartz family, and as sort of an outlet for me. You'll have to bare with me, I'm new at this.

I feel like our lives have been spinning in a whirl wind lately. We are starting to get settled into our new home in Chapel Hill. So far we are pretty happy here. This house feels more like a home than our last place. We have more privacy and it suits us better. Our neighborhood is quiet and quaint. Hayden and I have been walking daily, something I've wanted to do but didn't feel safe in our last neighborhood. At the end of our street is a small playground, Hayden gets so excited at the end of our walks because he knows he gets to slide and swing.

The only downfall to living here is that I'm farther away from my family. I was able to visit with my mom a few times a week and Hayden was able to play with my sisters kids whenever he wanted. I have some things scheduled for the two of us in the next couple months so we don't go insane. The Chapel Hill public library does toddler time twice a month. I think that is something Hayden will enjoy. He sure does love to read. Then I have joined a Mothers Group of Chapel Hill/Carrborro and will be setting up some play dates for Hayden. This will be good for both of us. Again this is something I should have done a long time ago.

The only room in the house I have finished is Hayden's. I put vinyl lettering (thanks Debbie) on the wall and Hayden just loves it. I have been working with him on learning the alphabet. He can say and recognize some letters (A, B, D, E, O, P) and he gets so excited when he gets them right. He is beginning to talk a lot. Most things you can't understand, but his mouth is moving from the time he wakes up until the time he goes to bed.

Greg's last day in the Cary store was yesterday, and he couldn't wait to get out of there. They have just begun the hiring stage of the opening process. They have had a lot of applicants, however Greg has only hired 3 kitchen guys. He seems so excited about getting into a brand new restaurant. I couldn't be happier for him this is what he's always talked about. The pictures of the restaurant are from May. The store is nearly finished now. I'll have to get Greg to take some new ones.
That is all, thanks for reading. Sorry if its boring. I won't post everyday but will when I can.

Bye For Now!