Double digits, and some terribly precious pumpkin pictures.

Hadley's ten months old, and is still just as perfectly precious as you could possibly imagine.  And I'm saying that after a terrible day of teething.  If the baby doesn't wake up with teeth her daddy's likely to retire from daddy day care.  She broke his poor heart all day with her inconsolable crying and moaning.  Teething is the WORST.  And this poor baby has been at it forever with nothing to show for it but insanely swollen gums.  Nonetheless, she remains the happiest easy baby 90% of the time.  And Hardin insisted on a "blocks" picture for turning 4.  Not one to be outdone by sister, and we love him for it.  Block on with your pink chair buddy.

We met some friends at a local pumpkin patch last weekend to snap a few pictures.  I took some pretty decent shots of their family, and some lousy but perfect shots of these two clowns.  All of us are just loving watching their little relationship develop.  They are equally obsessed with each other, in different ways, and equally annoyed with one another as well.  Hardin's always trying to fill her in on the ways of the world.  He's constantly giving her "real" advice.  Hadley, look at that bouncy house, don't get in there when the big kids are there it's just no fun.  Hadley, if you smile for just a second she'll leave you alone.  True story.  She just follows him all the time, and flips out if she can't find him.

Oh!  One more thing.  Hardin went to his first football game.  Jason had big plans of taking him to his first UGA game this season and then we backed out last minute.  When we talked about what it would be like he simply asked, but don't they know that I don't like loud?  I like quiet. That was enough to let us know he was not ready.  This is all very ironic because he is the loudest human alive.  He talks loud, laughs loud, walks loud, you name it.  But still not a fan of crowds and loud situations, we sat this season out of college ball.

One of our sweet neighbors is a cheerleader at Mill Creek, and invited us to senior night to watch her walk the field with her parents.  I thought it was the perfect situation because we could leave before the game if he hated it, and a bunch of his neighborhood buddies would be there.  It was awesome!  He loved running around with all of them (the big boys would not slow down enough to be caught on film), getting popcorn and hot chocolate, watching the players bust through the big banner, the band, the cheering, the game.  All of it.  He could not get enough.  He also expects that a super cute cheerleader will always come talk to him, we wish him the best of luck with that!

My baby's almost four.

This precious boy fell fast asleep knowing in three more sleeps, he'll wake up four. FOUR!?!?! I can hardly even begin to comprehend it.

These pictures are from his first day of preschool last month, and capture just a tiny bit of Hardin's incredibly fun personality.  He's just amazing, and we can't even begin to say how grateful we are to be his parents.

Seven, Eight, NINE!

Oh my goodness, TIME IS FLYING BY.  Happy little Hadley is NINE months old today.  How did that happen?  

The last three months have been a spectacular world wind, and we have thoroughly enjoyed it all. This sweet girls keeps us on our toes as much as she keeps a smile on our face.  Jason calls her the anti-depressant, and he is SO very right.  She melts us all day every day with that smile of hers, and if you can even imagine her hugs are sweeter and deliver more joy.  This past weekend a few of my good friends who haven't' seen her in a while held her, and every person who picked her up commented on her snugglyness.  I know I have harped on her hugs forever, but she really does HUG and bury her head in your chest.  It is the most amazing feeling ever.  And if she's not hugging you she's smiling at you, for the most part.  

Over the last three months Hadley has also gained full mobility.  She crawls at lightning speed, pulls up on everything, and has even started to climb a bit.  I thought there was no way I'd get a second climber, but then I thought it's really better me than anyone else.  All of our furniture is already firmly bolted or strapped to the walls, and there ain't nuthin' she can climb that Hardin hasn't, so my heart is better seasoned for it.  

