Weight/Height/Head:  At her 4 month appointment, her weight was 17lb, 4oz (99th percentile) and she was 26 inches long (65th percentile).  Can't remember her head, but she's in the 25th percentile for that!  (Takes after her Daddy, ha)

Hair:  Dark brown in the back and growing in light brown/dark blonde on top.  It's finally starting to be noticeable on top of her head!

Eyes: Blue and beautiful

Diapers: Size 2

Clothes: It's a range right now.  In Carters she's getting snug in the 0-3 months but 6 months is still a little big.  She's very comfortably wearing a pair of 6-12 month jeans from Baby Gap right now, so I think we'll be in toddler sizes in no time

Eating: We're all done nursing :(  She's taking bottles like a champ, though.  Most feedings we're giving her 7oz every 3-4 hours, with an occasional 4oz bottle thrown in there.  The girl has quite an appetite.  We've also started cereal!  We're using Earth's Best Organic Baby Oatmeal and up until today it's been nothing but a huge mess with literally nothing going in her mouth.  I realized that I was making it too runny so after I thickened it up a little bit, she started eating it like she'd been eating it all her life!  Here's a little video of it, sorry it's dark!  

Hadley eating cereal!

I know doctors say to wait until 6 months to start them on solids, but I might just start her around 5 months.  She's starting to watch us when we eat and if you watch the video, she totally gets the concept of opening her mouth for the spoon and wanting what I'm offering her.
Sleeping: Well, she sleeps through the night, which is a great thing.  However, she's still sleeping in our room.  To be perfectly honest, I'm okay with it.  She sleeps so well, and it definitely doesn't bother us.  The biggest reason why is that I have extreme - extreme - paranoia about SIDS.  I purchased an Angelcare Monitor (haven't set it up yet, though), and also a mattress wrap (if you're a parent and you haven't ever read about the links between SIDS and toxic fumes in mattresses, it's worth at least checking into, here's a good article http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/bedding.asp).  The risk decreases after 6 months, so I know after that point I will ease up a little in feeling like I need her right next to me.  

Milestones:  We've had lots this month!

• Ate cereal for the first time
• Started laughing when tickled or we make silly faces/noises
• Grabs her feet
• Picks up toys on her own, reaches for toys
• Puts anything and everything in her mouth
• Loves to "talk" to you when you talk to her
• Rolling over from back to front a few times
• Holding her bottle (not by herself but will put her hands on it like she is)
• Can sometimes hold her weight sitting up for a minute
• Moved up to baths in the regular bathtub 

She continues to be my greatest blessing.  Being her mom will forever be my most important role, and I sometimes think, "I should thank God for her more often" but then I think to myself, God knows my heart, and He knew how long I waited for her and how much I love her.  That said, I am so thankful for her and can't wait to see what the rest of this month has in store for her!  

Okay, I'm really terrible at these...hope to improve on them one of these days!

Mommy Confessions

One of the things that I am trying to overcome in my life is struggle with comparing myself to others.  I know that this is something many women struggle with, so I know I'm not alone.  I never assumed that this struggle would end once I had a baby, but I feel like it became magnified once I had something more in common with so many other women.

I saw this quote recently and I think I want to print it out and put it on a bulletin board in front of me.

Seeing this quote led me to the idea that I want to be more real.  I want people - other women - to know completely who I am, and like I said, my biggest struggle right now is in comparing myself and the things I have/do to other moms.  With that being said....here are my confessions, without any justification because frankly...I don't need any!

