Harvest time.

Look what the Hads and I harvested from our garden this morning:




Mmmmmm. I love fall. And there are LOTS more where these came from!

My little helper:




Not one of her best pictures. The sun was bright okay.

And in other news Hadley is crawling (like a for real boot around the house crawl)!! See:




Yes, we wear our PJ's all day around here. Don't judge.

An ode to summer.

Wow, I have been off the posting wagon for a while now. All I can say is that we tried to enjoy summer around these parts!!

This is what we were up to:

-Swimming - lots of swimming. Anytime it was nice we were in the WATER - pools, lakes, legislature grounds - you name it!

-And swinging - lots of swinging! We have a school park about 2 minutes away from our house and boy oh boy, do we ever frequent it.

-Just hangin' out in the sun (don't worry, baby was out of the sun as much as possible)

-Went to Heritage Days and Taste of Edmonton (our favorite summer activities)

-Frequented the Terwillegar dog park......the Hads and the dogs LOVE the river!!

-Matching pedi's

-Spent many a night/evening out on our outdoor sectional on our new deck......LOVE.

And now that it is over I am already looking forward to next summer.......hmmmm do ya think I should move to a warmer climate or what!? But the cool nights are welcomed! And fall....I love fall. The smells, the sights, the food.

So, so long summer. You were too short and sporadic for my liking. Maybe next year you can bring your A game? Maybe?

7 months.

7 months. I compared these pictures this morning and I cannot believe that my girl is 7 months old. She feels so grown up.

For instance, Dman and I were trying to remember last night when the last time she really cried was. She will whimper when she is tired or grumpy but no full on cries anymore......like the oh my gosh, what does she need cry where it just doesn't stop. That represents age to me....like she's got this life thing figured out.

Recent developments include:
-Talking (indicriminate baby talk) like crazy.
Has added ma-ma (finally!), go, row, whoa, ta-ta, and pa-pa to her vocab
-crawling backwards but not forward yet
-can go from sitting to stomach and laying to sitting
-rides in the shopping cart like a big girl
-eating arrowroot cookies and the like
-16 lbs (25th percentile)
-26.5 inches (50th percentile)
-Don't remember the exact measurement but her head is in the 75th percentile. Ha!
Maybe she is going to be smart....big brain?

And just cause, here is another pic from our little 7 month photo shoot:

5 generations.

A few weeks ago Hadley and I packed up and headed out west with my mom and dad to visit my grandma and great-grandma (Nana).

Nana isn't doing so good so it was really important to my mom to get a 5 generation picture. You see, for 5 generations each woman has had a girl first. Ah-hem: my great grandma had my grandma first, then my grandma had my mom first, then my mom had me first, and I had Hadley who is my first. Pretty neat. I don't think 5 generations of all women happens too often these days what with people having kids later. Only one of Dman's grandparents is still alive let alone great grandparents. And Hadley has a great-great grandma!

So anywho we made our way out there over two days and camped with the rents in their little trailer in the mountains.

Hadley at bathtime in the trailer (pics are a bit blurry I know cause she was moving so darn fast - the girl likes to SPLASH!):











Have I mentioned how much I love this girl's personality!?

Anyway, then it was off to do some serious visiting with Nana and get that 5 generation picture. I won't divulge at this point except to say that Nana was one of the coolest people in the world. You have never met a stronger lady. She gave definition to the word woman. Her husband fought in 2 world wars, she lived through the great depression and had a hard-working life. But you would never meet a person more content with their circumstances. And boy oh boy, did the woman have a good sense of humor. And now she has changed. Old age, a stroke, a broken hip, and dementia have done a number on her. I was SO glad that she and Hadley met.









Meeting Nana for the first time (no we did not stage this):








And just cause, Hadley's fist time eating an arrowroot cookie at a restaurant:



My parents flew the Hads and I back home cause we did NOT want to do that drive again all the way back. She did great on the flight. Hammed it up with everyone on the plane and didn't make a peep.

All in all, a good reminder of what is the most important in life:
family.

3 years.

3 years ago today I married my high school sweetheart.

3 years ago today was the best day of my life (sorry Hads, your birth was the 2nd best......but without marrying Daddy, you would not exist so it makes sense).

3 years ago today I made the best decision ever.





Friday we are going on a big date.......dinner and dancing without Hadley!! Grandma is even putting her to bed which means we get to stay out late! Weehoo!

And apparently Dman has a present and date planned out for each night leading up to Friday....we shall see.

I made the hubs a scrapbook of all of our letters that we wrote to each other when he was on his mission (what's a mission? Find out here). 2 years worth makes for a BIG scrapbook. It took a while.

He made me a big frame for my picture wall in the kitchen. And ordered me a bracelet that has charms which are teeny tiny little pictures of my beautiful girl (don't have it yet though).


This anniversary means a lot to me. Why? Because, as any parent will understand, bringing a life into this world with your spouse is the most beautiful thing. I see my husband in a whole new light now. He shines as a Father. He is brilliant at it. Which only means that my love for him goes much, much deeper than it did 3 years ago.

Happy anniversary hun! I love you. xoxo

My new nephew...Kohen!!

I referred to the fact that my sister-in-law was in labor in my last post and here HE is!! Kohen. We did a photoshoot ASAP after he was born. Go here to see more!

6 months.

This one is hitting me hard. 6 months!!! Where did my 6 week old go??

Half way to a year. Oh my.

Here is the Hads at 6 months:




Recent developments include:

-LOVES to eat!! So funny, I didn't think I would have an eater on my hands because she was HORRIBLE at nursing and didn't eagerly eat with a bottle. But she loves her food!

-Eating rice cereal, wheat cereal, carrots, sweet potatoes, and apple sauce

-While on her stomach pushing herself with her feet in an attempt to crawl

-Solely on formula. I just stopped pumping - like as in today. Yup, I pumped for 6 months as her only/main source of food. *shudder

-Knows her name

-Down to 2 naps a day - morning and afternoon

-Says ya,ya,ya and da,da,da (indiscriminately of course)

Oh Hadley, do but don't stop growing!!
And in other news, Hadley is going to have a new cousin today! Her Auntie is in labor!