It's Shake 'n Bake and I helped!

Remember those commercials where the little girl helped her mom make Shake 'n Bake chicken? Yeah, having an 11 month-old help with dinner is nothing like that. Hailey helps even when we don't ask her to, in fact she helps even when we tell her not to. The last few weeks she has gotten especially curious, and is finding new ways to wreak havoc, especially when we're trying to get something done...like making dinner.

Taking Candy from a Stranger...

When I finished my last day of my 1st year of law school classes last week, we felt like we needed to celebrate a little...so we went down by the mall in South Durham to find a good restaurant. As we walked past a sports bar that had outdoor seating we passed by a group of very drunk youngish looking guys. One of them approached Hailey and offered her the biggest lollipop I have ever seen. It must have weighed as much as Hailey! Wanting to set a good example of what to do when a crazy drunk man offers you candy...Lindsay gladly accepted the lollipop on behalf of Hailey.

Swimming in April?

One of the many wonderful things about living in the South is that summer comes a couple of months early...okay, that's really only wonderful for people like us who are leaving before it gets really hot. It's been so hot, and Hailey's been so adamant about going outside, that we went to Target today and bought the cheapest inflatable pool we could find. Lindsay LOVED it!! Oh, and Hailey seemed to like it alright too. I've come to realize that most of the stuff we buy for Hailey, really isn't for Hailey it all...Lindsay loves to see Hailey experience new things and have fun, and she certainly did today!






I just realized that we never posted about Hailey walking...so this video is of her in the pool and she takes a few steps. She took her first steps on her 9mo birthday, then lost all interest for the last month or so until this last week. All of a sudden she decided to try it again, and can now successfully take about 5 or 6 steps at a time. It's crazy how fast these changes happen!

Cherry Blossoms

Our friends Kyle and Lindy invited us to go to DC with them this last weekend.
Lucky for us it's Cherry Blossom Festival time, and the city was beautiful!


We took a walk through Arlington National Cemetary


I must really be a law nerd, because the coolest part of the cemetary
for me was seeing the gravesites of a number of former Supreme Court Justices.


Lindsay, Hailey, Lindy and Amelia


Family Photo on the bank of the Potomac River

Happy Easter!

For Hailey's first Easter, she didn't get any candy...


But she did get some bubbles that she loved popping.


Lindsay made her the dress, and donated her candy for the photo


Happy Easter!

Spring Break '08!

It's not as glamorous as as Cancun or Fort Lauderdale, but Salt Lake City has it's own special charm...okay, being honest, the real charm of SLC comes from our family that lives there. Lindsay's sister Chelsea got married this last week, and we got to spend some time with Lindsay's family, and even got to visit Brian's grandparents. We're looking forward to spending the summer there (Brian has a job with a law firm in Salt Lake where he'll be working for a few months from May til August)

Hailey's Uncle Ryan is going to school to become a pilot...


Chelsea's new husband had a birthday while we were there, Lindsay made the "cake"



Family Photo in front of the Salt Lake Temple


"I'm pooped mom, can we go back to North Carolina now?"

Photoshop Fun

Lindsay has been trying to teach me how to use photoshop for the last few months, and I'm having a lot of fun figuring it out. Here are a few photos I've done. Let me know what you think (any tips? that means you: Nina, Aaron, and Nancy...or anyone else that knows photography for that matter)

Duke Basketball

We went to our last Duke game for the season this last week. On Wednesday night Lindsay and I went to see the Blue Devils beat Georgia Tech. I was glad I got 2 tickets to a few games so Lindsay could come with me. The only downside to the whole experience is that grad student section is standing room only...and it's hard to find a spot where Lindsay can see the court over the big fat heads of the people in front of us! All in all it has been a great season and we can't wait to keep watching the rest of the season.

This is our spot...right behinid the bench!



Right before one of our players shoots a free throw the stadium goes
silent and everyone puts their hands up in the air.


