I just saw that one of my favorite blogs – Shanty 2 Chic – is going to be hosting a recipe linky party coming up in May. Just wanted to share so any of you can be gathering up your favorite recipes to link up! Since my “What’s Cookin’ Wednesday” hasn’t happened in a couple weeks, hopefully I can find some new inspiration here to get going again! You can click on the picture below to find out more information!
I don’t really like tummy time mom… can we do something else?
Oh wait… I forgot I don’t have to do this…
See ya later mom!
Hey! Why’d you put me back up here?
I thought I told you I didn’t feel like tummy time right now… see ya later!
Again mom??
Fine. I’ll stay up here. But I am NOT going to be happy about it!
Just wanted to share some pictures from our sweet girl’s first Easter celebration! We went down to Austin to spend it with my family and celebrated at the Erwin Center in Austin with the Austin Stone Community! It was unbelievable to see so many people worshipping in one place. Hadley, however, didn’t really think it was so awesome, so she and I spent a good chunk of the time out in the hallway listening over the speakers.
Here are some (read: probably too many if you’re not related to us) pictures from our long weekend.
Oops – how’d that one get in here?
I’ve got a goofy smile in this one below, but look at that happy little cutie!
Oh it’s so hard to be me! Too many Easter baskets!
It’s taken me awhile to get around to posting about this, but the first weekend of April was Hadley’s first road trip! Matt had tickets to the NCAA Final Four basketball games in Houston, and his parents live there, so we made a long weekend out of it.
At first, Hadley seemed a little concerned about being in the car with so much STUFF (babies require a lot of things to get out of the house!)
But she cheered up when she realized I was in the back seat with her…
And then she passed out…
(sorry for the poor quality of the pictures – most of these were taken with my phone)
All in all, we had a great first road trip – Hadley did pretty well in the car, and although we had to stop to feed her and change her, the drive to Houston didn’t take us that much longer than it normally does.
Once we got there, we changed and fed Hadley and then headed out to Matt’s favorite Houston restaurant – Lupe’s - for some good Tex-Mex. By the time we got home Hadley was an overtired mess, but she ended up sleeping for 8 hours that night once I finally got her down!
The next day was actually my birthday (28 feels old!), but it was also the day of 2 of the final four games, so Matt and his dad left for the games and I was able to have my dear friend and college roommate over to Matt’s parents’ house for dinner and some time to catch up.
The next day, I got to see her again as Matt and I took Hadley over to their house to play with her daughter and have dinner. You might remember their little girl from my previous post here…
Kate LOVES babies and she was so sweet to “baby Hadley",” just wanting to touch her and love on her the whole time we were there!
This is what I have to look forward to – most of my pictures of Kate from that night turned out like this. She is a bundle of energy!
Hadley really wasn’t as hysterical as the picture below makes it look. She was crying though and Kate was doing her best to make her feel better. So sweet! 
While we were there, we also got to take a couple pictures with Hadley’s aunt Kelly and her nana C. She was a little bit fussy most of the time we were there, unfortunately. I think she’s at the point where she realizes she doesn’t recognize her surroundings and it throws her off. Hopefully it’s just a stage and it will pass – she’s not really a fan of change at this point.
Case. in. point.
Such a little drama queen.
We did manage to get a couple good ones with her aunt Kelly though.
And a sweet one with her Nana C…
We had a great time in Houston, and hopefully each road trip we take will get easier and easier (although I have a feeling we’ll need to invest in a good DVD system for the car eventually.
Well, “What’s Cookin Wednesday” has come and gone – without a recipe. I just have been slacking in the meal planning department this week. Hopefully I’ll pick it back up next week. Anyways, with 3 months under our belts (that basically makes me an expert, right?), I thought I’d post about all of the baby “gear” that Hadley has loved, and the things we could live without.
For swaddling – the only one I found that Hadley couldn’t bust out of was the Halo Infant sleep sack/swaddle. The downside to this was that the velcro was SO loud, it was impossible to do a “quiet” diaper change in the middle of the night. She was wide awake the second you open that velcro. We also used the Aden + Anais muslin swaddling blankets – they are HUGE so you get plenty to work with. Unfortunately, Hadley decided swaddling was for babies and was SO. over it by about 7 weeks. The swaddle sleep sacks have been packed away, but the A+A blankets are the perfect weight for a car seat cover or stroller blanket. I use them every day!
The Boppy pillow is still used daily in this house, as well. I use it to nurse Hadley, and when she was smaller, it was great for other people to hold her. I’d recommend getting at least 2 slip covers for it – we’ve had lots of spit up on ours!
Chicco® Lullaby LX 4-in-1 Playard in Romantic. The biggest thing I have loved about this is the changing table. We have this in our room (even though H is sleeping in her bouncy seat) and use it as another changing station. It can hold diapers and wipes in the side (although I just keep a little basket in the actual bassinet part of it) and the mattress part converts to a playmat as well. Not to mention that this brand just felt “sturdier” than a lot of the others we checked out.
Sticking with the Chicco theme – we really like our infant seat as well. The Chicco Keyfit 30 (which means the weight limit is 30 lbs) in Romantic. I like that it’s neutral colors and comes with an infant insert & headrest, and that little foot- muff thing. (That’s the technical term for it.) We tried to get a lot of our big-ticket items in neutral colors so they can be used for another kiddo down the road.
Instead of going with the big travel system for our stroller, we opted for the snap & go stroller. The car seat just pops right into the top and you strap it in and you’re good to go. It’s super light weight, has a huge basket, 2 cup holders and a spot for keys & your phone. We have gotten a TON of use out of this, and I’ll be sad when she can’t fit into her infant seat anymore (or wants to face forward instead of staring at me all the time). However, I’m really excited about our second stroller once Hadley gets a little bigger…
This is the Baby Jogger City Mini. It has a car seat adaptor, so we could be using it right now, but rather than spend the money on that, we are just waiting until she’s big enough to sit in the seat on her own. Maybe we’ll try out the car seat adaptor for another kiddo. The biggest selling point to this one, if you haven’t already seen it, is the way it folds up. SO. stinkin. easy. LOVE. If you haven’t seen it – click over and “watch it in action.” Not to mention it’s light weight, has a HUGE sunshade, and maneuvers really easily. I can’t wait to start using it!
Speaking of neutral, big-ticket items, this swing has gotten a lot of use in our house as well. In fact, there was a stretch of about 3 weeks where Hadley wouldn’t nap ANYWHERE except in this swing. Now it’s more of an entertainment item and will keep her occupied while I’m doing the dishes or drying my hair. It has 2 positions – a recline for infants and a more upright position for when they’re bigger – and swings both side to side and front to back. Hadley really liked the side to side for being rocked to sleep.
The Bright Starts – Start Your Senses play mat has gotten a lot of use as well. Hadley loves the little lights, music and little bee/bugs that hang from the mobile. I always like that the mobile part can come off and attach to the car seat handle, too!
On the list of things we could live without – the Diaper Champ. I honestly don’t think there’s a huge difference between this and your basic trash can with a lid. It does the job, and I think it looks cuter for her nursery than a trash can, but it fills up quickly and is sort of a pain to wipe down.
There are a lot of other items we use, but these stand out as the ones we use the most. Hopefully this can help someone else out there, and help me to remember what we’ve gotten a lot of use out of! I’m thinking about doing a post on my favorite Etsy sellers too – it’s addicting to shop on there for Hadley! Let me know if you’ve got any favorites!
Sidenote: These are all just my opinions – I’m certainly not being endorsed by any of the above companies (although if any of them wanted to pay me for singing their praises I wouldn’t be opposed 