• Hadley still sleeps in our room.  And occasionally sleeps with me 
• We use Target formula, and while I loved breastfeeding, I am truly scared for what my decision will be with our next baby.  I want to breastfeed but keeping it real...it was a lot of work to keep her fed since she eats so much and she's such a healthy, happy baby that I don't hate formula as much as I feel like I should
• I sometimes stay in my pajamas all day now
• We don't hardly have any schedule for Hadley.  We wake up and feed her and that sometimes happens at 6am and sometimes at 8am.  There's no set bedtime, except a general time that I try to get her to sleep
• I rarely just lay her down in her crib and let her fall asleep on her own.  Most of the time I hold her or rock her until she's asleep
• Even though I don't think there's anything wrong with letting her "cry it out" I hate to hear her do it so I usually don't last long before I go in there
• Some days Hadley will wear the same outfit two days in a row if it's not overly spit up on or pooped on (if we're staying in the house)
• We use Walmart and Target diapers.  Haven't used any Pampers or Huggies since she was a newborn

So there's just a few things, maybe it will make some other mom feel better about herself.  I am not big on resolutions because for me, they're rarely kept, but one thing I do want to make a point to do in 2013 is to accept the things I do and to own them and not be ashamed or hide them from people because of what they might think.  I know that some of these things might be creating issues but we'll cross those bridges when we get there.

Here's to 2013, and being real.

My Weight Watchers Tips

I'm hardly qualified to give any advice on Weight Watchers considering I've only done the program for a total of less than 3 months.  But I do have some tips for beginners that could help save some folks the unintentional loss of precious points!

First of all, though, I have to just share my love for Weight Watchers.  The program definitely takes a little bit of effort and planning, which is difficult for me at times, considering I have a 4 month old and work full time from home.  But I really believe that it's one of the easiest ways to lose weight if you will just follow the allotted points given to you.

One thing I regret is that I didn't start Weight Watchers right after Hadley was born.  I was nursing and so I figured I shouldn't be in a "weight loss" mentality.  Which you shouldn't, obviously.  But the great thing is that Weight Watchers will give you an additional 14 points (sorry, not sure how many calories that equates out to) if you're exclusively nursing, or an additional 7 points if you're nursing with supplements.  The reason this is great is that for the first couple months I never knew how much I was eating, or if I was consuming enough calories for nursing.  I didn't want to just eat whatever I came across but I also wanted to make sure I was getting enough.

Alright, here's some of my general Weight Watchers tips -

• Create your menu for the week in advance.  If it's time to eat and you have to throw something together that you have sitting around in your kitchen, chances are it's either A) not going to be what you want to eat or B) it's going to exceed your points for that meal or for the day.
• When it comes to snacks, figure out the points for one serving of that snack and put a few separate servings into snack-size Ziploc baggies.  That way, you won't have to waste time counting out 13 pretzels or whatever, and you won't just snack out of the bag.  
• Put Skinnytaste - www.skinnytaste.com - in your bookmarks and visit it daily!  This is my go-to place for recipes, even when I'm not on Weight Watchers.  It gives the WW Points Plus value for all of her healthy-but-good recipes so it makes eating well so much more enjoyable.  
• Make sure to find the values of everything you're eating, save for fruits and veggies cause those are 0 points.  You would be incredibly surprised to find out that some things that don't seem like they would be high in points, like olive oil (I never cook w/ more than a teaspoon now, which is hard for me!) are really pretty high, especially if you use them somewhat liberally.
• Allow yourself a splurge, whether it's daily or weekly.  In the mornings when I drink my coffee, it is a must for me to have two tablespoons of French Vanilla coffee creamer in my coffee.  Can't drink it without it, and I ain't giving up my coffee.  I give up 2 points for that, but it's a non-negotiable for me and it helps me feel like I'm not locked into some diet that doesn't allow any flexibility.  

And here's a few of my favorite snacks/meals - 

• For breakfast, I usually eat 1 egg with 1 egg white and will add in a Laughing Cow Light cheese wedge and veggies.  This is 3-4 points
• My favorite snack/meal ( eat it anytime, really) is shredded brussel sprouts cooked in a garlic paste.  I finely cut/shred my brussel sprouts and spray them down with an olive oil spray (0 points!) and sautee them in the garlic and add a little tiny bit of white cooking wine (not real wine, just the cheap stuff from the grocery store.  Also 0 pts) to deglaze the pan.  SO good and flavorful and best of all, it's a free meal!  
• Potato Soup made with Cauliflower.  I steam a head of cauliflower and add in 1-2 small potatoes just to give it a little starchiness, plus a tablespoon of light sour cream (or fat free greek yogurt), a little bit of chicken broth and if I want it extra creamy, a little bit of fat free half and half.  This is a low point meal that allows you to eat a big serving and it's so filling!
• Baked Sweet Potato topped with 1/2C black beans, Rotel tomatoes and corn, 1T of cheddar cheese and a Tbsp of FF Greek Yogurt - this is 7 points and also very filling
• Any cooked veggies, I love roasting cauliflower, brussel sprouts or even cooked cabbage

