11 Months

Hadley, Hardin and Jason spent much of the last few weeks trading a cold.  Or colds.  Although she was snotty and sick on the first day of her 11th month, she is still just as sweet and cute as can be.

It is safe to say she prefers mama when she's not 100%.  Between bootcamp and hauling her around on her "perch" on my left hip 24/7, I had to get an emergency massage b/c I couldn't turn left.

We all grow more in love with her silly little self by the second, and are gearing up to celebrate her first birthday very soon!

Mimi and her grands! And a fun failed 4th.

I gave my good-sport-of-a-mother-in-law fair warning.  A picture of Mimi and ALL of her grands was long over due.  We needed one with baby Hadley while we could still justifiably call her that.  The email to her and Cat read something to the effect of fair warning, dress your kids cute and wear lipstick to Hardin's birthday party.

The plan was to have his party at the Buford Corn Maze.  They have hay rides, a bouncy house, petting zoo, play ground, pony rides, corn pit, corn maze, live music... you name it.  Super fun, and Hardin was looking forward to his party for a month.  They didn't have any times I liked available his actual birthday weekend, so I decided to wait until the next weekend.  Added bonus, Mimi would be in town!  I had visions of beautiful fall pictures with the grands.  I let HP pick the guest list, and was thrilled when he chose his cousins, Liddie, Lucas, Olivia, Emma and Dana.  There were more, but those are the ones he could remember. That meant I could invite all of my life long and neighborhood friends instead of his school friends.   Selfish?  Yes.  Much more fun for all?  YES.  

The ENTIRE MONTH before was perfect.  The DAY before was perfect.  But November 1, 2014, will go down in history as one of the coldest and windiest days in Georgia history for that date.  I tried to justify it, I really did.  I just knew as soon as I brought everyone to my house instead of the Maze the kids would still run around outside freezing, but I finally called it because at least they could come in and warm up.  When we moved the party to our house, that meant the little kids and more husbands could come too.  I put up all the decorations I bought for the tent, and we had a grand ole time!  Hardin has not once asked about the Corn Maze.  I was so proud of him and his little spirit.  I always tell my mom not to buy him things (as she is tempted daily seeing him so much), but he really is not that into "stuff."  He is all about his cousins and friends.  They had the best time running around destroying my house  playing.  He is still asking when they are all coming back.  We got our deposit back from the Corn Maze under the promise we'd re-book for next year.  He's got something to look forward out of it as well.  

The day following the party, Jason and his brother headed out on another great adventure.  Surfing in Peru lead by a guide named Octopus.  No kidding.  Mimi stayed the week to help Cat and the kids, and my mom was basically a 24 hour a day nanny between my work and 5:30 am boot camp schedule.  The boys had a blast but I think the grand trio took the cake.  I drove Hardin to Grant Park Thursday night to spend the night, and they all took a trip to the zoo Friday.  Hadley and I headed down to join them Friday night, and we stayed through Sunday except for a trip to Austin's 9th birthday party Saturday afternoon.  Three days at Cawley's house is the equivalent to a 2 week stent at Disney for my boy.  He had a BLAST.  I have many pictures to post on my next iPhone clean up.  

After taking Jason home Sunday morning the kids and I headed out to my aunt's 60th birthday party in Hampton.  That's nowhere near Buford if you're wondering.  I thought of a zillion reasons not to go, but knew it was so important to my mom who slaved away for us all week to show off her grand babies.  I am so glad we went.  My aunt and uncle have 6 kids, and theirs was my all time favorite to visit for that reason.  I distinctly remember the fits I threw when we had to leave.  If you can imagine how many grand kids those six children produced you'd know why Hardin mirrored my feelings towards them.  He played and played and played and played.  It was so awesome to watch.  I loved visiting with all of my cousins, aunts and uncles too!  

It has been a CRAZY BUSY couple of weeks.  So much more that I'm too exhausted to even talk about.  But we wouldn't do it if we didn't love it, and love it we do!

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.