My Sweet Haleigh

I posted about Morgan already, and now it is time to talk about my second child, Haleigh. Have you ever wondered what it might be like to raise yourself? Weird question, I know, but I am learning what it must have been like for my parents to raise me! Haleigh is lovingly referred by many of my friends and family as my "mini me". I feel like I am raising MYSELF. I mentioned in the blog about Morgan that she is SO much like Mark. Well, Haleigh is a lot like me. It can be quite frustrating to raise a child that is just like you, but it is also very rewarding! Haleigh has many unique characteristics! She is one of my favorite people in the whole world, but we also butt heads a lot (just ask Mark). I truly do see myself in her - the good and the bad! Here are a few pictures and thoughts about my sweet daughter Haleigh.

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This picture cracks me up - Haleigh has a special love for ears. She has loved ears since she was born! When she was an infant she would find an ear and rub on it. Every year when her birthday is approaching she says "when I turn 4 I will stop holding ears"..."when I turn 5 I will stop holding ears"..."when I turn 6 I will stop holding ears". Well, she never stopped. When she was about to turn 7 she said "I am never going to stop holding ears". She just decided it wasn't going to happen! Everyone except me, Mark, Morgan, and Jacob thinks that it is soooo cute. We can't stand it!!! She will drive us so crazy holding our ears that we just started telling her to hold her own ear - and she does. She holds and rubs an ear when she's tired, but sometimes she just does it without even knowing it. Her hand will just go there automatically. I never knew a child to do such a thing, and I thought that it was unique to Haleigh until Jacob was born. He, from the moment he was birthed, holds and rubs lips. (They are so weird!) He does to someones mouth what Haleigh does to someones ear. This picture was taken when Jacob was about a year and a half old, so Haleigh would have been 4. This was a common occurrence when they laid together - Haleigh holding and rubbing Jacob's ear while Jacob holds and rubs her lips!





Here is a picture of Haleigh and me doing one of her favorite things. She was a natural on ice skates - she can skate much better than I can. After she mastered ice skating in Colorado at Christmas, she had her birthday party at an ice skating rink in Grapevine (an indoor rink, of course).

This is one of my favorite pictures of Haleigh because it captures her goofiness that most people don't get to see. She is only this goofy around us or her close friends, but it is her "true self". This kind of behavior is a daily occurrence in our home. She definitely has more spunk and energy than the rest of us combined! This silliness and fun nature is one of the reasons she has so many friends. When we were having her 7th birthday party, she had a list of 30 friends she wanted to invite. She said this was her list of "close friends" that she just had to invite. When we were getting ready to go on their field trip last year at school, this little girl from her class came up to talk to me. She told me that everyone likes Haleigh because she is so nice to everyone. How sweet for another first grader to notice such a character trait! I am really proud of her "individuality".

Here are two pictures of her from one of our Christmas card photo shoots. She looks so different with her bangs. (What a nightmare it was to grow those out, but she wanted to be like Morgan - much to Morgan's delight!!!!) Doesn't she just have the prettiest eyes and the cutest freckles? I love the second picture of her because, again, it shows a little of her silliness.

This was a picture from this summer on our family trip to Colorado - that is my brother in law Brian in the background. It's amazing how dark her hair is in the fall/winter (last pictures) compared to how light it gets in the summer - she has some natural highlights. She looks so big in this picture. It kind of breaks my heart that my kids are growing up so fast. She is about to start 2nd grade, but it seems like just yesterday that she was born.


Even though Haleigh can be a challenge for me to raise (2nd child thing - I can say that because I am one too), she is one of the loves of my life, and I could not imagine life without her. Contact me in 10 years after she's been a teenage for a while to see if I still feel the same way - just kidding. Haleigh is a great kid - everyone tells us that. Even though the whole ear thing can drive us crazy, it will drive us more crazy when she's grown and out of the house and not holding our ears anymore. There is a glimpse at Haleigh; I hope you enjoy getting to know her better.