Coleman Chronicles

Our Love Story

2012-02-14T09:54:00.001-06:00

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon with everyone else at From Mrs. to Mama and her “What's Your Love Story Link-Up.” I’m late to the game, as the link-up has been up since the 7th, but I thought Valentine’s Day was an appropriate time to post this! So, without further adieu…

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

We’ve known each other since February of 2006, and have been “together” since November of 2006, so almost 5 1/2 years! We’ve been married for almost 4 1/2 years.

This picture below is in Matt’s car the night we met – with our friend Anne, who introduced us!

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

Long story short, we met through a mutual friend. I was living/working in Austin after college and he was living/working in Houston. He was in town with some friends for a Texas basketball game and was planning to meet up with {said mutual friend} Anne for dinner/drinks the night before. She convinced me into coming out with them, and the group of us enjoyed dinner at Hula Hut and some drinks downtown. Although I was dating someone else at the time, it was sort of obvious that there was a connection between us. Matt sent me a message on facebook the next day and we gradually got to know each other and became friends over the next 9 months. We swapped a lot of emails back and forth and the occasional text, but that was about it until the weekend Matt found out I had broken up with my then boyfriend. He basically told me that he had been waiting for me to become single so he could finally ask me out – which he did, and the rest is history!

{fun fact: our first official date he surprised me by taking me SKYDIVING! AND – fun fact #2: we were married one year – to-the-day- from our first “official” date!}

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

See #1 – we’ve been married almost 4 1/2 years.

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?

We were married in Austin at the Smith Family Chapel and had our reception at Riverplace Country Club with about 150 guests.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

I wish I had a fun answer for this one, but I really don’t. We call each other the usual pet-names… babe, hun, etc… but that’s about it! Boring, I know.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

He is loyal; I never have to wonder if he’s going to have my back. He would do anything for me and Hadley; seeing him love our daughter brings an entirely new level to love. He’s a hard-worker; he doesn’t ever ask for recognition, but works harder than anyone I know.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

I have to start with a little background first. Matt and I were long distance until we were married – first with me in Austin and him in Houston, and then he moved to San Francisco for 6 months for work. His work schedule when he lived in San Francisco was insanely busy. We saw each other as often as we could, but even on weekends when I went to visit him, it wasn’t uncommon for him to still be working when I arrived late in the evening. So, the weekend of April 14th was arriving and he was supposed to be coming into town. He called me early that week and said that they had a huge project and he wasn’t going to be able to come into town anymore and he would schedule a flight for the following weekend instead. On Thursday (I think) of that week, a fun delivery arrived for me at work – a huge bouquet of roses with a card letting me know that he was so sorry he couldn’t make it and he had scheduled me a massage appointment for Saturday morning to make up for it.

Saturday morning arrived and I rolled out of bed, threw on some sweats and headed to get my massage. Afterwards, I checked in at the front desk to make sure I didn’t owe anything and the girl had sort of a goofy smile on her face and said “Oh! Are you Brittany?” I replied that yes, I was and again, just wanted to be sure that everything was taken care of. She walked in the back room for a second and came back with an envelope and a flower and told me that I was good to go! As I was walking to my car I thought “wow, Matt is really sorry he couldn’t be here this weekend – so sweet!” I opened the card to find a single piece of paper that read: “Now that you’re relaxed, the real fun begins; A little game I made up just for you; Wander over to where you just had your nails done; You may just find your next clue!”

To keep this from getting longer than it already is, I’ll jump ahead here and let you know that my clues led me on a huge scavenger hunt to all of our favorite places around town (including a stop at a Sonic where he had a diet coke waiting for me with my clue & flower!) and ended at Mt. Bonnell (the highest point in Austin, overlooking the lake) where he proposed! He even gave me time to shower and freshen up as my second to last clue was at my house (he told me I had ONE HOUR – haha). After he proposed, he had made dinner reservations at a steak house downtown where my parents were waiting to celebrate with us! (His parents were living in London at the time, otherwise they would have been there, too!)

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

Ummm, neither really? I guess if I had to chose I’d say flowers & teddy bear (does anybody really give teddy bears outside of 8th grade?)

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

Well, would anyone not like a sunset dinner on the beach? That’s not exactly feasible for us right now, so we are much more of a “pop a movie in and relax on the couch” couple. Especially after having Hadley, our Friday nights typically consist of going out to eat around 5:30, coming home to get Hadley down and then watching a movie on the couch.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant other one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

Once our kids are older, I’d love for us to travel more – particularly, I’d love to go to Greece and Italy.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

No big plans here! I’ll probably make steaks and we may watch a movie on the couch. :)

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

We’re not big gift-givers for Valentine’s Day, so no, I don’t expect anything!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Be your spouse’s biggest fan. If you’re always in each other’s corner, you approach life together and can get through anything.

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

The One Where I Complain About Sleep

2012-02-13T16:47:00.001-06:00

Hadley has never been a great sleeper. I honestly don’t think there’s really anything we could have done differently; I think it’s just in her DNA. We have tried all the tips & tricks (cry-it-out does not work with her personality – she cries so hard that she gags herself, and would go for hours if I let her). She goes down great - for both naps and going to bed at night it usually doesn’t take more than 5-10 minutes for her to be out. We go through our routines and put her down awake and she goes right to sleep (most of the time). It’s the staying asleep that we struggle with.

When she was younger, it was naps that were the bane of my existence. (This is probably because I didn’t expect her to sleep through the night at a young age, but I did expect her to nap a lot – she didn’t.) We went through a phase of napping for 37 minutes at a time. That’s right – I timed them. Which made it worse for me because each time I knew like clock-work she would be up after 37 minutes. I was going out of my mind. Then, she slowly started napping better, and now we are in a pretty decent routine of two naps a day for about an hour and a half each.

So now, what do I do? Instead of being thankful for the napping consistency, now I start over-analyzing her nighttime sleep. Confession: I have an app on my phone where I track her nursing, diapers, sleep and medicine (if we do baby tylenol or advil for teething, or her Zantac when she was younger for her reflux). The other day, I decided to look back at her sleeping habits and see how many times she has slept through the night (meaning 11-12 hours straight). 63 times. Out of about 405 days of life so far. Approximately 15% of the time. And then I looked at how often those days are consecutive and realized that she has NEVER slept that long for more than 5 days in a row (which only happened once), and typically only does it for 3 days in a row, and then we have some type of disruption. Whether it’s teething, bad dreams, hunger, or just needing some cuddles (highly doubtful seeing as how she does NOT enjoy cuddling), I have no idea. All I know is that being woken up by the sound of your screaming child is one of the worst things in the entire world. The other night, I don’t think I ever fell into a deep sleep for more than about 5 minutes because every.single.time I did, Hadley woke up crying.

I know she’s not the only child out there who isn’t a great sleeper, but I can’t help but feel like we did something wrong by her! I also know that it could be worse and she could never sleep through the night, so I should be thankful for the nights that I do get to sleep soundly. Easier said than done. In trying to figure out how to “end” this post, I’m realizing I don’t really have a point to all of this, but simply needed to complain. So, thanks for listening! I promise to share some cute pictures and have some more positive posts soon!

p.s. I am almost done with our bedroom makeover! I’m co-hosting my sister’s shower this weekend, and once we get back from that I should be able to wrap it up and take some fabulous “after” pictures for you!

Help a Girl Out

2012-02-08T12:28:00.001-06:00

You may have heard me mention a time or two around here that my sister is getting married in March (wahoo!). We are super excited to be welcoming Eric into our family, and I can’t wait to finally have a brother! But, onto the important matters… what shoes do I wear with my bridesmaid dress??

Here is my dress… It’s Alfred Sung in dupioni silk and is in the color “Daisy” although it looks a little more lemony in real life.

The only real stipulation we’ve been given for choosing shoes is that they should be a “neutral” color. No flashy red heels for this girl! (too bad, I really did have my heart set on some 5 inch, shiny, lipstick red heels! *sarcasm*).

Here’s what I’ve found so far…

source

Those also come in a gray/silver color…

Now that I look at the champagne color with the dress on the same page, I’m thinking those don’t go very well?

We’ll most likely be switching to cowboy boots for the reception, so I really don’t want to spend a lot of money for a pair of shoes that I may just wear for an hour or so. Thanks to the hubby, I have these babies to wear later that night…

source

Don’t you just LOVE the turquoise on the inside? Me, too. :)

Okay, so that’s actually all I’ve found so far. See? I seriously need help. Do you like those wedges? What color would you choose? Can you help me find some other (reasonably priced) pairs that would go with a lemony yellow dress to wear in March (oh and the ceremony is outside, so no stiletto heels, please).

EDIT: I should add that the groomsmen will be wearing gray suits, which is why I had originally thought a light gray shoe might be pretty. Okay, that's all! Thanks for your help!

Life is Busy

2012-02-07T10:37:00.001-06:00

Typically, once we get through college football season and the holidays, life slows down (yes, as a matter of fact, I did just list college football season as a reason to be busy). This year, that is not the case. We had Hadley’s first birthday party, I’m re-decorating our master bedroom, co-hosting a shower next weekend for my sister, then co-hosting another shower/bachelorette party next month, and then my sister is getting married! These are all super exciting, happy, great blessings in life right now, but it can lead to feeling a little overwhelmed at times; especially when the life of a one year old is in your hands!

I promise to have more exciting posts up soon, but I have been so busy working on things for our bedroom “makeover” that I haven’t had much time to sit down and blog. I am super excited about our bedroom, but I still have 3 projects to finish before I can show the reveal.

In the meantime, some cute pictures and a video of Hadley showing off her animal-noise-skills. :)

We went to Chick-Fil-A yesterday with our neighbors and let the girls play after we ate. Did you know they now have grilled chicken strips in the kid’s meals? I am so excited about that!!

This next one is just *seconds* before both girls fell to the ground. Camry gets a little excited with her hugs (that and Hadley is not super sturdy). :)

You have to listen pretty carefully to hear the cow sound, but it’s there!

Our Week in Postcards

2012-02-03T10:02:00.001-06:00

Hadley is 13 Months

2012-02-03T09:35:00.001-06:00

In an effort to be fair to any future kiddos down the road, I decided awhile back that I would stop the monthly updates at a year. I could easily keep going with Hadley, but I’m worried that once there’s more than one little one running around in this house, I won’t have the time to keep up with their monthly updates for as long. These things take time!

That being said, I feel like so much has changed since Hadley’s last monthly update that I wanted to do a quick post to remember what she’s up to at this age.

I already posted about this here, but since Hadley’s 12 month post, she is now crawling, getting up from lying down, pulling to standing and cruising on the furniture all over the place. It’s like she held onto 3 months worth of developing and decided one night it was okay to move on ahead.

She has quite the personality, and while she’s stubborn and hot-headed at times, she is super sweet and tender-hearted. If you say her name in a stern or warning-type tone she will stick out her bottom lip and turn her head away from you like she’s just too hurt by what you said.

She is super social and just loves to meet and play with other people! She LOVES teenagers. We go to the Chick-Fil-A by our house for lunch sometimes and there is a high school not too far away, so lunchtime can be pretty crowded with the off-campus lunchers. Hadley will sit and just stare at a table of high schoolers until they notice her and then she grins and giggles and waves in excitement. It’s actually nice when they sit near us because she is completely entertained just watching them.

{SIDENOTE: Is it sad that when I see them I don’t feel that much older than them? And then I remember how OLD a mom with a baby looked to me when I was in high school. It’s a little depressing when I realize the gap between how old I feel and how old I am.}

She is still not a snuggler by any means, but she will dole out the kisses left and right! It’s super cute – if she’s standing up and you come over to her and ask for a kiss she will turn and place her hand on your shoulder while she leans in for a smackeroo. Melt.my.heart.
She signs all the time, and while she may not be that verbal yet, she definitely understands just about everything we say. In an attempt to start weaning her a couple weeks ago, I wound up throwing her way off schedule (apparently she’s not quite ready yet). When she woke up (for the 4th time) one night, I went in to comfort her (which during a typical night would take about 10 seconds of rocking and then setting her back down), and instead of calming down instantly, she grabbed at my shirt and did the sign for “more”. How can you say no to that?

