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.  

Happy 2 Months, Hadley!

Weight/Height/Head:  At 8 weeks old she weighed 12lbs 8oz (80th percentile) and was 22.75 inches long (forget this percentile, I think 65th or so?)  Her head was 38cm, I believe.  

Hair:  Still dark brown in the back and on top it's finally starting to grow in light brown/blonde.  Definitely has some curl to it right now.  

Eyes: Still a darker blue but lightening up all the time

Diapers: Size 1

Clothes: We're starting to retire the Newborn size.  She will occasionally wear Newborn but it's usually a fight to get her arms in it and I hate the struggle, so she's wearing it less and less.  She's in a pair of Newborn pants right now and they're definitely too small, ha!  She's mainly wearing 0-3 months.

Eating: We're still nursing and doing formula.  She doesn't nurse for too long, maybe 15 minutes total and that's both sides.  She's consistently eating about 4oz of formula every 3 hours, sometimes a little more and sometimes a little less.  It's hard for me to get a completely accurate idea of how much she's eating since I nurse her prior to giving her a bottle. 

Sleeping: She's doing alright.  She currently wakes up around 2-3am and then again at 5-6am.  We're currently trying to wean her off her 2-3am feeding and it's not going well :)  My strategy has been to try to get a full 4.5oz bottle in her around 11pm in the hopes that it will help her sleep, but so far that hasn't done it.  Her doctor said that at this point she's probably waking up out of habit rather than hunger - cause let's face it, the girl is a little chunker - so we could let her cry it out for about 10 minutes.  We've tried that and it didn't work too well, but that's hard to do when she's sleeping in our room.  We're also planning to move her to her crib when we move in 2 weeks.  Pray for momma, I'm not ready to put my baby in another room all night!  

Milestones:  We've had a lot more this month!  She's starting to smile when we interact with her, her eyes can follow you or a toy if you move it slowly in front of her.  She's holding her neck up by herself now and can pull her head up (mostly) if you pull her up from a laying position.  She can hold her neck up at a 45 degree angle if she's laying on her tummy.  

Here's a few recent pictures from the iPhone...

Dozing on my pillow.  How cute are those little slippers??

Love her little side eye and furrowed brow

She's too sweet.

My very most favorite picture of her!

After a bottle, she was passed out.  Love how there's no shame in a double chin for babies :)

This is when I know she's really tired - she'll fall asleep while being burped.   Too cute.

And for a comparison...crazy, those were the same size onesies and Baby Legs!

The last day...and other stuff

Today is my last day of maternity leave.  It hurts my heart to think about it.  I know that I am SO blessed to have a job where I can work from home and keep Hadley with me, but it will still change things so much.  I can't express how much I've loved the last 8 weeks - being able to focus on my baby and my home, having flexibility to go on walks and see Brad in the afternoons, having lazy mornings on the couch with the baby girl.  But.  I know it's not going to be forever - though it will still be a while - before I can stay home with her, so I'm trying to focus on that fact, and also on the fact that I've got a great job with a great boss who understands that being a work-from-home momma comes with some unique situations and doesn't expect me to be nailed to my desk from 8-5 every day.

So here's my random thoughts for the day....

• I'm trying to get Hadley on a schedule during the day and I just have to say that I have no clue what I'm doing.  No clue how much she should be sleeping, how much she should be awake.  I've kind of been just following her lead - when she seems sleepy I put her down, and if she's bright eyed then I let her stay up.  I started reading Secrets of the Baby Whisperer so I'm hoping that will help me a bit with figuring her out.  
• I got Hadley's announcements this week!  They're probably a little late, but hello, I just had a baby.  I purchased them thru Etsy and was able to print them myself at WalMart, and I was super impressed at the quality.  As soon as I get them all mailed out I will post them.
• Brad got our big sink put in yesterday at the new house!  We're hoping to put in a black kitchen faucet but have you ever tried to find a reasonably priced black kitchen faucet?  Yeah, they don't really exist.  Anyway...here's a little pic...

• And finally, a couple pics of my girl - 

This was during one of our "morning snuggles" - still in bed :)  Also, please note the lack of hair on her head...kills me!  There's actually little hairs that come to the front and I can see hair follicles but just no hair to speak of :)  Also, we still can't figure out who she looks like.  

This was from our newborn photo shoot with a great local photographer, Barb Ray.  Her website is www.thrubarbslens.com.  So sweet...almost went with this one for the announcement but chose a different one at the last minute ;)  

Happy Friday!