Quick Hayden Preview!!

Last weekend when we were in Chicago, I finally got to meet my best friend Lindsey’s little man, Hayden!!! He just turned 1 on November 30 and for the past year I’d absolutely drank up his cuteness in all the photos Lindsey sent, and it killed me that I couldn’t go meet him. Jody and I stayed with Lindsey and Dave for the weekend and it was SO SO SO wonderful, I’ve missed them so much and even though the phone is wonderful, it still can’t make up for how good it is to see them and spend time with them.

I met Lindsey back in 2002 when we both worked for our fabulous judges, and we became friends immediately. She’s the most incredible person, so fun and hilarious, so outgoing, so silly, and also so incredibly caring and loyal and nice and smart and wonderful in every way. She’s been such a good friend to me in so many ways, and I’m also always so happy when I’m around her – people can’t not be happy when they’re around her!

Her husband Dave is so wonderful, too, and so funny and silly!!! He always makes me laugh so much, even when we’ve debated politics he still manages to make me laugh! I always loved Lindsey and Dave’s relationship so much and I love seeing them interact with each other (they’re especially funny driving together, they always argue over the route and everything else, it’s so funny!!!), they have such a fun and deep love and friendship and from early on after becoming friends with them, I learned from their relationship and dreamed of something like it for myself (which I have now!)! They were also two of the first people to meet Jody after we first met, and their approval and excitement for me meant so much!!!

I can’t tell you how excited I was for them when they got pregnant with Hayden! I still think of him as their little miracle baby! Lindsey had had two ectopic pregnancies, the first one actually burst one of her fallopian tubes and led to major surgery and her being off work for a month. They had been ready to try in vitro when Lindsey found out she was pregnant with Hayden!!! I’ve never been so happy for someone before, and when I heard that he was born and when she told me all about it, I was so weepy with happiness for them!

I’ll have many more photos posted of Hayden sometime soon, but I have some other things to finish first so I wanted to just post a couple for Lindsey (and for her mom!!). Hayden is sooooooooooo adorable, seriously so so so cute. Those big blue eyes, that little tiny nose that I absolutely adore, his little red lips, he’s absolutely perfect!!! And he’s so funny and sweet and animated and happy, which I knew he’d be cause of course Lindsey and Dave are his parents! He smiles and laughs all the time, he’s so active and already walking all over the place, and he’s so sweet! I’m so in love with him and I wish I lived right by them so I could see him all the time. And I LOVE seeing Lindsey and Dave being parents, they’re just like I knew they would be – wonderful and fun and exactly how I want to be when I’m a parent! They’re the most wonderful family!!!

Okay I’ll stop gushing! Here are just two photos of so so so so so many I took! I’ve looked through them quickly but couldn’t take the time to really pick favorites, so these are two from our first day there. He’s so cute!!! I’ll have more sometime soon!!!