She signs “more", “all done”, “eat”, and just started doing the sign for “milk”.

She can make a monkey sound, point to her hair and her mouth. And she can point to her toes about 30% of the time we ask. We’re working on the other body parts – she currently thinks her nose is also her mouth.
She is excellent at finding things that my vacuum or broom missed. Case in point…

ewww, momma… here you go…

She has 10 teeth! She just popped her top 2 molars a couple weeks ago
She sleeps 12 hours a night and naps twice a day (each nap ranges from 45 minutes to 2 hours)
Still nursing 3x a day, but she can (and does) drink almond or coconut milk out of a sippy cup really well. She’s still a pretty good eater, too. Her favorite food right now is grapes, but she also loves when we go out for mexican! We went to Chuy’s the other night and she ate a spinach, mango & pear puree, and then proceeded to eat about 5 large slices of avocado, some rice, a bunch of chicken fajita meat, a few bites of beans, and some tortilla! She also loves to eat a tortellini vegetable soup that I make.
Her favorite toys (so I can remember this when I’m looking back!) right now are: her new play kitchen, her cozy coupe, her cookie jar, My Pal Violet, puzzles and board books. She loves to “read”!

Happy 13 months baby girl! :) I can still call her my baby girl, right?

A Post About Shoes

2012-02-02T10:31:00.000-06:00

How’s that for a creative title? I know, some days I just ooze originality. So anyway, I mentioned in a previous post that I have a hard time finding shoes I like. I like boots, flip flops and ballet flats, and that’s about it. Not to say that I don’t own any other styles of shoes, but I just don’t ever wear them. I am totally open to other suggestions if anyone has them!

Given my limited taste, when I saw TOMS was coming out with ballet flats, I was…intrigued. I don’t own a pair of the regular TOMS because, to be honest, I didn’t think they were that cute (no offense if you have them – I mean to say that they weren’t cute ON ME – other people can totally pull them off). The ballet flats, however, are loads of cute in my opinion!

I LOVE the rose linen ones – but can I justify $79 for a pair? (The mr. is shaking his head no…)

And these? Burlap? SO cute!

Have you ordered some? What do you think?

Ch Ch Ch Changes

2012-02-01T23:30:00.001-06:00

If you’ve been around for awhile, you might notice that the blog has a new look today (and if you haven’t been around awhile – hola!). Or, if you’re like me and you haven’t popped over from google reader in awhile, today would be a good day to do so! Let me know what you think!

It’s really not TOO different, but I was wanting some fresh colors. It seriously feels like spring already here, so I’m in spring-time decorating mode! Not to mention the fact that re-doing our master bedroom has me wanting to make updates all over the place!

And, because no one likes a post without a picture, here’s one of our little punkin'… she has quite the sense of style, huh? I left that sweater on the floor near her play area and left the room for a minute. When I came back, she had wrapped it around her shoulders like a scarf. She’s a trend-setter, this one.

How to Sew a Pillow Cover with Flanges

2012-02-01T08:50:00.004-06:00

As a part of our master bedroom makeover, I bought fabric to make my own euro shams (with some encouragement from Courtney). Mind you, I’d never made euro shams before, let alone sewn a throw pillow, but with the help of some googling, I managed to figure it out and thought I’d share a quick how-to for anyone else wanting a quick and easy change for your room!
I have to give credit to Meredith, who posted a tutorial for the euro shams she did for their bedroom. She made it easy-peasy!

Step 1. First, you need to decide on what size your pillow cover will be. I was making euro shams, which are typically 26x26, so I started with that. Then added a few inches all around for the flanges (I wanted mine to be around 2 1/2-3 inches wide), then added another 1 1/2 inches for seam allowances, so I came to 32 x 32.

Because I was using expensive fabric, I decided to back it with a less expensive twill. I wanted an envelope closure, so I cut 2 pieces out of the twill that were 32 x 18 (I wanted the “envelope” part to overlap – 18 + 18 = 36 which equals about 4 inches overlap).
{keep in mind that you’ll want to finish the edges of your back pieces, so make sure to include enough fabric for your seam allowances, too!}

{at this point, I was following the other tutorial which says to place your fabrics right sides together and pin around the edges, so I did. Nevermind the fact that she was using curtain panels which already had finished edges, so I had to un-pin everything to finish the edges of my 2 back pieces.}
Step 2: (If you don’t already have finished edges where the envelope closure will be, hem those now!), then place fabrics right-sides together and pin all around the edges. {Tip: If your pins are perpendicular to the direction you’ll be sewing, you can sew right over them without having to remove them as you go!}

Step 3: Sew along all 4 sides of your fabric (with right-sides together). Make sure to back-stitch a few times where your envelope closures meet as they will get the most wear & tear.

Step 4: Turn your pillow case right side out and press the edges {and anywhere else that may need pressing}.

SIDENOTE: If you don’t want flanges, you are DONE! It seriously takes no time at all to do just a basic cover!

Here’s what the back looks like at this point…

Step 5: Measure out how large you want your flanges to be and pin or mark your line to sew. {This is a good time to double check how large you want the actual pillow casing to be – I wanted mine to be around 25 1/2 inches, so I just made the flanges as large as they needed to be for my pillow to fit.} I made 3 of these, and each one is just a tad different due to how much seam allowance I ended up using. No worries, you can’t tell once they’re finished and on the bed!

The first pillow I made, I pinned all the way around for my 3 inch flange. That took for.ev.er, so I decided to try something else for the remaining two pillows: chalk! I just made little marks as I measured and connected them with chalk. It wipes off the twill really easily (and white chalk on white twill can hardly be seen anyway).

And, learn from my experience…

Wah, wah. Thankfully I had enough of the twill fabric to cut another back piece.

Wah. Wah. x2. I finished sewing an entire edge before I realized my bobbin was empty and I had just wasted the last 5 minutes. Then I couldn’t remember how to wind a new bobbin so I had to get out my manual. Am I the only one who has to use my manual every time I sew?

If you can avoid the mistakes I made, you can have new pillows for your bed in about 30 minutes! Ta da!

Which One Wednesday: Last One!

2012-02-01T08:45:00.001-06:00

Ok y’all, this one requires some visualization, so I really need your help! This week we’re working on the over-the-bed artwork. Head on over to Courtney’s blog to see today’s options and leave her a comment (or leave me a comment here) to tell me what you think.

Oh, and stay tuned for a tutorial on how to make euro shams! It’s super easy!

Finally Crawling

2012-01-31T10:47:00.001-06:00

Well, this update is a little late, but as of January 18th, Hadley is officially a crawler. Half the time, she keeps one foot down (see video) so she can better pull herself up once she arrives at her destination… cracks me up.

January 18th: Finally a crawler

Within 2 days, she started crawling, getting up from lying down (laying? lying? I always mix those up) and also managed to make an escape from her crib. Worst.mom.ever. Her crib was in the middle setting since she couldn’t get herself up from lying down, and the same day she figured out how to do that, she figured out how to get OUT of her crib; by flipping herself out and landing on her back. I heard her wake up on the monitor and usually give her a couple minutes to fully wake up (she has literally started crying before if I try to get her before she’s ready), but when I glanced at the monitor I realized she was sitting up! In the amount of time it took for me to get from the living room to her room she had pulled to standing, tossed her bunny-lovey out of the crib and flipped herself over the edge. I was just getting to her door when I heard the thud, followed by the wail. Although she cried her eyes out for about 2 minutes, I think I probably cried more than she did. My mom was here at that point and we had her laughing in minutes. I couldn’t stop inspecting every inch of her body for bruises or bumps, but there was absolutely no sign of anything! The two minutes of crying were the only sign she was hurt, and after that it was as if it had never happened. I still watched her like a hawk the rest of the day, but she was absolutely fine – so thankful!

Needless to say, her crib was lowered to the bottom immediately. :)

So, with all the crawling, pulling up and cruising around she had been doing, I called our doctor to see if she still wanted us to meet with ECI. She said “Nope! Sounds like she’s all caught up!” Just like that? Seems crazy to me that just a few weeks ago she was wanting us to see a specialist and then viola! we magically don’t have to? Oh well, I’ll take it!

So thankful today for a healthy, growing and learning, sweet, baby girl.

A Red Stamp Recap

2012-01-30T09:28:00.001-06:00

After Hadley’s party last week, I was pretty lazy and took my sweet time cleaning and taking down decorations. Thus, I didn’t document our days very well! Here’s a quick recap, Red Stamp, style.

{If you haven’t heard of Red Stamp, it’s an awesome new [free] app that turns your pictures into little post cards where you can write captions. Most people I know are using it for the Project 366 for their photo-a-day, but I didn’t get on that bandwagon early enough, so I’ll just use it randomly. :) Thanks to Sarah for sharing!}

Fashionable Friday

2012-01-27T11:20:00.001-06:00

With all of the festivities approaching for my sister’s upcoming wedding, I’ve been on the lookout for some cute new dresses and I thought I’d share some of my favorite finds recently. The mr. is never thrilled to find me scrolling through pages of dresses on my computer in the evening, but I thought y’all might appreciate my hard work. =)

I’ve pinned most of these on Pinterest, so I’ll just go ahead and use those links…

First up – the Mod Tunic dress. This is so different than anything I own, but at 5’9” (maybe 5’8” – am I the only one who doesn’t really know how tall I am?) this style might be too short for me?

Source: shopruche.com via Brittany on Pinterest

Next up – the In the Loop dress. I love this coral color and think it’s perfect for springtime!

Source: thebluedoorboutique.com via Brittany on Pinterest

I am kind of obsessed with one-shoulder dresses lately. I love that this one from ModCloth has a sleeve, but again, might be too short for me?

Source: modcloth.com via Brittany on Pinterest

Aaannnd, in scrolling through my boards to find these pins I realized I pin the above dress, and one just like it, twice. Maybe that means I should just buy it and try it out already?

I love this next one, but I’ve always been kind of afraid of wearing that bold of a print because I’m so tall…

Source: thebluedoorboutique.com via Brittany on Pinterest

Again, love this coral color and the cut-out detail on this dress is really beautiful!

Source: us.asos.com via Brittany on Pinterest

That’s all I’ve got for now – happy Friday y’all! Have a great weekend!

Help Me Choose!

2012-01-25T09:05:00.001-06:00

It’s another “Which One Wednesday” over at A Thoughtful Place and I need your help deciding! Today’s item of choice is the bedside lamp(s) and I really love both choices! Head over to Courtney’s blog or leave a comment here to tell me which one you like best!

Hadley’s First Birthday Party–A Winter ONEderland!

2012-01-23T13:01:00.003-06:00

With the craziness of the holidays, we decided to throw Hadley’s birthday party a couple weeks after her actual big day. (Not to mention that having it later meant that some of our closest friends – and Hadley’s first friend – who live in China right now, were able to be here for the big day!)
I decided on a Winter One-derland theme for her party, and in true Texas fashion, we had a beautiful, albeit windy, day in the mid-70s. Go-figure! This time last year we had had a couple days of snow! It was wonderful, though, to be able to use our back patio, as our house was not made for entertaining 20+ people!
Before I dive into the pictures, I want to make sure to include thank-yous to our family and friends. I could NOT have thrown this party without the massive amount of help I received! My mom came up 4 days early to help with Hadley and getting the house in order, my dad MADE Hadley’s smash cake (he also made the cake for our wedding, which you can see in this post – DELISH and such a special treat to have it homemade with love). My sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law were huge helps as well – I wouldn’t have any pictures of the day if it wasn’t for Katie – and the BBQ wouldn’t have been nearly as tasty without Eric’s help! My in-laws came a little early as well and helped arrange the tables and cut up vegetables – not to mention bringing the adorable mason jar server for the lemonade! And my dear friend Courtney came early to help with the decorations! THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU to all of you! And to everyone who came – we feel so, so blessed by the friendships we have in you!
Ok, on to the pictures! I had every intention of getting out my good lens and snapping some artsy, beautiful pictures, but of course I didn’t take one.single.picture on my camera! Thankfully, my sister took pictures as we were setting everything up!
First of all, this was the invite I designed… (I blocked out the address info, just so you didn’t think that was all white space!)