These are just a few, I often will Google "Weight Watchers snacks" to get some ideas.  I think it's important to find different things that you like and can easily figure out the points.  Here's a few foods that I avoid due to having high points - 

• Olive oil - 1T is 4 pts
• Pasta - 2oz of my favorite kind - Barilla Bowties - is 6pts.  2oz is something like, 8 bowties.  Not worth it!
• Cheese in "hard form" - meaning not shredded or crumbled.  1oz of cheese is 3pts, whereas 2T of shredded cheese is 2pts, and it feels like you get more when it's shredded
• And the worst...eating out is typically off-limits.  It's amazing how you think you can take something fairly healthy - like a turkey wrap with no cheese - and it turns out to be like, 15 points or something ridiculous.  It's very hard to calculate points for a meal, especially when you live in a small town where you can't pull it up in the Points Tracker.  So I end up eating at home a lot 
• Alcohol - I will sometimes save my points so I can have a 5oz glass of red wine, which is 4 points
• Juice - I used to pour a healthy glass of Apple Juice in the morning until I found out that between my coffee and the juice I was using up about 10 points!  I now drink water and Diet Coke

Overall, I'm about 6lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight and fitting back in all of my pants now.  I quit nursing a couple weeks ago so maybe that helped some, but I really wasn't nursing much at the end there.  I think the biggest thing has been to control my portion sizes and cutting out the empty calories in the juice and regular Coke I was drinking.  I think this is a diet that anybody can do and be successful at, but you have to really want things to change!  Or just have a baby, I found that to be great motivation!

After Christmas Recuperation

Christmas around these parts is a total event.  Not just a one day ordeal that you meet to open gifts and then eat dinner type of day, but rather, the holiday usually spans a couple of days.  There's the "everyone's in town for Christmas" dinner that occurs two days before Christmas.  Then there's Christmas Eve, which starts late afternoon at church and ends late that night.  And then of course there's Christmas Day, which starts off with a big brunch and lasts until well into the night.

SO, with all that being said, this Momma is tuckered out!  Hadley and I spent all day today in our pajamas, just hanging around the house and trying to get ourselves back into some resemblance of a routine.  Tough with a 4 month old.

Our Christmas was wonderful, though!  It was so sweet because we told all of Brad's family last year on Christmas Eve that we were pregnant, and this year we had our sweet baby girl, which was easily my best Christmas gift ever.  We had a great year, gift-wise - I got Brad a few shirts and some fly fishing stuff and his brother's bought him the fly rod he's been dying for, so he was happy.  And here's what Brad bought me...

A Verismo, the Starbucks One-Cup Coffee Maker.  I couldn't tell you if it's any better than the Keurigs but I love these because you can actually make lattes with them.  It was getting a little ridiculous when I would make my coffee because I would brew a small pot of coffee just for one cup in the morning.

And one thing that I bought for myself with some Christmas money --

The Sensationail Gel Polish kit that you can purchase at WalMart.  It's an at-home gel polish kit that comes with everything you need to do your own nails.  I was a little unsure about it but I had read a great review on it that sold me, so I decided to purchase it and I'm SO happy I did.  It didn't take very long at all to do my nails, and even now they look as fresh and shiny as they did four days ago when I put it on.  However, taking it off might be a different story, I'll check back on that when the time comes :)

And finally, here's a very random picture of Hadley on Christmas Eve in her Christmas dress - she looked SO sweet in it, but I'll be darned if the girl didn't spit up all over it and then have a big blowout up her back while at church in it!  We took this picture right when we got home before we stripped her down, we were in a hurry and I realized when Brad was getting her undressed that we hadn't gotten a picture of her in it.  Hence why it's blurry and she's not looking :)

Photo Bomb

4 days until Christmas, everyone!  Hard to believe it's almost here.  Can I just say that the saddest part of Christmas for me is taking down all the decorations?  I hate it.  It's just sad to put away the tree and all the cozy, pretty garland and shiny silver and candlesticks.  It's especially sad when you live in a climate that the weather tends to get worse after Christmas - cold, cold, cold.  And doesn't warm up - and when I say 'warm' I mean 50's warm - until the end of April.  Sigh.  

