9 Months and Halloween

I feel like twice a week I say "I'm going to update the blog" and instead I check email, fold laundry or clean the bathroom. All of those things are probably more important, though this is much more fun. Since it's been a few weeks I have a lot to catch up on. First, on the 22nd, we celebrated 9 months with our little Peanut! Hard to believe she is already nine months old!

At nine months, Hadley:

• has finally mastered forward movement and is crawling everywhere and trying to pull up 
• eats anything and everything - her favorites being macaroni, chicken and green veggies 
• still doesn't have any teeth! 
• is in the 18th percentile for height, 45th for weight (almost 19 lbs now) and her big ol noggin is in the 99th percentile 
• still sleeps through the night 
• loves school and playing with her cousins 

Here is a cute pic I snapped of her at the doctor for her nine month appt - she looks like a little doll!

After celebrating nine months, we looked forward to her first Halloween. I couldn't decide what I wanted her to be, so we went with three costumes! I know she will probably spend many years wanting to be a princess, so we steered clear of the dresses and tiaras this year!

For the parade at school, she went as Batgirl:

For the Spooktacular event at Cerner, she went as a pirate and I have to say she was a hit! All day people were stopping to compliment her outfit and asked to take her picture! I think this was my favorite costume...

For Halloween, we went with the cousins down to the Village where the shops open their doors to trick or treaters. It is a nice alternative to all the trick or treaters visiting your house, especially when the baby goes to sleep at 7:30! For her third costume, Hadley was a chef (also a big hit!) Mickie loved this costume with the chef's hat and all night she kept saying "Oh my goodness, what a cute cook head!" Haha

Now we are almost through the first week of November and we are starting to prepare for the holidays. This is an overwhelming task thanks to our plans to travel as well as have visitors in town, but we are excited for the baby's first Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hopefully I'll be better about updating the blog between now and then!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my favorite guy! It has been almost six years since our first date, five years since we were engaged and three years since we married. In four states and between multiple jobs we have built a life together and have grown our family from a naughty puppy to include a perfect baby. Jason is an amazing husband and father and I thank God every day for him and our little family. So here's to many more years of love, laughter, babies, wine, food, and many adventures. I love you Jason!

More Fall Fun

October continues to fly by as we have fun with our little Pumpkin. We enjoyed our visit with Robyn at the beginning of the month and Jason's dad came to stay for more than a week. It's so nice to have people come to visit and I know Hadley loves it. We had our family photo shoot earlier in the month and I love some of the shots.

We've had beautiful weather for the past few weeks - it feels much more like summer than fall. We've taken advantage of the weather and we've enjoyed some fun with the cousins at the petting zoo and the pumpkin patch. 

We have some more fun planned for the rest of October, including celebrating our third wedding anniversary and Hadley's first Halloween. In November we have some more visitors coming and we can't wait for all the fun! 

Fall Happenings

October already! And it's finally beginning to feel like fall. We have had a fun few weeks and we have more adventures ahead.

My best friend and Hadley's godmother, Robyn, came to visit over the weekend and we had such a good time. We were able to get in some quality girl time and I love watching her and Hadley together. She was so sweet and bought Hadley a ton of clothes for the fall/winter. Now I just need her to grow a little bit so she can fit into them! I was horrible and didn't get any pics of the two of them together, but here are a few cute ones of the day Robyn got into town. Clearly, Hadley was excited!

Jason went out of town this past Sunday and he was scheduled to spend the week in Boston. Unfortunately he came down with the stomach flu and was told he could not be in the hospital so he came home early on Wednesday night. I felt bad that he had been sick, but selfishly it was nice to have him back early!

My father-in-law is planning to come into town tonight for a week and we have been looking forward to his visit. He and the family live in Charleston, SC and with Hurricane Matthew we aren't sure whether he will be able to make it out of town. As of now he is on the last flight out before the airport is due to close so we are keeping our fingers crossed that Grandpa makes it! He and Jason are excited to spend some time together and I know he is looking forward to some baby snuggles.

As I knew would be the case the minute we found out we were having a girl, Hadley has WAY too many clothes. She has multiple outfits she only wore once as a baby and even some that still have the tag on them. I tried to stop buying clothes and now we are in a predicament because the clothes we have for the fall are 9-12 months sizes and she is just now filling out 6 month clothes. One day Target was running a deal on their new kids clothing line - Cat & Jack - and I was able to get a few outfits for really cheap. This dress and leggings were too cute! The dress is pretty roomy, but the "one size fits all" leggings do not work with the roly poly legs attached to Hadley. I have boxed up the leg warmers but we're keeping the dress in the closet for now!