The dessert table… We had cupcakes, “ice cubes” (marshmallows dipped in white chocolate, dipped in sprinkles), chocolate covered oreos, and “frosty truffles” (cake batter truffles).

This was the table by the front door. One of my favorite things that we did was have the guests fill out a “Wishes for Hadley” form (thank you Pinterest!). I will forever treasure these cards! The favors were cookies that I set out towards the end of the party with a card that read “Thank you SNOW much!”

At the food table, we had BBQ chicken sandwiches, homemade potato salad (thanks mom!), fresh fruit, and veggies and dip (“veggies dipped in snow”).

I also set up a hot chocolate bar with marshmallows and chocolate chips as add-ins.

A little behind the scenes look – Eric is shredding the chicken while my dad makes the hot chocolate!

And, last but not least, some pictures of the birthday girl!
Checking out her presents with Brynn…

When it came time for her “smash” cake (which I put in quotations, because she was SO not into smashing the cake, whatsoever), she was a little less than enthused. She loved being sang to, and loved all the attention, but I had to break the cake up for her and even then she took a little taste and decided she wasn’t in the mood for cake. She did, however, love the banana filling that her Poppie put in the middle layer for her!

We had her shirt made by the wife of one of Matt’s co-workers! She has an adorable etsy shop called LilyBella’s Boutique and she did such a great job. Thank you Elizabeth!
All-in-all it was SO much fun throwing this party, but I am exhausted! Thank you, again, to everyone who came to help us celebrate! We love you all!
Sources:
All the paper products (labels, banners, cupcake toppers etc…) were homemade with my new Silhouette machine! I had planned to make stickers for the cups, but for some reason, I couldn’t get the print & cut feature to work with sticker paper.
Cupcakes: Sam’s – delicious cupcakes at only $13 for 30!
Cookies: A local bakery
Hadley’s shirt: LilyBella’s Boutique
Decorations: Most of the snowflakes were found either in the dollar section at Target or at the Dollar store!
Oh and one more picture… after everyone had left we realized we didn’t take a picture of the three of us! So, I set up the self-timer on my camera and we stuck Hadley back in her high chair for this picture… ha!

Linking up with:

Another Decorating Decision

2012-01-18T08:52:00.001-06:00

It’s another “Which One Wednesday” over at A Thoughtful Place! I am loving how the room is coming together so far, and now we need your help on the drapes!

Head over to Courtney’s blog and leave a comment to vote for which choice you like best! (I’d love to hear from you here, too, if you’d rather!)

I’m still here…

2012-01-12T22:35:00.001-06:00

Y’all, I don’t know what the deal is, but I just canNOT get on top of my to-do list lately. The blog has taken a back seat, and it’s making me feel even more behind that I’m not documenting our days! Not to mention, reading the blogs I read feels like catching up with friends over coffee and I haven’t even had time for that lately! So, this post will be representative of my mind lately and be a jumble of thoughts!

Hadley is 12 and a 1/2 months old and is not crawling or walking. She tries to crawl, but just ends up scooting backwards, and would rather be standing and cruising around on furniture or strolling around the house holding my hands. And up until yesterday, if she was lying down, she couldn’t get herself up to sitting. Her pediatrician referred us to ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) at her one year check-up because of the not-getting-up-on-her-own thing. She made a point to say she doesn’t think it’s any type of neurological delay, but rather than Hadley is probably just too lazy and stubborn and would rather squawk at me to help her up instead. Regardless of the reason why, being referred to a specialist for your child is never a fun conversation. Of course, the day I called to set up her evaluation, I walked into her room after her nap to find her like this…

She did this twice more that day, but hasn’t done it since, so I’m keeping her appointment for now (it’s not until the middle of February).

I would wear leggings every day if I had enough different tops to wear them with; they are easy to play on the floor in AND when it’s cold, the only shoes I want to wear are my Uggs. Seriously, I am the pickiest person I know when it comes to shoes. I like boots (with skinny jeans or leggings) and I like ballet flats and flip flops, and that is seriously it. Does anyone have a recommendation for good shoes?
Planning Hadley’s party is taking over my life! I decided to wait a couple weeks after her birthday to throw the party to give myself some time to get our house back in shape after the holidays and I am so glad I did! I feel like my to-do list grows infinitely each day!
In addition to Hadley’s party coming up, I’m helping to host a shower for my sister in February, then her wedding is in March (eeek – that means I have 2 months to figure out my toast!!) and then we are planning our first “vacation” in May with Matt’s parents to Hilton Head! (I’ve heard it said that you don’t vacation after you have kids, but rather you take trips – I’m fully prepared for a fun “trip” either way ).
Speaking of trips, this will be our first flight with Hadley, and we’ll be getting a rental car while we’re there. Any tips for traveling with a little one? A lot of what I’ve read says not to rent a carseat as there’s no way to guarantee that they are safe (not in an accident or expired, installed correctly or missing parts, etc…), so I’m thinking we will check a seat, but ours is pretty heavy, plus I would hate for our Britax seat to get damaged! I’ve already got one rec (thanks Liz!) but would love to hear what anyone else has done!
Hadley may be “behind” when it comes to her gross motor skills, but it is so fun to watch her right now as she figures out things around her. Just in the past couple weeks she’s started to:

brush her hair with her hair brush
“put her shoes on” aka: take a shoe and slam it on top of her foot over and over
put the lid back on a jar (I had a baby food jar out earlier today and she kept pointing at the lid so I finally gave it to her expecting her to chew on it. She grabbed it, then grabbed my hand with the jar to pull it closer and then popped the lid right on it!)
Answer the phone – by putting it up to her ear and then saying “eh!”

I love to watch her discover new things around her and can almost see a lightbulb go off above her head when something new clicks!

Ok, was that a random enough post for you? Hopefully after we throw Hadley’s party and make a little more progress on our master bedroom I’ll be able to sort through my thoughts better!

A Work in Progress

2012-01-11T10:39:00.002-06:00

If you've followed along for awhile, you might know that our master bedroom is one of the only rooms in our house that I just have not been able to get to a place that I’m happy with (décor-wise). We have a great space in there, I love our furniture, and we have a beautiful bay window, but with a husband who actually has decorating opinions, trying to marry our “visions” has just not worked out so well.
This is where Courtney comes in. Courtney is a super talented interior decorator/blogger/mom extraordinaire and I have loved reading her blog over the past year or two. She started a series on her blog called “Just Four Things” where she picks a reader’s space and transforms it by changing 4 elements of the room. I submitted our master bedroom when she started the series, but honestly never thought I’d hear anything, let alone be selected. So, imagine my surprise, when not only did she respond (literally within less than 24 hours) that she had already chosen another room but she’d keep me in mind for the future. Again, I thought, “well, that was nice of her to respond!” but again, I figured I didn’t have a shot at being chosen. (I’m sure you have no idea where this is going, yet, right??) Well, I got an email a couple weeks ago from Courtney saying she wanted to work on our room!! Y’all, I am seriously SO excited about this.
So, head on over to A Thoughtful Place today to see the first “installment” where she introduces the room and leave a comment with your choice for the first “Which One Wednesday”! I’d love to hear about it over here, too!
Here’s the ~~bland, boring~~ lovely “before” picture…

Like Father, Like Daughter

2012-01-08T16:02:00.001-06:00

Last time we were in Houston, I asked to look through some old photo albums so I could see some of Matt’s baby pictures. I came across a couple that look JUST like Hadley in my opinion. Lately more and more people have been telling me how much they think Hadley looks like Matt, too. See for yourself!

Hadley :: 12 Months

2012-01-04T13:03:00.000-06:00

Dear Hadley,

Well, we did it, little one! All three of us survived our first year as a family of 3! It is almost impossible to remember life before you, Hadley Ann. You make life so much more joyful and full and we are forever thankful for the gift of being your parents! Sweet girl, in this life you’ll learn that nothing truly rewarding ever comes without a challenge and hard work, and I’ve never found that to be more true than in this past year. We’ve had hard days and we’ve had great days, and through it all we’ve found a new depth of joy to life; all thanks to you!

Here are your stats this month:

Height: 30 1/4 inches
Weight: 23 lbs 14 ounces
Diapers: Size 5
Clothes: 12-18 month (you are finally wearing clothing that corresponds to your age!) Although you also have a few 24 month outfits and 2T tops

You brought a new dimension of humor to our house this year. We can’t help but crack up when you look us right in the eye with a little smirk while you dangle your sippy cup off the edge of your high chair (how are we supposed to discipline you when you look so dang cute while you’re testing your limits?). And I’m pretty sure I could play you a video of the Three Stooges (will you even know who they are when you’re reading this someday?) and have you rolling. You’ve got a slap-stick sense of humor and will laugh at things dropping or people slipping (I’m afraid you got that sense of humor from your momma!). I should have known that was coming when the first thing to make you laugh was me dropping a wooden spoon! We also can’t help but giggle a bit when you are terrified of the iron or dust buster, and yet a giant golden retriever can bark in your face and you just smile and squeal!

Although you still do not get around totally on your own, you are a mover, little punkin. You prefer to be on your feet (so long as you have something to hold on to) and would cruise around the house all day if momma let you. You’re not confident enough to walk on your own (and you get too excited when you realize you’re standing to be able to keep your balance), but given a hand or two from one of us, those little feet just get cruisin’! (Even when you have momma’s Uggs on!)

We spent our first night apart from you this month. Daddy’s work had a Christmas party that was at the Gaylord Hotel. There were FAR more tears on my end than there were on yours. Your Nana and Poppie came up to stay with you and you had so much fun with them. You didn’t quite sleep through the night for them, and I think you were a little confused when Nana came into your room in the middle of the night instead of me, but she said you snuggled right in and let her rock you back to sleep. You don’t even let daddy do that most nights, so I’m glad Nana was there for you! You did, however, decide that you didn’t need any of the milk that I pumped for you (with the exception of a small bottle before bed), so I don’t think we’ll be leaving you overnight again at least until you are weaned.

Speaking of milk, we’re going to start slowly transitioning you to almond milk (instead of whole milk – since your tummy has been sensitive to dairy). You still nurse 4 times a day – once first thing in the morning, again at lunch, before your afternoon nap and then before bed. You eat 3 meals a day and snack once or twice. Your favorite foods right now are bananas, whole grain blueberry waffles and chicken! You are definitely your momma’s (and daddy’s) daughter and love mexican food. It’s my favorite type of place to go out to eat for two reasons – 1. I love tex-mex and 2. it’s so easy to feed you right off my plate! You love a little bit of fajita meat and tortilla, rice & black beans and especially avocado! (As seen in the picture below all over your face!)

You are quite the social butterfly, and love to “talk” and play with other people and babies. You LOVE to see other babies, whether it’s at a play date or a total stranger at Target you try to grab their hands and if you are close enough, you love to give hugs and kisses. Such a sweetheart! Speaking of being a sweetie, you are very tender-hearted. With your strong desire to test your limits lately, we’ve had to say “no” to you a little more sternly than before. With some things, you are un-phased, but with most, you stick your pouty little lip out and start bawling as soon as you hear the stern “Haaadley… no ma’am".” It’s heartbreaking, but at the same time, as soon as you finish crying about being scolded, you go right back to pushing your limits, so I don’t think you’re too affected. :)

Hadley, you are a curious little bug and always need to know who’s around you and what they’re up to. When you discover something new, I can see the wheels turning in your little head as you try to process it and figure everything out.

Your schedule has been pretty much the same as last month, but little one, you have had some rough nights of teething lately. I feel like we have had to give you Tylenol or Advil every other night this month – and then four hours later when it wears off we are all up again. The doctor said molars are rough and can take awhile, so we’re just praying they cut through soon for all of our sakes! You take 2 naps a day (each about an hour to an hour and a half) around 10 and 3 and go to bed around 7:30 and sleep until 8ish in the morning. The past week or so has been rough – for some reason you have not fallen asleep for the night until almost 9! On the plus side, you have slept in for us a bit, so I can’t complain too much!

