Hardin's glasses, Hadley's attitude.

Hardin's sweet little eye started to turn in slightly not too long ago.  It happened when he was focusing for a while on one thing or tired.  We took him to the ophthalmologist, he is slightly far sighted, and each eye is a little different focus strength.  The doc thinks because of that he was developing a stronger eye and a not so strong eye.  His fancy new spectacles are to help weigh each eye equally, and strengthen the weaker one.  His doctor thinks it may not even be enough to bug him permanently because he passed the actual vision test just fine.  For now he'll wear glasses and over the next few years we'll evaluate the progress and pray this works and no surgical actions are necessary.  

See how nicely I told that story?  I wish I could say it went that smoothly, but in all honesty there was a LOT of worry on my part when it started happening and even MORE worry when I got a note from his teacher that she noticed it too.  That was followed by a few melt downs from Hardin when we even mentioned his eyes, and a week long wait too see the doctor where I internet-diagnosed him with way more than I should have.  Stay off the internet if you have no clue what you are talking about.  Trust me on this.

But, at the end of the day all is well and Hardin LOVES HIS GLASSES.  That is a zillion prayers answered for sure.  He is an extremely active kid and I was worried they would get in his way and he would hate them.  The doc told him he didn't have to wear them if he was playing rough or outside, and I quickly shook my head no no behind Hardin.  He just ruled out the entire summer.  Luckily, what we were hoping for occurred, and they help him see better so he wants to wear them.  He looks for them first thing in the morning and wears them all day every day by choice.

Not that I was worried he'd look anything less than adorable, but my goodness, he really wears them well.  He's always had an old soul and these fit his little personality too a tee.  Studious and sporty with his little Nike specs.  That just about sums him up.

Speaking of summing our kids up, these pictures of Hadley do just that.  Belly laughs when she's running wild, and M.A.D. when I am trying to sit her down.  I'm telling you what, sister may not be able to talk, but she can communicate better than any child I have ever been around.  She can tell you EXACTLY what she wants.  And EXACTLY what she does not want.  This comes as little to no shock for any of us.  For years we've talked about how abnormally compliant Hardin is, we knew the Big Man was just warming us up.  Fortunately the second time around the fits are not so fitty, and the belly laughs go even farther.  We love her spunky little self.

We also love that she is leaving Hardin's glasses alone.  She tries to pull mine off at least ten times a day, but the one person she listens to is Hardin telling her "NO HADLEY, these help my eyes, NO TOUCHY."  She backs off and goes on her merry little way.  For now this is literally going as well as we could have ever possibly hoped.

This is his "I'm a little shy" face.  LOVE HIM.  

CURLS!!!!!!!!!! Natural curls!

She makes this face if you so much as take away the cheerio she threw down but then wants to eat.  Don't be fooled.

Forever and ever and ever frozen in my mind.

Tootsie is so lucky to have Hardin as her brother.  I have a very high bar of comparison, so does Jason, and we're both quite certain Hardin is going to live up to it and then some.  He's sure lucky to have her lovable little self too.  If not for all the love, for all the distraction so he can do what he wants under the radar.  Kidding.  Kind of.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I've sat down to go through our Christmas pictures at least a dozen times, but each time I started to cry.  The only thing fuller than our schedules this holiday season were our hearts.  From the Christmas program at Hardin's school and an unexpectedly pleasant Santa visit, to the Christmas lights drives and tons of cousin time.  The kids were as happy and we loved watching them.  Writing this a month after the fact it's easy to forget all of the craziness in between those moments, but honestly the wonderful outweighed the stressful ten fold.

By far my favorite thing about this Christmas is that you could have stripped away all the presents, Santas, elfs and production, and Hardin would have hardly noticed.  He cherishes time with Cawley & Lillian more than any other thing in this world.  I can not wait for Hadley to be able to play even more than now, because all that boy wants is someone nice to play with.  He and Lillian are two peas in a pod, Hadley loves following them around, and Cawley does his best to entertain them while taking brakes here and there.

This year Hardin was all about Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles, Hadley was baby dolls and noise makers.  They also received a huge box of books that Hardin claims are baby books by association and Hadley has torn half the pages out of. Santa tried.

I used to have this crazy idea that one day I'd print this blog for the kids.  Therefor, I tried to keep only nice quality pictures in here.  No mother of two has time for that, and some of the technically bad photographs are by far the most memorable.  So below are my favorites in all of their good and bad glory.  Most are from my phone.

I hug both kids all the time and say I sure do love you.   Hardin says the absolute sweetest I suuuuuure do love you too mama back.  Hadley either hugs or hits me.  My God is it true, I sure do love these kids, all of them, and all of the family behind them too.

During the Christmas season Hadley had a 1st birthday party and decided she was a walker on Christmas Day.  My brother and Mimi were here for good long visits, and we spent as much time with all the family that we could.  Jason got an outdoor heater.  We enjoyed New Years Eve at dinner with friends followed by our 14th new year toast and kiss at home.  We played down at the lake and dined on collards and black eyed peas New Years Day.

It was the best Christmas and New Years yet, and we are all excited to see what 2015 will bring.