Yesterday was picture day at Cerner Kids and I was so excited for Hadley to take her first "school" picture. She is usually so happy and it's easy to get lots of pictures of her smiling. Well, apparently that was not the case yesterday. Robyn bought her the cutest outfit to wear and she was in a good mood when I dropped her off so I was hopeful we would get some frame worthy shots for Christmas gifts. Apparently she was very overwhelmed by the lights and noise and her sweet self didn't like the photographer tickling her with feathers. Her teachers told me she cried and it's unlikely they got a good picture. We left her outfit at school overnight and they are going to try again this morning so we'll keep our fingers crossed. I hope we end up with a few good pictures, but at least it will be a good story if not!

8 Months!

How has another month gone by?! This month seemed to go faster than others and I think it's because Jason has started traveling again. He was out of town for two weeks and those weeks were very busy for me and Hadley and I think the time just flew by. Luckily, she has seemed to adjust very well to him being out of town and she was her same easy going, happy self when it was just the two of us.

And today we mark 8 months! What a fun time it has been. At 8 months, Hadley:

• is on the move though she only moves backwards, in circles and scoots on her bottom. She can't quite figure out forward movement and she is always getting stuck under the furniture 
• loves to eat and we have yet to find a food she doesn't like 
• likes sitting in the kitchen with Jason while he cooks 
• likes being outside and taking baths 
• continues to sleep through the night and usually takes two naps a day 
• still doesn't have any teeth, but I am loving that gummy smile! 
• continues to be very laid back and happy 

We are looking forward to a few visitors in the next few weeks and I am so excited to see what the next month brings!

Movin on Up!

It's time for Hadley to move up to a new classroom at Cerner Kids. She will be moving from a Tiny Turtle to a Little Lamb! I can't believe it's already time for her to be in the older infant classroom. I was hoping she'd stay a turtle forever!

Today, we had our first parent teacher conference. The teachers created a portfolio for Hadley that is full of pictures and milestones that she has achieved. It's so neat to see her growth through the lives of someone else. Her current teachers - Angie and Bailey - are so sad to see her go and Angie keeps saying "you don't have to move her, we'll keep her forever!" The new teachers - Sam and Meaghan - are also excited to get Hadley and I'm looking forward to the structure that the Little Lambs room provides. I know Hadley will do great and I hope her sweet nature helps her to adjust quickly and continue making great progress.

This week has been interesting at the Whittaker house. Jason is traveling for the first time since Hadley was born so it's been a lot of quality time with my favorite girl. I was nervous before he left, but the week has gone very smoothly and we have both done very well. Very little tears from either of us, so I consider it a success! I've used this week as a time to start putting Hadley down at night when she's still awake and having her soothe herself to sleep. It may be because of the changes at school, but she is very tired and has been going to sleep easily and without fussing. We will see if that lasts!

Gracen isn't quite sure what to do with Hadley now that she is mobile. Most of the time, Gracen tries to play with her until she realizes that Hadley isn't interested. Hadley is on the move and starting to get into everything. She only scoots backwards and in circles so it's pretty funny to watch her. She keeps getting stuck under every piece of furniture and she thinks it's hilarious every single time!

7 Months!

And just like that, another month has flown by and Hadley is now 7 months old! It is so crazy that she has been here for 7 months. Most days I can't remember my life without her in it, but I also feel like I just had her yesterday!

At seven months, Hadley:
 - continues to be happy and easy going almost all of the time (seriously - we sometimes go days without hearing her cry!)
 - scoots around, but only backwards and in circles. It's funny to watch but she is starting to get frustrated so hopefully she'll figure out forward movement soon
 - LOVES to eat and we still haven't found a food she doesn't like (including really gross combinations such as "Spinach,Kiwi,Banana")
- drools a lot, but so far has no teeth
- babbles a lot and laughs easily
- takes two naps a day and sleeps through the night, anywhere from 10-12 hours
- loves being outside and bouncing in her "Bumper Jumper" that hangs in the doorway
- loves her cousins and laughs at everything Mickie does
- is a bit of a Mommy's girl, but likes to be in the kitchen with Jason watching him cook

We haven't found much she doesn't like, but I'm sure she can't stay this easy going forever so I'm just waiting to learn what will make her sassy in the future!

Over the weekend, Tina and Justin celebrated their anniversary and we enjoyed a slumber party with the cousins. It was such a fun night, but I can't lie - it was exhausting. It was a big difference to go from one baby to three! But the girls were great and had fun playing with each other. On Sunday morning, they took a bubble bath and we got them dressed to snap a few family pictures. When I was pregnant my mother in law bought the cutest little overall dresses and my nieces are about to grow out of theirs so this was the perfect time for them to play dress up! It was hard to get all three girls to look and smile at the same time, but we ended up with some cute shots! 

I am so happy that Hadley will grow up with her cousins. It is such a neat relationship and I pray they will continue to be as close the older they become. We may need a boy at some point to mix things up, but the poor thing would be so outnumbered maybe we should just stick with little ladies!