HadleyBelle – We love, Love, LOVE you punkin. What an indescribable blessing this past year has been. Your daddy and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for your future!

Love,

Momma

Hadley’s 12 Month Photo Shoot

2012-01-03T20:30:00.001-06:00

We don’t have Hadley’s one year check-up until tomorrow, so I’m going to wait until after that to post her 12 month update with her stats. Until then, some pictures from our photo shoot this morning. I know it’s cliché to say, but it is truly amazing how quickly this year has flown by. In some ways it seems like just yesterday that I was holding this 7 lb 9 oz baby in my arms…

And in other ways, when I look at Hadley now, it seems like a lifetime ago. Either way, it’s been the fastest, hardest and most joyful year of my life!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2011-12-29T22:36:00.001-06:00

Only 4 days late – I thought I’d share our Christmas card with all of y’all, because who doesn’t love prolonging Christmas card season a little bit longer?!

Hadley’s First Christmas!

2011-12-29T22:13:00.001-06:00

I have never felt more joy at Christmastime than I did this year. Despite her being too young to understand, seeing the innocence and wonder in Hadley’s eyes as she experienced everything this year made my heart so full it could burst. My parent’s and sister came up on the 21st, and my sister’s fiance joined us on the 23rd and they all stayed through the 26th. We definitely had a full house, but it was so much fun to have relaxing family time and extra hands to help with Hadley! She was over-the-moon happy with all of the extra love and attention she was getting. She literally woke up from every nap grinning from ear to ear and squealing as we would walk into the family room where all of her adoring fans were waiting for her (or at least that’s how she saw it).

My absolute favorite moment this Christmas was not Christmas morning as I expected, but rather Christmas Eve at church. We decided to keep Hadley with us since it was a shorter service and we assumed would be mostly music. Although it got a little long for her and we had to trade off taking her out, the first half was a time I will not soon forget. Standing in church, holding our little girl and singing praises celebrating our savior filled my heart with so much joy! Hadley was clapping her hands and kicking her legs and dancing in my arms. She kept turning to my mom on one side of me and Matt on the other side with the biggest grin on her face as if she was saying “Can you believe how FUN this is? This music is great!” I had tears in my eyes through every song. It brought an entirely new light to the verses: “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” and “Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." What an awesome picture to see her innocent, joyful praise. I pray that she never loses that light, but only learns more about who the true source of that light is!

We took a TON of pictures, so here is a giant picture recap for your enjoyment!

Playing around with Poppy in mommy’s Uggs!

Hadley LOVES to play with her Nana’s iPad…

Before Christmas Eve service…

Santa came!

Checking everything out Christmas morning…

“This is all for me, right y’all?”

Poppy had to make sure she didn’t get too much girly stuff… so he got her tonka trucks!

Hadley actually surprised us all. We figured she’d be more interested in the wrapping paper and bows than her presents, but she was actually kind of scared of the sound the wrapping paper made, but was all eyes & ears once the gift was open and she saw it was for her!

Family PJs picture. Hadley didn’t quite get the memo on the “silly face” picture below…

I hope all of y’all had a blessed Christmas! It’s hard to believe we’ll be in a new year in just a couple days, and even harder to believe that this time last year I was less than a week away from meeting our sweet, sassy, stubborn baby girl!

Early Celebrations

2011-12-29T21:20:00.001-06:00

I am so behind in posting this, but at least it’s still December! We hosted Christmas twice this year and are just finally getting the house back in order and sorting through the toys that have taken over our home! We started celebrating the Christmas season (and getting lots of wear out of Hadley’s Christmas outfits) early with a neighborhood Christmas party the weekend of the 3rd. Santa came for a visit and gave out books and candy canes to the kiddos brave enough to sit on his lap. ;) Hadley did surprisingly well and managed to hold it together (for the most part), although she was clearly not very comfortable with him.

Okay momma… I’ve had enough!

Our next-door neighbors came, too. Camry is just 2 months older than Hadley and the girls have so much fun playing together!

Hadley really likes Camry’s accessories. ;)

This next one cracks me up. I’m not sure what Hadley was looking at, but whatever it was, it was far more exciting than daddy holding the camera!

Even though it had started to sprinkle when we were leaving, we decided to ride the train before we left the party. I’m not sure Hadley had any idea we were even on a train, but we had fun! :)

We continued the celebrations with Matt’s family the weekend of the 17th (almost 2 weeks ago – sorry for the delay!). We had a great time just hanging out and eating out, and, as always, Hadley ate up every bit of attention she could get! Here’s a quick re-cap in pictures of our time together.

“Wow! I love this puzzle!”

“Thank you Aunt Kelly!”

The next picture is one of my all time favorites. My little cheese-er, giving me a goofy grin while she watched her daddy and grandpa put together her new wagon!

Of course, we had to take the new wagon out for a stroll! Hadley LOVED it!

We had so much fun with our “early celebrations” and feel so blessed to have the family and friends God has placed in our lives!

Christmas Cheer: Christmas Mantel

2011-12-07T17:34:00.001-06:00

There is a ton of great inspiration from these linky parties – I love it! I just wish I had the time to look through all of them and find ways to incorporate all of the great ideas into my own home! There’s one more week left in the linky parties and if you haven’t checked them out yet, you are missing out! This time, I’m sharing my mantel with Michelle at Ten June

In case you couldn’t tell, the stocking hangers spell “Peace” (not “feast” as some might be inclined to think *cough*Kaylan*cough*). ;)

Hadley had to add her touch to the Christmas décor with her basket of toys on the mantel.

One of my favorite items is this hand-carved manger scene. We received it as a wedding gift (we were married in November) and it was scented with rose water and came straight from Israel! What a special gift – I love putting it out every year.

You’ll have to pretend that frame has a more “wintery” picture in it – I’m waiting to get the prints back from our holiday photos!

It’s still a little weird to me that the stockings that say “mom” and “dad” are referring to me and Matt, but it is so fun seeing them all up there for our little family of three!

Now if I could just remember how to light the pilot light so I could get a fire going in the fireplace…

Christmas Cheer Link Party–Christmas Vignettes

2011-12-07T17:18:00.001-06:00

I really haven’t had as much time to take the perfect photo and move stuff around until it’s “just right” this year, but I’m going to share our holiday decorations with y’all anyway. Such is life with an 11 month old! I’m stretching the use of “vignettes” here, but here you go!

I filled my apothecary jars with ornaments, fake snow & pinecones, and fake snow with cranberries.

For our foyer table, I used more fake snow and cranberries to fill some candle holders, and put out one of my new favorite plates, thanks to my mother-in-law! It’s got our countdown to Christmas on it now, but I may change it up and leave it out year round!

Clearly I took these pictures awhile ago (can you believe there are a mere 17 days until Christmas?) and am just now finding the time to post them!

Our Christmas card holder that I bought at Ballard Designs a few years back – just begging for Christmas cards to display!

And I’ll leave you with a quick shot of our tree – just because I think it looks pretty!

If you want more Christmas inspiration – go check out Courtney’s link-up at A Thoughtful Place!

Hadley’s 11 Month Photo Shoot

2011-12-03T12:17:00.000-06:00

It is getting harder and harder to take pictures of this little punkin. Here’s the cream of the crop from this morning’s photo shoot.

Daddy came in, which created a bit of a distraction…

And our bow wearing days have a rough road ahead of them…

Hadley is 11 Months

2011-12-03T11:16:00.001-06:00

Eleven months old? Hadley Ann, can you please slow down? Momma is not ready to have a toddler instead of a baby! Some friends of ours, the Huffmans, just had a little baby (and named her Hadley!), and when I took them a meal the other night I was instantly struck with how big you have gotten. This other little Hadley was actually bigger than you were at birth and yet she just looked so tiny – I kept saying how there was no way you were ever that small! It is so hard to believe you have gone from this…

to this!

The other night, your daddy and I were talking about how it seems as if you’ve become a toddler overnight (although you’re not technically “toddling” around yet). It’s bittersweet to watch you grow so quickly; every new milestone brings us joy and pride along with twinges of sadness to know that the Hadley we knew has forever changed and grown.

Speaking of changing and growing, here’s a little about what you’re up to these days, along with your (estimated) stats!

Weight: I’m guessing 23 lbs
Height: Again just a guess – 30 1/4 inches
Clothes: 12-18 months; your growing has finally slowed down and for once you’ve been able to get some good wear out of the outfits we have in this size!
Diapers: Size 5

You’re still not crawling, although I am amazed at how far you can stretch yourself to reach a toy. You will do anything to avoid getting on your stomach, including going straight into the middle splits and dragging your bottom forward just to reach something you’re wanting. You are incredibly flexible! You may be able to reach just about anything around you without crawling, but you would much rather be standing up playing at your music table or the coffee table. Just within the last week you’ve started taking steps while I’m holding your hands and standing on your own for a few seconds at a time! It cracks me up when you fall on your bottom because you make this sound of frustration like “Ugh!” and throw your arms up almost every time. You want so badly to be able to stand and walk on your own. You pull yourself up occasionally on this little basket we have in the family room that holds your toys, but you’d still rather one of us just set you there instead. I’m afraid you might be a tad lazy (sweet girl, I’m afraid you’ve gotten some of your momma’s traits).

Your eating and sleeping schedules haven’t really changed much since last month. You still nurse 4 times a day (and more in the middle of the night if you’re teething or can’t sleep for some reason on occasion) and eat 3 full meals of solids per day (and at least one snack in the afternoon). You LOVE to have waffles with your fruit in the morning for breakfast and would still snack on cheerios or puffs all day long if I let you!

This month, we went down to Austin for your Nana’s birthday. Even though it was her birthday, I think you’re the one who came out with the better end of the deal as you ended up with a new walker, clothes and some new toys! You also started pretending you were on the phone while we were there. It cracks me up, if we say “ring! ring!” you’ll bring your hand up to your ear and smile. You do it most often when you have a puzzle piece in your hand, but really anything (aside from an actual phone) will do.

You made sure to show nana & grandpa Coleman this trick when we were down in Houston for Thanksgiving this month, too.

You love books. Your favorite right now is Brown Bear, Brown Bear. So much so that I have to hide it from you occasionally because if you see it and I’m not reading it to you, you will scream. After reading it to you 15 times the other day I finally had to put it out of sight! I so hope that you will always love books as you grow up!

This next picture cracks me up. You were so focused on those puzzle pieces in your hands that you just had to chew on your jammies! Your daddy does the exact same thing when he is focused/anxious watching sports. Every now and then he’ll do it when he’s reading something, too, and when I looked down at you chewing on the collar of your jammies and focusing on those puzzle pieces I saw a miniature version of your daddy!

A couple random things about you this month that I don’t want to forget:

You finally started babbling mama this month. Up until now you’ve said pretty much every other sound – dada being your favorite, followed by nana, gaga, and baba – and mama was reserved for when you were mad. You still don’t say it as often as you say dada, but every now and then I’ll hear a sweet little “mama” come out of your mouth!
We have a leather longhorn/bull foot-rest thing that is in the study and you decided this month that you are terrified of it. It got to the point that we had to put it away because if daddy was working in the study, we couldn’t even go in there to say hi to him without you losing it and crying!
When we’re driving and you’re getting bored or upset, for whatever reason, the song that calms you down right now is “Someone Like You” by Adele. I’m not sure if it’s the piano or her voice or what, but it works better than any nursery/lullaby song I’ve tried!
You are really interacting and “playing” with other babies now. Our neighbor, Camry, invited you over to play the other day and although you two girls don’t really understand sharing quite yet, it was so fun to watch you two interact!

Hadley, what a blessing you are in our lives. I know I say this every month, but I pray that you will always know how loved you are baby girl. We love you, we love you, we love you! Happy 11 months sweet girl!

Love, Momma

Thankful for friends

2011-12-02T21:41:00.001-06:00

This is a little out of order since it happened before Thanksgiving, but I wanted to quickly post a few pictures from our lunch date with some friends. Hadley’s first friend, Brynn was visiting from China (along with her parents)! ;) We were so thankful to be able to grab lunch with them before we headed out of town. It’s so fun to watch our girls grow up – Brynn is just 5 months older than Hadley and we hope they’ll stay friends (b/c obviously they have built a strong friendship already) for a long time!