Buuut - the good news is that we have 4 more days of parties, spending time with family, time off work (yay!), Christmas movies, good food...it really is the best time of year.  

I'm planning to do a 4 month post this weekend (where is the time going??) but in the meantime I figured I would just put some sweet pictures up.  I swear, there are no words to describe how much I love this girl.  I was telling Brad the other day that I have a lot of respect for people - especially women - that say they don't want to have kids because they know it's just not right for their lives.  I think that's a conscious decision to make and should be respected because every baby born in this world deserves to be born to people that love it selflessly.  However....I was saying that even though I respect these people, I sometimes think that if they only knew the kind of incredible, unexplained joy that comes from having a baby,  they would maybe change their minds.  There really is something in you that wants to put them first and just do nothing but love them.

Anyway...onto pictures!

During the day when I'm working I'll put Hadley in the Bumbo on my desk and give her a diaper rag and sometimes a toy.  We're at that stage where anything and everything tries to get in her mouth.  In this case...both Sophie and the diaper rag.

One of those evenings where I couldn't do anything to appease her unless I was holding her, so this was the solution.  It worked for about 10 minutes, ha

I just can't even handle her.  Look at those cheeks!

She's such a happy baby.  Literally wakes up smiling in the morning.

I promise that Brad is a very involved Dad and does more than sleep with her :)  But when he does sleep with her, it's just too sweet for me.  Look at how little and curled up she is.  Love it

Auntie Leah reading Hadley her very first book.  I hadn't read to her yet because I just unpacked her boxes this last week.  She was super engrossed in it

Hadley and Eli, the son of some good friends of ours.  Eli was born July 3rd, about  6 weeks before Hadley.  We always joke that Hadley's going to have a great selection of little boys around her since literally all of my girlfriends here have boys!

I know this is a "no-no" to put her on the table in the Bumbo but I was sitting right here the entire time and I know my child, and know that she's not moving enough yet to fall out or over or whatever.  Anyway, during the day I have to have a circulation of entertaining things for her to do, and one of the new things we've added in is watching a Praise Baby DVD.  I guess it's like the Baby Einstein videos where they show big shapes and pictures or whatever to music and it's supposed to stimulate their brain.  This DVD plays worship songs and shows pictures.  It only holds her attention for about 10 minutes, which I will take!  But anyway, she was also very engrossed in this so I had to get a picture of it :)

I loved this little outfit, a denim shirt and black leggings.  Brad told me I had to put a headband on her so she didn't look like a boy.  I figured that the ruffled pants gave that away, but I did it anyway :)  

So lately this is what I've been seeing after I lay her down in her crib for a nap.  She's started rolling from back to front but for a day or two it was all she wanted to do when she laid down - practice rolling over. She definitely did not do any sleeping and we had a couple rough days

My sweet girl sleeping in her carseat at Walmart, clutching her toys.  

Catch up

Christmas is always such a busy time, isn't it?  We actually haven't been that busy, but no kidding, I still feel like I'm behind on everything since we moved.  I have so many things to do in here - hang up decorations, hang up curtains, still have boxes to unpack...and I'll tell you what, when it gets dark around 4:45pm you just lose your motivation, especially after working all day long.

Anyway, here's a recent picture of the baby girl...

I've started putting her in the Johnny Jumper and she loves it.  She doesn't have the longest attention span for it, I think it's still a little bit uncomfortable for her, but when you first put her in she smiles and tiptoes around in circles.  Very sweet.