Side note Hardin story:  I forget sometimes that others are not used to this climby way of life, and it takes me a minute to realize what people are staring at with fright in my house.  Aunt Jackie was over here the other day and seamed very distracted, finally she turned to me and said "aren't you worried AT ALL that Hardin is going to fall?"  I chuckled a little, not because I don't worry, but because she said this about him climbing up and down off of the kitchen island.  That is by far one of his safest endeavors and doesn't even phase us.   At this point Jason and I would probably be annoyed if he asked us to reach for something for him.  We do try and keep everything as safe as possible, but climbers will climb, and we know that now.  

With Hadley's new found mobility she is just now wanting to be put down for a large portion of her day.  Up until now she has wanted, insisted really, that  she be held all of her waking hours.  When I say she was held for the majority of her first 8 months I am not even exaggerating a tiny bit.  Sister loved to be held no matter what you were doing.  She also likes to have at least one eye on Hardin at all times.  If he gets out of her sight, she lets you know. 

Aside from being sweet and adventurous, we think this one is also going to be a little more of an limit pusher.  When we set boundaries for Hardin he normally looks at that boundary line as a hard fast limit that he doesn't dare come near.  Hadley looks at it as a starting point for negotiations.  I'm sure it sounds a little presumptuous to say that about a 9 month old, but we know our girl.  We also fully expected with Jason as their father we wouldn't have two little rule followers, and I mean that in the best way.  As much as Hardin is a mini-me, she is a mini-Jason.  They are full of life to say the very least!  

Hadley spends most of her days smiling at anything and everything, but when she pouts, she does it well.  This little face below is when I wouldn't let her play in the bathroom trash.  Heartbreaking, I know.  I despise sad kid pictures but I had to snap these.  She plays me like a fiddle.  

She's still an excellent sleeper when she's not stuffy, and is also quite a good little eater now.  She'll put anything we put in front of her in her mouth, as long as we keep it coming.  Hadley doesn't have any teeth yet, but she doesn't let that slow her down.  She's losing interest even more in her bottle and formula, and we are all just fine with that.  

Her favorite things at this age are crawling around, swinging outside, "singing," bath time, meal time, peek a boo, chase, any loud toys, and anything to do with Hardin.  

We all lover he so much it hurts!  She's every thing you could ask for in a daughter and second child, and we thank God every day He picked us to raise her.  

Maybe my favorite pictures ever. And that's saying a lot.

I think of all the many reasons, the thing I love the most about taking pictures of my kids is that I know they were making their expressions at me.  At ME.  I know the story behind every smile I manage to muster up, and all the anticipation behind every if you don't put that dang thing down and let me go play on that huge train playground face I manage to capture.

These need no explanation,  other than it was hot in Ft. Myers in July.  And we were at Lakes Park sitting on a picnic table in front of a HUGE train themed playground after our train ride.

To say they are my favorites in a very long time would be an understatement.  Hardin's freckled, kissy, sweaty face.  His over the mom-tog Jason expression.  And my sweet girl, still young enough to be crazy happy over my silly smile.

I have dozens of pictures of our trip to post, but these I just can't get enough of.

SIX months!

The sweetest little girl in the world was 6 months on the 17th.  She's something else this one, and we're all equally smitten with her.

She still gives the sweetest sugar, she digs her head in and huuuuuugs so tight.  She also likes to gnaw on your chin and shoulders.  She's literally the happiest baby in the world as long as someone is holding her.  She does NOT like to be put down for longer than a minute or two.  I absolutely LOVE that she loves to be so close, but I've also had to hire a baby sitter to come hold her for 2 hours so I can get stuff done around the house.  Small price to pay to keep our girl smiling.

She's still sleeping great but sometimes wakes once to eat.  She rarely finishes a 6 oz bottle except at night, and does not want anything to do with baby purees, smashed up real veggies or cereal.  We think she's just genuinely hungry, so hopefully once she's eating a bit more she'll give that up.

Hadley's well check  went great, she charmed everyone and showed off her new sitting skills.  She's 19.3 lbs, 27.25 inches, and 18 inches.  90%, 95%, and 80% respectively.  She may not be a big eater, but she's a healthy girl.