For comparison’s sake – you can see how much they’ve both grown from some of the earlier pictures of them here. Crazy!

Thankful Thanksgiving

2011-12-02T21:30:00.001-06:00

Y’all, how is it already December? Can I still post about Thanksgiving even though everyone else is already talking about Christmas? We actually spent the entire week of Thanksgiving in Houston with Matt’s family this year and I had such good intentions of keeping up with the blog, but clearly that didn’t pan out. We had a great time relaxing with family and Hadley soaked up all the extra attention while we were there! We were able to visit with old friends (Hadley has lots of old friends), play some golf (I did NOT partake in that so as to spare the ground, clubs and fellow players from pain and destruction), shop a little, and eat, eat, eat.

Here’s a quick recap in photos. I thought Hadley looked so adorable in her turkey outfit! The shirt was from Oh Sew Cute Designs and I added the bow to it and made her ruffle pants. I also got her a bow that matched so well from LeBelle Boutique on etsy.

Hadley takes her turkey eating very seriously…

Digging through momma’s purse… I love that wide-eyed stare she gives me when she knows she’s doing something she shouldn’t!

Dizzy Up the Girl

2011-11-23T11:00:00.001-06:00

Anyone catch that 90s music reference? :) In addition to that, it’s also what we were having fun doing with Hadley this morning. She’s such a little goofball and loves to spin round and round. She looks a little dizzy at the end of this video, but I assure you she bounced right back to normal and was wanting to spin again just moments later. I’m so thankful for such a sweet, fun spirit in her and for a husband who loves to play and be silly with his daughter.

Hadley and daddy playing :)

Just Another Quick Sewing Project

2011-11-21T07:45:00.000-06:00

Not a whole lot to say today, but I did want to share another outfit I made for Hadley. Sorry for the bad picture – I finished it at night and didn’t feel like waiting until morning to take a picture. I made the skirt and the “h” out of the same fabric that I used for Hadley’s ruffle pants so that I can mix and match. Also, it looks like it might be a little warm for Thanksgiving, so I wanted to have the option of putting Hadley in a matching skirt instead of pants that day.

Anyways, that’s all I’ve got for y’all. Hope your week is off to a great start!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

2011-11-18T09:24:00.001-06:00

I am so excited about our family pictures that we took that I wanted to share a couple with y’all. Seriously, if anyone is in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, you should call Jenny! She does great work, and I’ve known her for years – she is so so sweet – and is super mom with 3 kids of her own! The day she took our pictures, she was having people over for a birthday party for her 6 year old… seriously? I run around like a chicken with my head cut off when I’m about to host something!

Anyways, here are just a few of our pictures! I get my CD from her next week and I just don’t know how I’m going to find room in our house for all of these pictures to go on the walls!

Hadley was being a total toot the whole morning, but Jenny captured her perfectly!

Random Thoughts

2011-11-17T15:39:00.001-06:00

I have been less than inspired to blog lately. Not that I haven’t wanted to, I just feel like I haven’t had much to say. That, and I think I’m feeling scatterbrained already just thinking about the next few months and how busy we will be! In an attempt to keep this little blog alive, y’all will just have to bear with me through my ~~most-likely very~~ somewhat scattered posts.

I finished another pair of ruffle pants the other day. I was wanting to make a pair to go with the turkey shirt I got for Hadley awhile back from Oh Sew Cute Designs. I’m pretty happy with how they turned out this time – I learned from my last pair and made a few changes, and they were definitely a little easier to do the second time around.
Everywhere I go, someone asks me if Hadley is crawling yet. Nope. And honestly, as a baby, I didn’t crawl – I just went straight to walking – so I’ve sort of expected Hadley to do the same thing all along. I get some strange looks from strangers (is that a pun?), but I am in no rush for her to be into everything. She squirms quite a bit already, and can wiggle and roll her away around enough as it is. In case you don’t believe me… (please don’t judge the 2 alphabet letters and mum-mum wrapper on the ground – she just throws the letters back down every time she’s done with them, and to explain why the wrapper wasn’t thrown away, she likes the way it crinkles, so it became a toy.) (Oh, and if you have an eagle eye, you’ll also see a Q-tip. No explanation for that one.)

{sidenote: does it make me a bad mom for taking that second picture before I helped her sit up?}

One of the model homes in our neighborhood was having a furniture sale the other morning. It was kind of chilly when we got up to go, so I got to bundle Hadley up a bit and I just thought she looked so stinkin’ cute!
Sorry – I’m realizing all these bullets are about Hadley – I don’t have much of a life on my own lately! Little miss is teething something awful right now. We have gone from 12+ hours a night to waking up crying at least once or twice. She’s also got a bit of a cough, and a nose that is runny only at night? I wonder if they could both be due to teething? Who knows… I blame everything on those darn teeth lately.
Speaking of teething, I’m just praying that this tooth cuts through and no others start trying to come before the second weekend of December. Matt’s company holiday party is an overnight party this year, and I would hate for my mom to be up with a screaming baby all night long while we’re gone! I’m already freaking out a little about leaving her overnight for the first time… any tips?
We had family pictures taken a couple weeks ago and I got a little sneak peek and am SO excited about them! Can’t wait to share them soon! Although, I might wait to share my favorite picture b/c it’s on our Christmas cards (that I already ordered!)

Ok that’s all – I’m off to tend to a cranky little girl who isn’t napping very well today… it’s going to be a loooong afternoon.

Weekend (last weekend, that is) Recap

2011-11-13T07:42:00.001-06:00

This is a week late, but we spent last weekend in Austin and I thought I’d share a quick photo-recap of our time there!
Mmm… enjoying a banana!

We went to The Salt Lick – the BEST BBQ in Texas in my humble opinion - and took a picture by the pit to commemorate Hadley’s first time there.

Girlfriend loved, loved, loved the turkey we gave her. She seriously couldn’t get enough in her mouth at a time.

And because we’re such kind and loving parents, we thought we’d give her some lime to cleanse her palette.

My parents have a bouncer they keep at their house for Hadley and we moved it into the kitchen one morning while we were making breakfast. This picture cracks me up because you can see Vinnie (their cat) peering over the stairs. He has a low tolerance for babies. Add that to a giant bouncing contraption and you pretty much have a cat’s worst nightmare – poor thing just hid down there the whole time we were in the kitchen.

Ok, these were taken here at our house when we got back, but they were too cute not to share! It was a little chilly, so I put her hat on her to get a few good swings in before it got dark!

Christmas Planning Printable

2011-11-12T21:42:00.002-06:00

This time of year I start thinking about and planning for Christmas. We’re hosting Christmas at our house twice this year (once with my husband’s side of the family and once with my side), so I feel like my brain is already swimming with ideas and plans for the company we’ll have in town next month. I’m feeling behind, too, because I haven’t started Christmas shopping yet! So, tonight, I made a printable list to keep track of all our gift giving this year. I thought I’d share it with y’all in case it might help you keep up with your Christmas shopping, too!

{Click on the image to download}

Ruffle Pants

2011-11-12T17:45:00.001-06:00

I attempted another sewing project recently after finding some really cute corduroy fabric on sale at Hobby Lobby. They are FAR from perfect – one ruffle is shorter than the other, and I’m not sure how many washes they will stand for since I didn’t do a great job of hemming the raw edges under – but I’m still pretty pleased with how they turned out for my first time!

And here’s my little model in her homemade ruffle pants!

Shutterfly Christmas!

2011-11-10T15:50:00.001-06:00

How are we almost halfway through November already? Thanksgiving will be here before we know it and then it’ll be December! With December, comes Christmas preparations! Time to get the Christmas tree and lights out of the attic and “deck the halls!” In addition to that, it’s time to order our Christmas cards! Last year, I participated in Shutterfly’s blogger Christmas card promotion and loved our cards that I got – for free! Lucky for me, Shutterfly is offering another promotion to bloggers this year! They have some beautiful designs too – check them out here! We had family photos taken by a friend of mine from college who is a photographer now, and I cannot WAIT to get them back so I can pick out our card design!

I love this design…

And this one, too! Beautiful! (I guess it doesn’t hurt that it’s a beautiful family in the pictures… hopefully we got some good ones, too!)

They also have some great gift ideas. I’m thinking some grandparents might like a photo book of their granddaughter’s first Christmas! I might have to order one for myself, too!

They have a lot of other stationary cards to choose from, too, if Christmas cards aren’t your cup of tea. I just love getting a card in the mail – of any kind!

Happy shopping!

Four Years Already?

2011-11-10T15:19:00.001-06:00

Time flies when you’re having fun… it’s so hard to believe that 4 years ago today, this is what I was doing!

Since then, we’ve: moved to a new city, bought a house, I’ve changed jobs 3 times (4x if you count changing “jobs” to be a stay at home mom), traveled to Cabo, Spain, London, Paris, Aruba, and a number of US cities, got pregnant, and had a baby! We’ve been through ups and downs together and I couldn’t ask for a better partner to be by my side through it all. There is nothing that beats the joy of watching my best friend and love of my life become a father to a sweet little girl who adores her daddy (despite what that second picture might portray –ha!).

Happy fourth anniversary, honey! I love you!

10 Months of Hadley

2011-11-04T15:52:00.002-05:00

Hadley’s 10 month photo shoot happened a day late AND I forgot to turn the light off in the room when I took the pictures, so they all have this awful orangey-pink cast to them, but here are a few shots for the grandparents. :)

Sharing Some Love…

2011-11-04T14:34:00.001-05:00

Just a quick post to let you all know about a great giveaway going on! Ally of Little Bears Designs is having a custom designed card (Christmas or other) GIVEAWAY! Go check out her new website: http://www.littlebearsdesigns.com! You can see details of the giveaway on her blog: www.davidandally.blogspot.com. Check it out! (But don’t enter, because that makes my chances of winning go down…) ;)

Hadley is Ten Months Old!

2011-11-03T12:14:00.001-05:00

Sweet Hadley Ann, you are ten months old today! Your daddy and I are just LOVING this stage of life with you right now. You are so much fun and are becoming quite the little ham. You are a girl who knows what she wants and doesn’t stop until she gets it (I have to remind myself daily that this will be a good trait to have when you’re older – not the easiest of traits to deal with now). Here are our guesses at your stats this month (the weight is right on because we had a doctor’s appointment this morning.)

Weight: 22 lbs 14 ounces (the doctor always comments on how in shape I must be to carry you around all day – I’m not really, but it is true that you are a workout!)
Height: 30 inches
Clothes: Mostly size 12-18 months, some jammies and shirts are 18 months – you have a long torso just like mommy
Diapers: size 5

We’re entering your first holiday season and it is so much fun to watch you see, explore, and discover all these new experiences. This month we went to the Pumpkin Patch, the Texas State Fair, and to your first Halloween party where you got to dress up in costume!

Your eating habits are mostly the same as last month; still nursing on average 4x a day and eating solids 3x a day (with a snack of some fruit or puffs in the afternoon). We’re kind of stuck in between solid foods and baby food with you right now. Sometimes I think you refuse baby food because you’re wanting something you can feed yourself, but you are a little bit dainty and don’t always like the texture of holding real food. Other than every flavor under the rainbow in purees, you’ve had shredded chicken, ground beef, spaghetti (with a tiny bit of tomato sauce), black beans with avocado on a whole wheat tortilla, waffles, whole wheat blueberry pancakes, steamed zucchini and a couple bites of momma’s beef stew (which you loved, but judging by the amount of water you downed afterwards, I think there was a little too much seasoning in it for you!)

Speaking of your disdain for different textures – this video shows how much you love (sarcasm) grass.

We had 2 straight weeks, this month, of you sleeping 12+ hours straight at night. That unfortunately has stopped, but I think it’s due to the fact that you might have a bit of momma’s cold, and you’re cutting more teeth. The past 4 or 5 nights you have screamed until I come in and rock you to sleep. That is SO not like you! Generally after nursing you squirm in my arms until I put you down – you are not a cuddler at all. I’m trying to be thankful (rather than frustrated) for these rock-to-sleep nights because I know all too soon you won’t want me to rock you anymore.