We got our Christmas card ordered and printed, now I just have to address them and send them out.  Brad keeps laughing at me and telling me that people are going to get their cards after Christmas but then I tell him, we still have two weeks until Christmas!  The last few times I've needed cards for anything - showers, invites, announcements, etc - I've gone to Etsy and searched for printable cards.  You find a design you like, usually pay $15-$20 for the design, send them your picture, get the card back and upload it to Walmart.com and you're done!  By the way, WalMart has great quality for cards and whenever they can detect that you're printing a card of some sort they give you envelopes, which is really nice.

Weight Watchers is going really well!  I've been on it for two weeks now and I've lost 5lbs.  Doesn't seem like a lot but I'm now back in my pre-pregnancy weight range and have 10lbs to go to get back to pre-pregnancy weight.  It's hard at times, especially when you like to drink your calories (coffee creamer and juice get me everytime) and having a glass of wine has become a special treat (and that's only a 5oz glass of wine, which is like a quarter of the glass!)  I've found that part of the reason why I think WW works so well is that weight loss really comes down to your diet.  I think pretty much the only people who can eat whatever they want and not gain weight b/c they're exercising so much are marathoners.  The rest of us, weight loss - in my opinion - is 80% diet and 20% exercise.  Exercise is so necessary for your health and it helps the weight come off faster, but let's face it...it's hard to get to the gym these days.

I've gotta get crackin' on work...here's to a good Tuesday!

Randoms!

• The little lady above had her very first laughs last night!  I was changing her and blowing raspberries on her tummy and then exclaiming, "What was that?!" and she would get this huge smile on her face and then have these short little laughs!  Of course I yelled for Brad and we spent the next five minutes looking like complete idiots trying to make her laugh :)  It was too dang sweet.
• I find it super annoying when bloggers do paid reviews for the same products at the same time.  Actually, I find paid reviews to be super annoying just in general.
• So because I'm too cheap to pay for the actual Scentsy warmer I went to WalMart and bought a warmer for $15, and now I'm obsessed with buying the wax cubes cause they only cost $2 for a pack of 6 (as opposed to $5 for the Scentsy cubes).  While I like most of the scents, this one is my favorite:
                                      
• I started Weight Watchers this week.  I had been doing it right before I got pregnant and found that losing 10lbs was super easy just by eating my allotted points. So because I have about 15 more to lose to get back to pre-pregnancy weight and they were just not coming off easily, I decided to join again and let me tell you....drinks are really where I shoot myself in the foot.  I drank 1 cup of apple juice and it was 4 points!  Add that to the coffee creamer I generously add to my coffee every morning and I was racking up 8 points before I even really opened my eyes.

Short post but all I got this morning.  Here's to a happy Friday and a good weekend!  

Happy 3 Months, Hadley!

Weight/Height/Head:  We won't find out her official stats until her 4 month appointment, but when I took her in for some shots I had them weigh her and she was at 15lbs, 5oz!  BIG GIRL! 

Hair:  Still brown - dark in the back and starting to get thicker, but still pretty light and thin on top.

Eyes: Pretty blue, just like her Dad

Diapers: Size 1 - BUT I'm milking the last pack until I order more.  They still fit her, so I'm wondering if the Target diapers run a little big?

Clothes: Completely out of Newborn, got those packed away last week :(  Solidly wearing 0-3 months and is even in some 3-6 month onesies and 6 month pants!  

Eating: Still nursing and formula but mainly formula.  Right now I think we're in a pretty big growth spurt so she's typically eating around 6 ounces every 4 hours, but lately it's been 6 ounces, and then 2 hours later she'll fuss until we give her another 2oz, sometimes 4!  This morning, between 7:30am and noon she ate 14 ounces...which is 8 more than she usually does.  I know it sounds crazy, but it's like she can't get full.  I also think it has something to do with the fact that she's - drum roll!!! - sleeping through the night!

Sleeping: So, this is definitely going great, knock on wood.  Most nights she'll take her last bottle around 8 or 9 and will sleep until about 4 or 5, and some night she'll sleep til 6.  After her first bottle in the morning she'll usually sleep for another hour or two, and then some afternoons she'll nap and others she won't.  It's honestly hard to say right now because we've moved recently, had the holidays and family up, AND she's in a growth spurt so it feels like everything is out of whack.