This is a particularly crazy tradition...we're standing next to tent #1 a coveted position by all Duke undergraduates. The undergrads started camping out for next week's Duke UNC game back in the first week of January. That's right, sleeping in a tent for 2 months to get in line for a basketball game! Now THAT'S dedication!

A Visit from Jessica

Lindsay's friend Jessica came to visit us this last week, so we decided to go for a weekend trip to South Carolina.
We spent Friday evening and all day Saturday in Charleston.

Friday night at some restaurant in Charleston



I don't think it's possible to take a bad picture of this girl


Walking the streets really pooped Hailey out


We took a boat ride out to Fort Sumter



And saw some Civil War cannons





When we got back to Durham, Lindsay, Hailey, and Jessica made a stop at the
Waffle House (a true staple of life in the South)


And they tried to sneak a peak into a Duke basketball closed practice

Bobbing for Bananas

I want to start this post by saying that Brian always remembers to put the seat down...or so he claims. At any rate he's pretty good at it, but as we learned tonight, pretty good ain't gonna cut it anymore. Hailey seems to arrive at a new phase of her development almost weekly, and today, she has officially arrived at the "I wonder if that floats in toilet water..." phase.

Now that she can entertain herself, we allow Hailey to roam free around the ground floor of the townhouse; at some point today when we weren't looking she managed to do a little empirical research...As I walked into the bathroom earlier, I casually looked down at the toilet only to find a banana rattle toy staring up at me as if to say "just be grateful she isn't tall enough to go bobbing for bananas."

Look Ma No Hands!

Hailey took a major step in her quest to officially join the world of the bi-peds. On the eve of her 8-month birthday she stood up by herself and held her balance for a whole 5 seconds. It took her 6 tries to replicate her feat for the camera, but it was well worth the wait!

Let it snow, etc., etc.

We thought it would never happen...but last Saturday we got snow in Durham! When we left North Carolina for winter break back in mid-December and the temperature was still a balmy 82 degrees, we figured we'd never see a real winter as long as we lived here.


Just a few days before we got the snow, there were weather warnings on all of the TV stations cautioning us to beware of the incoming "wintry mix" (which really just means cold, snowish looking rain); Brian received an email from the school warning that the entire Duke campus may have to shut down if the dreaded "wintry mix" came during the week...sadly the snow didn't come until Saturday, and it melted by Sunday. Even so, on Saturday, half of the city shut down due to the "inclimate weather". Call me crazy, but I don't see anything sticking to the asphalt do you? Still, we got a taste of winter and we are pretty darn glad that it only stayed for one day.

Getting into trouble...

Hailey really started crawling a few weeks ago. This morning while Lindsay and I were getting ready, we left Hailey in her room on the floor after her bath. A few minutes later we found her testing her extra sensory perception trying to make it to mom and dad's room after blindfolding herself with her hooded towel. Instead of making it down the hall, however, she was making her way toward a long and perilous fall down the stairs.


So, we decided it was time to cage up our little animal to make sure she's safe until she's fully domesticated.

...and on to Utah

We visited Lindsay's family for the last 2 weeks; while we were here, Hailey got more attention than she knew what to do with, Lindsay got to hang out with her family, and Brian interviewed for a bunch of summer internships...it was a busy and fun visit.

We finally got the whole Bench clan together for a photo


Hailey got to play with her Grandpa Bench


And she got the royal treatment (don't you wish you could get away with eating popsicles in the bath tub?)

Christmas in Colorado

Merry Christmas! Hailey got spoiled, and we spent lots of time with family, all in all it was a great trip.


Hailey and Grandpa Mills


The wrapping paper was a lot more interesting than the presents


She had no trouble finding the candy


The kiddos got us up early...can you tell?

Week 1 in Colorado

We left North Carolina as soon as Brian turned in his last exam...and flew across the country to visit Brian's family

Dinner with Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Jeff
and the McFaddens (Brian's oldest sister's family)


It's kinda cold in Colorado


Playing with Uncle Jeff


...and cousins Emily and Kevin