Speaking of teeth, baby girl you are popping teeth through left and right – literally! Last month you had 3 teeth, and this month you have 7! You now have 3 teeth on the bottom (2 middle teeth and bottom right) and 4 up top (2 middle and the 2 right next to those - the far left one JUST started cutting through).

One of your favorite “tricks” this month has been waving “Hi!” and “Bye-Bye!” It doesn’t quite look like real waving just yet - you hold your elbow up to shoulder height and then just sort of flop the rest of your arm back and forth towards your chest – but you get super excited and smile when you’re doing it… so proud of yourself! You were waving with both arms (with candy in your hands) at the trick-or-treaters in the picture below…

You’re still great at drinking out of sippy cups, I think you tend to get a little more out of the ones with straws, but you can drink out of either kind. Because of that, we haven’t even tried to give you a bottle recently. I think the next time I have to be away from you long enough that you’ll need milk, we’ll just put it in a sippy cup for you.

This video is a little long, but it’s a pretty good glimpse at what our playtime looks like these days… you LOVE to drop things over the edge of whatever you’re sitting on.

Hadley, your daddy and I love you more than you could EVER imagine. Thank you for being such a blessing in our lives these past 10 months! We can’t wait to see what the next 10 bring!

Hadley’s First Halloween

2011-10-31T11:37:00.001-05:00

We started celebrating Halloween a little early this year. On Friday, the 28th, we had plans to go up to Matt’s work for breakfast and “trick or treating” at the office, but Hadley had a rough night so we let her sleep in to get some rest. (Sidenote: just so you don’t think we’re super lazy, “sleeping in” these days means sleeping until about 7:45.)

The Little Gym that we go to was having a Halloween party for all of the kiddos that same night, and Hadley had been acting fine most of the day, so we decided to go. She only lasted about 30 minutes at the party, and we couldn’t really get a smile out of her (see evidence below) but we still had fun! We didn’t let her try any candy, but she did try a nilla wafer for the first time! I’m guessing she loved it by the fact that she tried to shove the whole thing in her mouth after taking one bite! We got a couple cute pictures out of the party, too.

Don’t judge the lack of makeup below… most days I’m just glad to have clean hair and clothing!

These next two pictures crack me up. I’m not sure if this is teething related or just a personality thing, but Hadley makes the funniest face if you make her “smile” when she doesn’t want to smile. She was getting cranky at the party, so Matt decided to toss her up – which always gets a smile and/or laugh. You could tell she wanted to stay cranky, but was having too much fun not to sort-of-smile. Stubborn little girl – was doing everything in her power not to open that mouth.

She was still munching on the nilla wafer when her teacher, Ms. Christy, came over to say hi. She wouldn’t put it down, and decided to just hold it in her mouth for a picture. :) Silly girl!

Since tonight is actually Halloween, we’ll put her in her costume and probably just sit on our front porch to pass out candy until it’s bedtime. I figured since she won’t actually be eating the candy, it might look a little weird if we took her trick-or-treating this year. Next year, however…. bring on the candy!!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T11:01:00.001-05:00

A certain little bumblebee wanted to wish you all a very happy Halloween – filled with treats and no tricks.

Cheerios

2011-10-25T07:10:00.000-05:00

Dear Hadley,

As much as I’m sure you would love to, you can NOT have Cheerios for every meal. No amount of screaming, throwing your head back or kicking your legs will bring you more Cheerios. Unfortunately, until they make Cheerios with a full serving of fruit and vegetables, your consumption will be limited. I promise that I’m not keeping them from you just to be mean.

Love,

Momma

Texas State Fair

2011-10-24T15:25:00.001-05:00

This past weekend was the last weekend of the State Fair. It snuck up on us this year, but we decided to brave the crowds (which, at least in the morning, were NOTHING like they are for the TX/OU game, so I was happy). I woke up with a sore throat, and Hadley fought her nap with everything she had, but we still managed to have a good time. :)

We figured Hadley would sleep in the car since we left just before her morning nap time, but no such luck. We arrived with a cranky, tired baby, who eventually crashed in her stroller while we just walked the fair grounds to keep her sleeping. Once she woke up, we were able to get our picture in front of Big Tex, enjoy some Fletcher’s Corn Dogs, fried cookie dough, fried snickers and fried cheesecake! Ugh – it makes me kind of sick just typing that. But it was delish.

We took Hadley into the petting zoo. I was surprised by all the different animals they had there. We saw: sheep, goats, antelope, zebras, ponies, an ostrich (those suckers are scary!), pigs, kangaroos, cows, and others, but I can’t remember what else was there. She really enjoyed seeing the goats and sheep at the Pumpkin Patch, so we thought she’d enjoy all the different animals here. Not so much.

In true Hadley fashion, she was ready to go by the time we were halfway through. Oh well – maybe next year she’ll enjoy it a little more!

It’s taken 2 days to get her back on schedule, but it was a great time! I just love this time of year and all of the activities that come along with it!

Baby Loves and must haves: Months 6 - 9

2011-10-21T21:01:00.001-05:00

Time for another edition of our baby must-haves. If you missed the earlier editions, you can see months 0-3 here and months 3-6 here.

1. Balboa Baby Shopping Cart Cover. Unfortunately, I haven’t figure out how to make this fit the SuperTarget carts yet, but it fits every other cart, and high chair, so it still makes the list. It folds up into itself, has a large strap to keep her in and two loops on the corners for attaching toys or her sippy strap. Plus, I think it’s pretty. :) I know these aren’t for everyone, and some people think they are too much of a hassle, but after reading an article that talked about how shopping carts are dirtier than most public restrooms, I think I will stick to using this and washing it when we’re done.

2. Puffs. Is it cheating to put a food item on here? These aren’t the healthiest thing, but they are a “must-have” because having a handful of these with me at all times enables me to finish grocery shopping or running an errand. Hadley LOVES her puffs – especially the sweet potato flavor (M thinks they taste like fortune cookies??). Is it wrong to use food to keep my daughter occupied while I run errands?

3. Convertible Car Seat. (Not everyone will need this so soon, but we’ve got a big girl on our hands!) After doing a lot of research, and purchasing and returning one, we ended up with the Britax Boulevard 70CS. We plan to keep Hadley rear-facing in her seat until she is at least 2 years old (For why – see here or here or – this is a really good link) so I wanted a seat that had high weight & height limits for rear-facing. Also, because we have captain’s chairs in the Tahoe, I can’t have her in the center of the car, so I wanted a seat that had extra side-impact protection. This seat was really easy to install using the LATCH system in the car (although it took me a couple tries to get the recline angle right), has an easily adjustable harness, little velcro spots to keep the straps out of the way while you’re trying to get a wiggly baby in there, and the cover (which was one of the few that I thought was cute) can come off and be washed without uninstalling the seat!

4. Sippy Cups. The two that Hadley loves are the Playtex Little Gripper Straw Trainer cup…

and the Munchkin Mighty Grip Sippy Cup…

We started sippy cups around 6 months with Hadley, and it wasn’t until about 8 1/2 months that she really caught on and could drink out of them consistently, but they still make this list because I think it was important for her to get the practice! That, and she loved to chew on the Munchkin cup. I think it felt good on those sore little gums! We also tried the Dr. Brown’s and Tommy Tippee cups, but she doesn’t like them.

5. Speaking of sippy cups – I couldn’t live without our sippy strap! Hadley thinks it is SO fun to pick up her sippy and throw it down, and this keeps me from washing it over and over and over. We got ours from Oh Sew Cute Designs and Amanda is great to work with if you need one!

That’s all I’ve got this time. Everything else that I “can’t live without” right now is something that I’ve already mentioned on one of the previous lists! Happy Friday, friends!

Our lil Pumpkin

2011-10-18T21:11:00.000-05:00

We went to the Big Orange Pumpkin Farm in Celina, Texas on Monday with our playgroup friends. Hadley did SO well, and we had a really great time! I was worried because in order to get there on time, we had to leave before her morning nap. I was just praying she would get enough of a nap in the car on the way there, and she did!

We saw longhorns and got to feed goats and sheep, took lots of pictures with the pumpkins, went on a hayride, and had a picnic lunch in the shade with our friends! I think we’ll have to make this an annual tradition with Hadley – it was such a fun time. :)

Sorry for the photo overload. I seriously don’t know how to choose just one or two!

This next one cracks me up. Hadley’s looking at me like… mom, Noah’s pulling my hair… can you make him stop?

I Love A Good Deal

2011-10-17T08:40:00.001-05:00

Unless you have been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of Erin Condren’s Life Planner by now in the blogging world. They came out this summer and go through December of 2012. They are a lot more expensive than what I would usually pay for a planner, but I found a coupon code for mine and managed to get it for half off! Add the fact that it’s got a personalized, laminated cover, tabs for all the months, plus a ton of super cute personalized goodies and I was sold. :) I was SO excited when mine came in the mail!

This is the one I got… only it says “The Coleman Family” on it with our names below. Love. It.

I am old school in that I just can’t get used to using only an electronic planner – I NEED to write down our schedules somewhere, and I love to do it somewhere this cute! Anyways, because I love a good deal, I thought I’d share with y’all today that Zulilly has a deal going on where you can pay $25 for a $50 credit at Erin Condren! Add that to the fact that you can enter in the code WELCOME10 to get another $10 off and you can get your planner and free shipping for just the cost of the voucher. That’s a steal. And if that voucher was going to be good through next summer, I would totally buy it so I could use it to get my planner next year.

That’s all I’ve got for today. Just wanted to share a good deal – I certainly don’t have any ties to Erin Condren (although if they wanted to hire me I wouldn’t complain!) nor am I being compensated (although if you sign up at Zulilly through that link, and order something, I do get a credit).

Okay – let me know if y’all get one! (Or if you already have one!) I’d love to see what design others picked out!

Just a quick post

2011-10-16T15:29:00.000-05:00

If you are friends with me on facebook, you already know this, but I wanted to mark it down on the blog as well. It took us 9 months, but Hadley stayed successfully in the church nursery for an hour today! I was a little emotional, so they paged us as soon as she started getting upset, I think because they were more worried for me than for her! She wasn’t thrilled, but she was fine and calm when we got there, so I know she could have made it the whole service.

Hopefully next time she does even better (and hopefully I do, too!).

Mid-Month Hadley Update

2011-10-14T09:16:00.000-05:00

I’ve been bad about saving all of the Hadley updates for her monthly post, and I know there are some grandparents out there who wouldn’t complain about not having to wait so long, so here’s a mid-month mini update.

Hadley is cutting her 4th tooth! I’m pretty sure teeth numbers 3, 4, and 5 have all been trying to cut through at the same time, making for some rough nights. I can now feel the top right-middle tooth and see and feel the right incisor tooth in addition to her bottom two teeth. It makes her look like such a big girl.

She started “waving bye bye” a couple days ago, as well! Although she just sort of holds her arm up to about chest level and moves it back and forth, we’re pretty sure that’s what she’s doing. It’s still pretty random, but she’s been doing it to Matt in the evenings after her bath when I’m about to take her to put her down. She’ll also do it when she and I are going from one room to another – like she’s saying “bye room!”

And, she’s been kind of doing this for awhile, but just started consistently drinking out of a sippy cup! Her favorite is her straw-sippy, but she will also drink out of a regular one as well.

Excuse the flash-photo below. I didn’t have enough daylight to catch her in the act without it being blurry. Oh, and the bedhead. She just woke up from her nap. And the spit up on her onesie. Really no excuse for that… I was just too lazy to change her outfit. But y’all, look at this sweetheart. She looks like such a big girl drinking out of a sippy cup!

My New Hobby

2011-10-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

I recently purchased this guy (using some credit card rewards points).

I seriously cannot even sew a basic button on by hand (I can never remember how to tie that knot that keeps everything from unraveling!), but I decided I wanted to try to teach myself.