Milestones:  Oh my word...so many!  Sleeping through the night, for one.  She's starting to really interact with us - she will be intently staring at us or will start smiling at us without being prompted.  She's starting to form consonants when babbling/yelling.  She will bring her hands - or a blanket but not yet toys - to her mouth and will hold them together.  She will hold a toy for a few seconds at a time.  She's sitting in a Bumbo chair!  She had her first time in the Baby Bjorn when we went to watch a Christmas parade downtown over Thanksgiving - don't worry, she was bundled up to within an inch of her life!  She also met one of her uncles for the first time two weeks ago.  She took her 2nd trip to Minneapolis and did SO well, but I also credit myself with learning from the mistakes I made on the first trip!

Overall, there are no words to describe what a good baby she is.  She's so laid back and just so dang sweet.  She will let anyone hold her, will smile at anyone and is generally always in a good mood.  She cries only when she's tired or hungry and is quick to be consoled.  We see a bit of a temper on her cause if she doesn't get what she wants right away, you will hear about it!  I also thank God that she does so well with me working during the day - the sweet girl spends a fair amount of her day in the swing, or in the Bumbo chair or on the floor, playing.  While I know it's actually probably good for her to not constantly be held, I do still feel bad at times that I can't devote more time to sitting and playing with her.  However, it brings tears to my eyes when I think about how grateful I am that I'm home with her.  She doesn't have any huge milestones yet, like walking or talking or eating, but I truly find so much joy in seeing her do the little things, like suck on her blanket or watch a toy or play with her hands.  

Words will never describe how much we love her or what an unbelievable blessing she is to us.

A few pictures...

Taking these photos was a bit more of a challenge this time!  The chair she's in is a rocker and now that she has the crazy head bob she was constantly rocking herself forward and tipping over to the side

Great pic of Brad, huh? ;)  I thought this was the sweetest picture of them, she is SUCH a snuggler.  Pardon Brad's dirty sweatshirt...it's a stain, not dirt :)  That's what comes with having a construction working husband!  (And in case anyone is concerned, I only leave them sleeping like this if I'm around and am able to check on them!  I worry too much not to, ha!)

Trying out the aden+anais sleep sack.  I like it, but it's no Woombie!  The couple of times she's worn this to bed she's woken up in the middle of the night.  I'm not ready to get rid of the swaddle!

This girl...love.her.  

I love how she holds onto the Bumbo chair when she sits in  it :)  Believe me, those little thighs get stuck in there!  

Tuesday Randoms

My brain is all over the place this morning so I'm just doing the good 'ol bullet point list... 

• Hadley had a round of shots yesterday - her pneumococcal and Hib vaccines - and it was absolutely heartbreaking for me.  I cried like a baby afterwards, and that's pretty funny since I didn't even cry when she was born.  She did really well, only cried for a minute and was smiling soon after.  However, last night she ran a 102 degree fever so I broke out the baby Tylenol.  That is the probably the worst feeling in the world, seeing your baby not feel good.  After the Tylenol she was fine, though, and I snapped this little pic of her while we were "talking" in bed...seriously, how could you not love this little girl??  Can't get enough of that belly and those thighs!
  
  
  
  
• This weekend was our hunting opener so all of us girls in the family got together and spent Saturday doing some shopping on Main Street.  Exciting, I know :)  But it really was exciting because there's a new little consignment shop in our town and I found some of the cutest clothes for Hadley for really great prices.  Cause let me tell ya, you go through one good shopping spree where you buy brand new baby clothes for your infant and they wear them twice before they grow out of them, you start realizing that it truly is throwing money away to buy new.  Yes, there's the whole "I can use them for the next baby" argument but who knows if we would have another girl and then I'd have all these baby girl clothes that cost a fortune and Hadley wore once or twice.  And I'm working at getting over my "I don't want my baby in secondhand clothes" poor attitude.  Spending $15 on clothes that were in perfect condition that would've cost $75+ at full price helps a lot.  Here's a perfect example of spending full price on a pair of pants...see those little jeans?  She's worn those maybe three times.  They're about to come to her knees and they don't hardly button over her fat little belly anymore. [side note, I love seeing my young cousins/brothers-in-law holding Hadley.  They're totally comfortable to just come and pick her up, which I think is so sweet]