I look at these two babies all the time and can't begin to explain how perfect they are for our little family.  They complement each other and us so well.  The good and the frustrating provide us the greatest joy, and and gentle reminders to show grace and guidance.  This phase is very demanding, but we wouldn't trade one second of it for anything in the world.

Our boy.

I was wrestling around with Hardin in his floor before bed the other night, laughing hysterically, when it hit me that I am LONG overdue for a good update post on my boy.  He is something else.

He has very few touches of baby left in him, and most of those revolve around being tired, or genuinely frustrated by a situation and not having the adequate skills to deal with those feelings just quite yet.  Other than that, we all tend to forget he's still just 3.  He's wise beyond his years and loves being a big kid.  

He's TOUGH.  And BRAVE.  And wide open 90% of the time.  He has touches of shyness in completely new situations, or when there are no kids around.  He's not a big fan of all adult situations.  He also still gets overwhelmed in crowds.  He gets that honest from both sides, so mostly we just avoid large crowds for all of our sanity.

Along with the tough comes quite a bit of rough.  He is not at all aware of his substantial strength.  I am constantly in awe of his physical strength and how disciplined he is with himself when he wants to be.  He's still not the biggest kid his age by a long shot, but he has no idea.  He just finished a 3 month gymnastics class and he was so fun to watch.  Our boy took it as seriously as the NFL combine.  A little too serious at times.  The 45 minute class consists of three 15 minute sequenced activities.  When one of the other 7 kids stepped out of line even slightly, he was quick to remind them of the rules and what they should be doing.  We knew this had nothing to do with rule following, but more with him being concerned that if they took too much time goofing off he wouldn't get to do that activity as many times as possible.  The class really helped him focus on balance and luckily gave him some safe ways to fall and flip around.    

Back to the rough though, he loves to wrestle and pretend fight.  He's not very good at pretending though, so we've all had way too many bruises than we should.  At first I was a little worried about how much he LOVES to fight.  Complete with fake guns, anything he can find to be a sword, and fake dying.  I tried my hardest to get him to soften his playing, then I read an incredibly interesting article on the importance of boys be boys.  Guns and fighting and all.  And you know the thing about internet articles?  You can find one to say just about anything you want.  But this one made sense to me and since there wasn't really a thing we could do about our natural little fighter, we are embracing it and trying to put realistic boundaries on his pretend play.  It works about half of the time.  

On to the sweet.  OH MY GOODNESS THIS BOY IS SWEET.  I never thought I would say this, because 3-3.5 had it's moments, but I wish I could freeze time at 3.5.  I'm loving this age.  Some of my very favorite things right now are:

• How his eyes light up when he sees me when I get home and he says "MAMAAAAAAAA."
• His voice.  I wish I could bottle it up and keep it for ever and ever and ever.  (To ever according to Hardin)
• The way he sleepily stumbles in my room every morning, his little walk, scratchy voice, and morning snuggles.  He follows that most days with a sleepy "mama, what am I doing today?"  He likes to have an itinerary.
• How he says "rune" for room.  Mama, I'll be waiting for you in my rune when you put Hadley to bed.
• How "to" is still his universal preposition.  This one is to me, this one is to Hadley.  
• How he strips his clothes off the second he hears water running.  No matter who gets in the shower, he's getting in.  Hadley gets a bath?  He's getting in.  The sprinklers or hose turn on?  He's naked.  
• His scrawny little arms and huge hugs.  The legs wrap around also.  Now he rubs my back too.
• How when he's hugging on me he tells me how much he loves the most random things from my teeth to my story reading.  
• What breaks my heart is when he tells me how much he misses me when I'm at work.  Good thing is I know this is a direct result of me swinging him around telling him how much I miss him when I'm at work, because I know he's actually in hog heaven around here when I work.  He escorts me out some mornings.  He can't get to the surprises in Gigi's purse fast enough.  
• His bedhead hair.
• How he eats.  If you think his mouth is cute talking, it's even cuter chewing.  
• How he wants me to hold the outsides of his hands when he uses the restroom.  He'll settle for mom or Jason when I'm not here, but if I'm here, I'm sitting with him the entire time.  
• How he LOVES to help in the kitchen and with laundry.  He's very good at following directions when it's something he's interest in.  
• Stories, questions and songs.  Long ago I wrote about how if you add something to his bedtime routine it's a permanent fixture if Hardin noticed.  That's how we ended up with books, followed by stories, questions and songs.  I have to read book stories, then make up my own stories.  Then I ask questions.  Mostly what his favorite part of the day was, least favorite, what he ate, what he learned at school, etc.  Mostly I only ask a couple and he ends up talking for a good 5 minutes telling me ALL about his day and asking questions to me about what things meant.  He's incredibly intuitive about people's behavior, and ask me why people do the things they do.  I love laying in his dark room (on the same side of the bed, he freaks out a little if not), and watching his little face and the expressions he makes telling me all about his day.  Then we sing songs and say prayers.  Then he begs to do it all over again or at least just talk to me a little more mama.  Needless to say I can't resist that.  It takes a good 30-45 minutes.  Most days I love every second.  On the days I catch myself laying there thinking about everything I have to do before I can put myself to bed, I feel cheated.  
• I love how it doesn't matter if I spend ten minutes in his room or an hour, as soon as I leave his room and tell him I love him and to STAY IN BED, the next thing we hear is a little ninja walking down the hall.  He then request Jason to tell him TWO DADDY STORIES PLEASEEEEE.  And he gets them of course.  Then he's normally down for the count until 7:30.  
• How he loves to be outside.  Alllllllllllllllll day.  Every day.  Doing anything.  When I cleaned up Monday night (so mom wouldn't really see how sloppily we lived during a 3 day weekend), I noticed his iPad was still dead from the week before.  His playroom was also in the exact same shape.  He literally had been outside with one of us from Friday afternoon to Monday night.  
• How he calls Hadley "My Baby."  Meaning his.  Not ours.
• His obsession combined with misconception of all numbers.  I know it's totally normal at this age, but it keeps us smiling.  He loves numbers, especially measurements, but doesn't grasp them yet.  Time.  Weight.  Distance.  All of it.  And all of it's wrong.  Mama, I weigh one thousand ounces.  We'll leave at 20 o'clock.  I did that last week ago.  
• How he idolizes our neighborhood kids and thinks they are just the coolest kids ever. 
• His love of all things superheros and sports.  
• How much he loves his cousins.  He talks about them every single day.  Without fail.  
• How he tells me how I have a big belly.  Wait.  I hate that.  Honest little sh*t guy.  I do appreciate how literal and candid this age is.  

I'm sure there are a  thousand other things I love, but those are what I noticed the last few days.  I'd be remiss if I didn't notice a few of our not so favorite parts of this age.  Three and a half can be tough.  He's no longer taking a daily nap, and on the no nap days he's a bit of a mess by bed time.  If he does take a nap, he's up until 9 or 10pm.  Too late in our opinion.  He's also become much pickier about his food.  I miss the baby I could smash up anything and put in front of him.  His language also needs some work.  We're working on a few simi-bad words he's picked up on.  Fortunately nothing too bad.  Yet.  But the ones he knows are his absolute favorite things to say.

The one thing all of us are incredibly tired of is "HUH?"  My brother keeps joking that my dad is laughing down on us.  He hated that word, especially when it was following a statement he knew good and well we heard.  I feel his pain now.  HUH? has become second nature for "I heard what you said but I'm going to stall in order to avoid you."  Every time he says it we all say "you heard me" as politely as possible, so we're hoping to break that habit soon.  Not soon enough.

There are surly a thousand things I'm forgetting, but over all he's just the coolest little kid.  He's funny and sweet, stubborn and smart.  We couldn't love him one single drop more than we do.  

These are about 6 months worth of my favorite iPhone pictures.  He's a mess!