Thanks to Pinterest and good ol’ Google, I found a couple tutorials and just started playing around. I cut up some old t-shirts first, so as not to waste fabric, and then headed to Hobby Lobby for supplies. I first made some “baby-legs” for Hadley out of a pair of knee-high socks.

Easy-peasy, so I decided to try something a little harder. I went with a skirt first, as it looked pretty simple. Much to my surprise, it was!

After two successes, I got a little over-confident and tried to make some ruffle pants… like these (from Little Lizard King)…

… let’s just say I’m not quite there yet. Good thing the fabric was on sale. I’m determined, though – just need to find a good tutorial/pattern!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T15:48:00.001-05:00

She may not be able to get up there on her own, but this little girl LOVES to stand and play now. She is pretty proud of herself. ;)

9 Month Photo Shoot

2011-10-03T16:37:00.001-05:00

And your monthly photo overload – for the grandparents. :)

The next picture is a face she’s been making lately – I think it’s teething related. I call it her “brain freeze” face – she’s half smiling while she’s doing it… it cracks me up!

Aaanndd…. Hadley decided we were done taking pictures so she had to remove her 9 month sticker.

Hadley is 9 Months!

2011-10-03T15:26:00.001-05:00

Dear Hadley,

You are nine whole months old! Two hundred and seventy three days. In a mere 3 months we will have a one year old on our hands! I just can’t believe how quickly this time has gone. Your daddy and I have cherished every second.

This month your personality has really started shining through. You are sweet and loving (when you want to be), funny – with a slapstick sense of humor, outgoing – ALWAYS wanting everyone everywhere to pay attention to you, and STUUUUB.BORN (I have no idea where you get that from… must be your daddy). ;)

Our doctor’s appointment this month isn’t for another couple days, so I’ll have to come back and update with your stats. Here are our guesses:

Height: 29 inches
Weight: 22 lbs
Diapers: We have half a pack of size 4 left and are using size 5 the rest of the time.
Clothes: 12-18 months mostly (there are a few 6-12 month things that fit, and one outfit that you’re wearing now is 24 months(!))

Your sleeping and eating habits are mostly the same this month. Although, as far as sleep goes, you were all over the place most of the month. I was about to go crazy with the lack of sleep we were both getting, but you seem to have gotten yourself back on track for the most part. Our routine is still the same: Bedtime anywhere from 7-8p, up around 7-8a (I’d say about 50% of the time you wake up once to nurse sometime in the middle of the night. It’s not at the same time every night, so I really do think it’s out of hunger – that or teething pain – rather than just habit). You take 2 naps a day usually around 10a and 2p. They average a little over an hour, but can be as short as 30 minutes or as long as 2 1/2 hours. You’ve also started sleeping on your belly a lot more this month. I have tried and tried to roll you over and you just flip yourself right back to your belly so I’ve learned to just let you sleep. Your favorite sleeping position is still on your side.

You nurse 4-5 times a day – around 8a, 12, 3 or 4ish, and 7 – and then sometimes in the middle of the night, and eat solids 3 times a day, sometimes with a snack of cheerios or puffs in the late afternoon.

Speaking of eating – you L-O-V-E cheerios and puffs. I seriously think I could dump an entire container of puffs in front of you and you would just keep eating and eating. I can’t blame you… the sweet potato flavor is really good! Some other favorite foods of yours right now are: sweet potatoes, chicken, carrots, peaches, bananas (basically if it’s yellow or orange – you will eat it).

We started this month out in Houston for Labor Day weekend at Nana and Grandpa C’s house. You went to your first Astros game while we were there and did lots of eating and hanging out!

You also were having such a good time playing there, that you just about lost it giggling when I sneezed at one point!

Hadley giggling uncontrollably while I pretend to sneeze.

You now have three teeth! Your second bottom tooth popped through exactly one month from the first day we felt your first tooth (9/15) and just two days ago we felt your first top tooth! For some reason, it feels like it’s the top right corner tooth (your left), but you won’t let me get a good look at it, so I’m not sure exactly which one is coming through.

You are really catching on to a lot of things these days. One of my favorite things (that you’ve been doing for almost a month now) is giving kisses! You first gave me a kiss on September 6th – just a few days after you turned 8 months old – but I wasn’t sure if it was teething related. We were sitting in your chair talking and playing and I said to you “give momma kisses!” and you turned to look at me, then leaned in with your mouth wiiiiide open! You were kind of stingy at first, but now you’ll give kisses just about anytime we ask for them! I LOVE it!

One of the first times Hadley gave daddy kisses

In addition to giving kisses, you’ve started really mimicking me when I talk to you in baby-talk. You can be sitting there totally quiet while I’m reading you a story or something, but if I start babbling to you the way you babble, you look up and babble right back. I guess you just need me to speak your language! You get a kick out of it when people around you are laughing and almost always try to join in. It takes you a minute to get it, but if we’re really laughing at something, you join in with this little chuckle/giggle. It’s so adorable! Also, when I get you up from bed you usually still have a paci in your mouth or hand. I hold you there looking over your crib and tell you to “put your paci away” or ask you “where does your paci go?” and you toss it right back in! Such a smarty! ;)

You’ve started “playing games” a lot this month, too. One that momma is not much of a fan of is your “trust fall” game. You will randomly decide to just throw yourself backwards from a sitting position. Usually I’m there to catch you and you just squeal and giggle at the rush of falling, but you’ve done it once or twice on your changing pad when I’m trying to put a shirt on you and you are not so thrilled when you fall onto the changing pad instead of my arms!

Hadley, even on the hard days (and sleep deprivation can definitely bring some hard days), you bring so much joy to our lives. We are having so much fun getting to know the sweet little personality that God gave you – what a blessing to be entrusted with your life! We love you little one!

A Girl and her Swing

2011-09-27T20:56:00.001-05:00

Last weekend Matt was in Tucson for a guy’s weekend visiting a friend. Since he was gone, I asked my parents to come up to give me a hand with Hadley for a couple days (and what grandparent could turn down time with this sweet face…?

We had such a productive weekend (although Hadley has once again proven herself to be the most stubborn child on the planet – I swear the girl decides not to nap just to spite me!). My parents fixed a part of our fence that a storm had started to blow over, helped me pull all the weeds/grass in our back garden beds, which had been seriously neglected with the crazy summer heat we’ve had, put down some fresh mulch and a few new plants, and to top it off, got Hadley a swing for the back porch!

Typically, Hadley cries or whines at anything new. It just takes her awhile to adjust, so I assumed a swing would be the same way. Not so. Although she doesn’t have the longest attention span for swinging, she has been so content when I stick her in there. Not to mention, the girl LOVES swinging high… it’s a good thing the swing we got has a strap to keep her in there!

Hadley is telling me all about how much she likes her swing.

Day at the Arboretum

2011-09-26T16:09:00.001-05:00

This is over a week old, but I just haven’t been making time to blog lately, so I’m just now getting around to posting these pictures.

One of the great things about the class I signed Hadley up for at The Little Gym has been meeting and playing with other babies her age (and their mommas). Two of the moms of girls from her class and I decided to take the girls to the Dallas Arboretum last Monday for lunch and pictures with the pumpkins. The Arboretum does an amazing fall display, and although we didn’t get as many pictures of the pumpkins as I wanted because Hadley wasn’t having it, I’d still say it was a successful day.

Playing with the girls after having their picnic lunch.

Not so sure about these big orange things momma made her sit on!

And the last two are from my iPhone. The first one we took while the mommas were eating lunch. It was a miracle – all three of us were able to eat our entire lunches while all 3 of the girls sat peacefully in their strollers! No tantrums, no whining – seriously… a miracle!

And the end result of our day at the Arboretum…

Understanding Christ Through Mothering

2011-09-15T14:34:00.001-05:00

I realize I have fallen off of the blogging wagon yet again, and even though we’ve been keeping busy, I just haven’t come up with anything new or interesting to blog about. So, I decided to copy another blogger’s post to share with you. This post brought me to tears when I first read it, and hopefully it will touch someone else, too! So below is a post from Rare & Beautiful Treasures. Obviously, the pictures are my addition. Enjoy.

There was a cold wet wind tonight. Biting. I wrapped him in a quilt, thick with flannel and a grandmother's love. His hat was wool and his coat too, but still I held him tight against my body before walking out into that biting night air.

I remember how one year ago he was protected and warm inside of me. And how I was grateful for that. I was sure.
As we stepped outside tonight the wind blew damp and strong against us.
I held him tight and used my hands to shield his face. He wiggled and pushed against me, trying to break free. Suddenly my hands that wanted to protect were a nuisance. I used my arms to redirect his face away from the direction of the wind. Again, he fought me. If I wanted him to face West, he was intent on looking Eastward.
"Doesn't he know I am trying to protect him?" I wondered, exasperated.
"Why is his fighting me?"

"Why doesn't he understand?"
"Doesn't he realize that I am placing my body in front of his to bear the burden for him?"
And suddenly it was no longer about a mother and her son. It was about a Father and a daughter. A Father who used a cold December wind to speak to a daughter who is entirely unworthy.

A daughter who questions and pushes back, who fights and veers East when He says clearly, "Eden is to the West, my beloved."
"Don't you see that my body has suffered this for you?"
I kiss my baby's sweet cheek, damp and cold from his obstinance and I wonder what winds I could have been spared?

Pinnable Me: Bridal Edition

2011-09-09T14:08:00.001-05:00

I’m linking up with Stefanie again for Pinnable Me on Fridays. In honor of my sister’s recent engagement, I thought I’d share some of my recent pins for her wedding board!

This first one is just gorgeous. They’re thinking late February or early march, so the outdoors probably wouldn’t work, but I love the burlap and unique texture in the flowers.

Source: 100layercake.com via Brittany on Pinterest

How cute is this idea? Pies instead of a groom’s cake – I love the country, down-home kind of feel that creates.

Source: swanky-chic-fete.blogspot.com via Brittany on Pinterest

Source: ritzybee.typepad.com via Brittany on Pinterest

She’s thinking navy, gray and yellow for her colors, and I’m secretly (or not so secretly now) hoping that these are our dresses…

Source: theneotraditionalist.com via Brittany on Pinterest

And last, wouldn’t this be so cute painted in white on a big scrap piece of wood?

Source: weddingbee.com via Brittany on Pinterest

With a style similar to this?

Source: aislewithstyle.blogspot.com via Brittany on Pinterest

I so wish Pinterest had been around when I was planning my wedding. Between that and etsy, there are so many ideas I wish I could go back and add in to our wedding!

8 Month Photo Shoot

2011-09-03T09:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry… there’s a lot this month. She finally has a tooth to show off, but I think its partner in crime is trying to break free, too, so she doesn’t have a lot of smiles for us these days.

No mom, I do NOT want that dog in the picture with me…

YAY for clapping!! So fun! :)

Hmm, I’ll take this spatula, please… thank you!

There’s that tooth!

Umm… excuse me… did I tell you that you could take my picture??

Hadley is 8 Months Old!

2011-09-03T07:04:00.000-05:00

Another month come and gone and now we have an 8 month old! Hadley, over the past 8 months, you have given your daddy and I just a glimpse at the type of love that our Heavenly Father has for us. I know I’ve said it before, but it is so difficult for me to imagine anyone being able to love you more than we do, and yet, He does… and I am so thankful for that.

No doctor’s appointment this month, so just a guess at your stats:

Height: 29 1/4 inches
Weight: 21 1/2 pounds (based on the Wii Fit)
Diapers: Size 4
Clothing: Mostly 6-12 month, some 18 month!

This month was an exciting one for us all, because your aunt Katie got engaged! Which means you’re going to have an uncle! Before they were engaged, and after one of the first times Eric spent any time around you, he and your aunt Katie were talking about you and about their future. Katie told me that he said “You know… I like Hadley a lot and I’ve only been around her a couple times, but if we get married… I’ll be her uncle. That means that I LOVE her!” He’s not even officially family yet, but I can promise you that he already loves you like he’s been your uncle forever. You are one lucky little girl, missy.