• I'm definitely excited for Thanksgiving (read: Thanksgiving food) but I'm most excited to have a couple days off work.  I feel so dang stressed out right now with life that I'm looking forward to waking up and sitting on the couch, rather than sitting down to my desk first thing, and just looking out the window and not doing anything.  I've got family coming in tomorrow evening so who knows how much of that I'll do, but I'm just excited to have some time not sitting at this desk.  

• I am loving the show Nashville.  Love it.  Also watching Hart of Dixie, and have recently started watching Made in Chelsea, which is a reality show about some rich young people living in London. Totally different world but very interesting.  Definitely has a scripted feel to it - like the young businessman Francis getting a massage in his office while his gorgeous foreign intern goes over their notes?  Little too contrived.  But whatever, it's entertainment.

Gotta get to work!  Just think, today is our Thursday!  

Gettin' Our Pictures Made

I could be totally off base on this...but for some reason I feel like "getting your picture made" was a Southern expression that I would hear my mom or grandma say.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but we got our pictures made, FINALLY.  Here's a sad story for you...

These were our very first family photos.  Like, the very first photos.  Yes, Hadley is over a month old in them.  I literally shake my head every time I think of this.  

Basically what happened is that, in the operating room we weren't allowed to bring cameras in - which is a real joke cause we didn't even have our cell phones charged or a hospital bag or anything when I went into surgery - so when Hadley was born, there wasn't a picture of the three of us in the OR.  So then we were wheeled to our room and since she was born at 4:20am and I had been in labor the night before, I was beyond dead tired.  So I slept and then people started coming and I don't know...we just never got a picture.  Not a cell phone picture or anything.  So terrible and as morbid as it is I would panic if I couldn't get a hold of Brad at times cause the thought would cross my mind, "What if something happened to him and we would never have a family picture?!?"  

So anyway, we got my sister-in-law to get a few pictures of us on a nice fall day.  Nothing special...except that they're our VERY FIRST PHOTOS TOGETHER!

Photo Dump & Other News...

Long time no talk, eh?  Needless to say, life has been extraordinarily busy lately and I'm still trying to catch up!  In fact, I feel like I'm still trying to catch up from having a baby, no less starting back to work full time and moving...

Just thought I'd throw up a few photos!  

Giving Hadley her first bath in our new kitchen!  Still can't get over the rolls on this girl!  

She really is the happiest little baby.  It always kills me cause when we wake her up in the morning, she is always, 100% of the time in a good mood and will start smiling at us right away.  I asked her this morning, "How did we get such a happy girl?" Brad responded, "Definitely not from her Mom or Dad."  And that is so true!  Before Hadley he and I wouldn't hardly speak to each other in the morning!  We're definitely not happy, smiling morning people.

Signs of the times...this is our neighbor's back yard.  Wisconsin rifle hunting opener is this weekend.

Lately whenever we put Hadley in her little Rock N Play Sleeper or her Papisan she'll start trying to sit up.  So last night I rigged her up and put blankets behind her so she was sitting up while I was in the shower.  Can't believe how big she's getting.

This little Woombie is my lifesaver.  Ever since we started putting her in it she's slept pretty much thru the night.   How sweet is that, with all the ruffles on it?  

I just love this picture.  So dang sweet.

And finally, the new kitchen!  I am beyond in loooove with it.  I love everything about it...the fridge, our stove, those floors, that big sink.  We're still getting moved in so I'll post more pictures later on...like probably in the Spring, ha!

Happy Friday!

Wednesday Randoms

I don't know about you guys...but I am so happy to know that the weekend is only 2 days away!  It's been a crazy week between work and moving and the baby!  

Anyway, here's my Wednesday randoms for ya...