In other exciting news, we officially have a tooth! It took you 7 1/2 months to cut one, but it’s finally there! I first felt a little pin-prick on your lower gums on August 15th, then on the 16th I felt a bigger pin-prick, and it is here to stay. It’s your bottom middle-left (your left). That’s the official name of the tooth. ;) No sign of its partner yet, although I can tell your gums are still bothering you, so maybe it’ll pop through soon. You have made it impossibly difficult to get a picture of it, but I finally got a picture where you can see it this past weekend. Not the most flattering facial expression you’ve got there, but baby girl – I tried and tried and this is the best you gave me!

As of that same day that I felt your tooth, you decided you are too big for your play mat. Our routine in the mornings used to consist of me getting you up, changing your diaper and nursing you. Then I’d bring you into the living room and let your play on your play mat while I ate breakfast. Now, I have to either put you in your exersaucer or lay a blanket down and let you sit with a basket of toys to play with. No more of this lying down stuff!

You love to go outside – especially when you are fussy. It’s too bad that it’s been 157 degrees most of the summer. Okay, not really 157, but it has been between 100 and 112 for what feels like the past 3 months. It has been a brutally hot summer, so we haven’t been able to enjoy the outside very much.

You finally mastered the “log roll” this month, too. Prior to now, you could roll both ways, but you had no interest in using that skill to get around anywhere. And I was in no rush for you to become mobile in any way. Now when I put you down, if there are toys within your sight, you will roll and roll and roll until you get to them. No signs of crawling yet, though, which I am thankful for! I’m not ready to be chasing you all over the house, yet! You hate to be on your knees, so I think we’ve still got a few months.

We’re still going to your class at The Little Gym and it’s touch and go for you. Some days you are feelin’ it and others… not so much. You, along with one other little girl who is a couple months older than you named Kelly, have become known as the resident drama queens! You are both girls who know what you want when you want it! You did a handstand in class this month, though, which was a big improvement (with momma holding your legs, obviously). Before, when we’d try, you would just keep your arms up and wouldn’t touch the ground (such a little princess!), but not anymore! You plopped those arms down and held yourself up while I lifted your legs over your head. You were so proud of yourself afterwards!

You still love to be on the move. I have never been more thankful for a car with working air conditioning than I have been this summer. We have spent many an afternoon driving to Sonic to get momma a drink and to get you out of the house! Speaking of driving, we are officially using your big girl car seat, now! We went through 2 different ones trying to find one we liked the best. The picture below is the first one we tried. I’d say you were pretty comfy in there! But we couldn’t get the recline right behind the driver’s seat, so we returned it and got a different one.

You LOVE that spatula. It’s definitely your favorite “toy” right now.

This is one of my favorite pictures. Look at that sweet face peeking over the edge of your crib! You are sleeping really well at night. We usually put you down around 7pm after bathtime and you sleep straight through until 7 or 8am (although occasionally you wake around 4, but I can either give you your paci or nurse you and you fall right back to sleep.) You take 2 naps a day, usually around 10 and 2, although your naps are always a toss up. Sometimes I’ll get 2 hours per nap, other times only 30 minutes. But with the good nights, I’ll take some bad nap days. :)

You eat 3 meals a day now, and have 4-6 ounces per meal. I have yet to find a food that you refuse! If I mix a little sweet potato or peaches in with something you’re not loving, you’ll eat it right up! You also nurse 4-6 times a day, and still will not take a bottle! We tried putting a tiny bit of apple juice (about 1/4 of an ounce) in a bottle for you, and although you will drink it from the bottle, it also makes you throw up every time you have it, so no more juice for you! Unfortunately, you won’t drink anything else from a bottle.

One of my favorite things that you like to do is cross your legs at your ankles. You do it all.the.time and it cracks me up! In your car seat, lying on your play mat, in your stroller, in your tub, and in your bouncy seat as seen below.

And just some cute pictures from the past month…

Your soon-to-be-uncle Eric put his hat on you and you were not a fan…

Reading in the car.

It’s hard to believe that in 4 months we will have a one year old on our hands! Happy 8 months baby girl!

CrockPotalooza: Ranch Pork Roast

2011-08-31T14:57:00.001-05:00

Apparently crockpot cooking is super popular right now, and Kelly at Kelly’s Korner is hosting a link up for recipes. I am all about crock pot cooking these days, so I’m looking forward to getting some good new recipes!

The one I’m sharing is one I just tried last night and it was really good!

Ranch Pork Roast

img via: bhg

It’s really simple and delicious! I would serve it with mac & cheese and green beans.

Here’s a recipe card I made with the directions…

{Sidenote: The original recipe I found for this said to cook it 8-10 hours on low, but I’ve found that my crockpot tends to cook things a little quicker, so I adjusted the time.}

I also found a really great BBQ Chicken crockpot recipe that I blogged about here – BBQ Chicken.

If you have any good crockpot recipes, link up and share!

An Engaging Weekend!

2011-08-30T14:41:00.001-05:00

Ha – such a clever title, right? We just got back from Austin for a surprise visit to celebrate my sister’s engagement! Her boyfriend (now fiancé) proposed to her on Saturday and then surprised her with a big family dinner and a celebration afterwards at my parent’s house with both families.

We are so excited to be welcoming Eric into the family, and are equally excited that Hadley will have an uncle soon! Hadley wanted to join in on all the celebrating, so she decided to show us all that she can clap now! The video below was taken on our way to my parent’s house after surprising Katie at dinner at Hula Hut.

Hadley is so excited for her aunt Katie and soon-to-be-uncle Eric!

It was a whirlwind of a weekend, and a 4 hour drive with an almost 8 month old is just never fun – no matter how you slice it – but we were so happy we could be there to celebrate with my sister and Eric.

Hadley did ~~everything in her power to keep the attention focused on her~~ her best not to steal the show, and had a great time hanging out with family!

My parents bought her a little jumperoo to keep at their house for when we visit and she LOVED it! This picture cracks me up. Matt and I were joking that it looks like she has some serious road rage…

“Get outta my way!!!”

She really was having a great time – she was just cracking herself up bouncing and bouncing in there!

And a quick photo recap of the surprise dinner post-proposal.

The next day Katie and Eric came over to hang out with Hadley some more. She wasn’t in a very good mood thanks to a very poor nap in the morning, but a quick glance and aunt Katie’s new bling had her calming down. ;)

Congratulations and best wishes to Katie and Eric! (I can never remember which one you’re supposed to say to the bride and which one you’re supposed to say to the groom – and the only reason I know it’s one or the other is thanks to Gilmore Girls. ha!)

Prayers Needed

2011-08-25T21:15:00.001-05:00

You may have noticed a new button in my sidebar, and I wanted to write a quick post to share that story (and to point it out to those of you who hadn’t noticed it.)

Lindsey is someone I don’t actually know in real life, but I have been reading her blog for awhile, and her family could really use your prayers. Her daughter, Kate, has a very rare genetic bone marrow failure and is about to undergo a complete bone marrow transplant. They are in Children’s Hospital in Houston right now undergoing chemo to get Kate’s body ready for the transplant. This sweet girl is just 12 months old and it just breaks my heart to read her story.

Please keep them in your prayers – that she would have complete healing and a chance at new life with this transplant! Pray also for strength for Lindsey and Alex – as a mom, I can only imagine that every ounce of pain Kate feels is felt ten-fold by Lindsey.

If you want to help spread the word, you can grab a button on Lindsey’s blog.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-24T14:50:00.001-05:00

Why I Stay at Home

2011-08-22T13:28:00.001-05:00

Before I dive into the meat of this post, I feel like I need to write a disclaimer. For whatever reason, there is an abundance of judgment that comes along with being a mother. Judgment from society, from older and younger generations, and even worse, judgment from other moms. I think we’re all guilty of it, whether we voice it or not. Certainly everyone has judged that mom in the grocery store who can’t get her kid to stop screaming (until you become that mom). Or the parents at the restaurant who let their child run amuck (ok, I still judge those parents – unless you’re at Chucky Cheese, highchairs have straps for a reason, people.) All of that to say, I don’t write this post with judgment or as a criticism of moms who make a different choice for their families. I’m simply writing because it has been on my heart for a couple of weeks and perhaps someone else might find encouragement in this. That, and I hope Hadley can someday look back on this and know my heart and why I chose to stay home to raise her.

In addition to the disclaimer above, I also want to say that I am well aware that this is not a choice everyone can make. If you are a single mother, or need to work to provide for your family, I, in no way, mean for this to make you feel guilty or inadequate. I know that we are very blessed that I am able to stay home.

Whew. Ok, now that that’s out of the way…

I was at the doctor last week. My mom came up to help with Hadley, and we decided to just bring her stroller and let my mom push her around while I was in with the doctor. Well, Hadley is having a bit of separation anxiety, and my mom had only been here an hour or so before we had to leave for the doctor, so as soon as she realized I was gone, she started crying (Hadley, not my mom – ha). I had to give blood after the appointment, so once again, Hadley screamed the whole time I was gone. Since the lab was open to the waiting room, we could still hear her screaming. I apologized to the nurse and smiled. She looked at me (sans smile) and said “You a stay at home mom?” I said that yes, I was, and explained that Hadley was hitting the lovely separation anxiety phase (that almost all babies go through, right?). She replied (again sans smile) that I’d “better do something about that or else I won’t ever be able to go anywhere.”

Now, I know a lot of people hate getting any kind of advice from anyone when it comes to motherhood, but I think I’m an exception. I actually like hearing from other ~~people~~ moms. I like hearing what worked for them and what didn’t. I do not, however, like being told that I’m doing a disservice to my child because I choose to stay at home with her. This isn’t the first comment of its kind, either. I’ve had comments like this from friends and strangers alike (albeit, not quite as blatant), and it just makes me wonder when becoming a mom became “not enough.” Why do people feel the need to save their old identity rather than relishing in their new identity? (sidenote: I’m sure that had I decided to go back to work, I’d have gotten just as many comments judging that decision.)

The choice to stay home was probably a little easier for me than some, seeing as how both my husband and I had moms who stayed home with us. It wasn’t a foreign concept to either of us, and was something that we both saw the benefits of growing up (even if we didn’t enjoy it then, we see it now.) I realize, too, how truly blessed I am to have a husband who is supportive of this – both in that he works hard at his job to provide for us, and also that he encourages me to be here.

That said, I believe that staying home with your children is a calling. One that God equips women for in a unique way – there’s a reason we are the ones who carry the baby and the ones who can provide nutrition for babies. I know it’s not for everyone to stay home, and it’s certainly not for the faint of heart. Staying home is hard. The only thing easy about staying home is how easy it is to lose your mind most days! And I know if we are ever blessed with more kiddos it will be exponentially harder. But this is my lot and this is my blessing. And the bible promises that we will not remember our days because we are consumed with joy (Eccl. 5:20)

Over the past few weeks I’ve come across a few articles about this topic and I thought I’d share the links to those… If you don’t have time to read all of them, the first one is my favorite.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-as-a-mission-field

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-a-calling-and-where-your-children-rank

http://www.karenathomeblog.com/2011/06/life-of-stay-at-home-mom-series-day-8.html

And for those of you who don’t want to read any of them, here are a couple of my favorite take-aways:

“Biggest reward for you or your family having you as a SAHM?

I think the biggest reward is the security and confidence it gives my children. They know I am around and have chosen to be with them over anything else! They know I used to teach school and gave it up to be with them! They also know that there is no other place I'd rather be. How reassuring would that be to know there is someone out there who loves you so much that she didn't want to miss part of your life?!”

“At the very heart of the gospel is sacrifice, and there is perhaps no occupation in the world so intrinsically sacrificial as motherhood. Motherhood is a wonderful opportunity to live the gospel. Jim Elliot famously said, “He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Motherhood provides you with an opportunity to lay down the things that you cannot keep on behalf of the people that you cannot lose. They are eternal souls, they are your children, they are your mission field.”

All of this is really to say that this is my choice for my family, and I just simply don’t understand the point of judging other moms for their choices for their families. “Working” or “non-working,” I really feel like it’s important to support each other for our similarities rather than focusing on our differences.