• Sneak peek of our new kitchen!  Seriously, can I just brag on my husband for a minute?  He has literally done this entire kitchen (not to mention the whole house) all by himself.  He's painted all the cabinets, installed that beautiful sink, did the subway tile backsplash, is installing the flooring at the moment.  He built a pantry for us and a gorgeous storage bench in the breakfast nook.  It honestly makes me shake my head at how capable he is.  But anyway, here's a shot of the sink side!  Everything in the kitchen is done except for the flooring - see that pretty dark brown on the floor?  Love that wood, it's got a rustic "beat up" look to it - and installing the appliances.
  Speaking of appliances, we've purchased all the appliances for the kitchen and I am in looove with them!  I'll do a post on them this week cause I'm so excited for them AND the deal that we got!  

• An update that is probably only exciting or significant to other Moms, Hadley has slept through the night for three nights in a row now!  I'm not sure what happened cause we're not feeding her anymore during the day, but she's been sleeping from about 10pm until 6am.  She did wake up at 4am this morning but I was able to get her back to sleep easily.
  Starting next week we'll be putting her in her crib at night.  Momma is sad cause I now can see how some women never want to do this!  I never understood that but oh my word...I sure do now.  However, now that I purchased my Angelcare Monitor I'm not freaking out quite so badly about her being in her crib all night, all alone.  
• And because I like to show off my gorgeous girl, here's a picture I got of her yesterday.  We are in serious love with her chubbiness. 

• This week has been pretty stressful with the move coming up, plus it just seems that we have a million other things we're trying to get figured out right now. Add in work, trying to get the house ready, taking care of Hadley pretty much by myself for 16 hours a day, I am maxed.  Last night when my peanut was with her Grandma, I drove straight to WalMart and picked up this bottle of wine.  It's become one of my favorites and for $6, you can't beat it!  

West Elm, I love you

I never was a really big fan of West Elm until recently.  I think I always pictured their decor as being more modern and "cold", so I always gravitated more towards Pottery Barn and Ballard Designs.  But in my search for a "drum pendant light" on Google I was led to West Elm and lo and behold...I have a new favorite!

Now, I would say that 50% of their products are not my style - they really are that minimalist, modern decor that doesn't fit in the with the warm, country chic look that I love.  BUT.  I've found a few things that I loooove so I thought I'd share.

First up, the drum pendant that will make its home over our dining room table...

I am in love - LOVE - with this light.  It's huge (25" in diameter) and the shade is covered with a beautiful linen that is hard to see in the picture.  It will look great in our  new house!  

Next up is our bedding that I ordered!  Our current duvet is nice enough but it's tan, and that just doesn't go well with the (amazingly gorgeous) bed that Brad built for us when we got married!  A quick pic of it for reference --

See how the bedding just blends into the wood?  So here's what I ordered...

It was on final clearance and I got it for a steal, considering we needed a King size.  I debated on this because it is a little more modern, and I initially envisioned an off-white duvet with a fisherman knit blanket at the foot of the bed...more of a Pottery Barn look.  However, due to the heaviness of the bed and how it could potentially look cabin-like (which is NOT my favorite decor style at all) I felt like something with a little cleaner lines would balance it out.  Plus, like I said, it was on clearance so if a year down the road I find something better this would store away perfectly to go on a guest bed one day.  (PS - I got our initials on the shams and an 'H' on the duvet)

And on to my Wish List...

This would go perfectly on our couch...match our Ralph Lauren grainsack pillows well!  (Another great TJ Maxx purchase!)

Okay, who am I?  This would so normally not be my style but lately I've been loving the geometric look of the native patterns that are popular in clothing and home decor.  I think the navy+teal+cream just goes perfectly together and is warm enough to not look overly busy.

Bathroom hand towels.  As much as I love a "warm" look I am a sucker for wide stripes.  Not a fan of that large graphic monogram but on these, you can get traditional monogramming.

Again, a native (Aztec?) print pillow

Another Aztec print pillow, love the linen casing

These throws...I die.  Love the mushroom stripe throw, as well as the blue bordered stripe throw!

And finally their Chunk Tassel Throw, which comes in at a reasonable $79, versus PB's  Fisherman Knit Throw that costs $99-$149.