Teething.

Wow, this teething thing is not fun for Hadley. The poor kid is on the constant search for something to stick into her mouth to bite on. She is drooling through at least three outfits a day and often times only finds relief when mom and dad rub her gums. Today she couldn't get enough of her toy to stick into her mouth, it was hilarious. (Hence the million pictures I felt the need to take and now post...)

Please, can I get the whole thing in my mouth!!!

Our little goober smiling away, we can't get enough of those smiles. Our days with her pretty much consist of Mike and I trying everything we can to make her smile and laugh since we love to see it so much!!!

Okay, this last picture isn't the most exciting picture there is when you first look at it, but then take a look at what is happening in the picture, Hadley is sitting, ALONE! It is so exciting! She can't do it for 15 minutes straight or anything, but she can do it and we were so excited! It feels like she is doing something new every single day!!!!

Moving up in the world...

Hadley has now graduated to being in her stroller without the carseat attachment. She has decided that she is too much of a big girl to have to be in the car seat part and then snapped into the stroller. She just loves being in her stroller like this, now she can look around and see so much more. It is amazing what a big girl she is getting to be. With each new thing she can do it is both exciting and sad. Exciting because it is awesome to watch her become more of a little person, but sad because with each new accomplishment, some of her "babyness" is lost forever.

A weekend in pictures...

This weekend was fun for all of us. Mike was in his friend Schultzy's wedding on Saturday so we had a night out together while Hadley hung out with Auntie Lulu. The wedding was wonderful, our congrats to the bride and groom. Enjoy the pics!

Pat-a-Cake

One of Hadley's favorite things to do right now is play pat-a-cake. When I got home from work tonight, I got just a little play time in before she had to go to bed. (tuesday's are my late night at work) I was playing pat-a-cake with her and for the first time she laughed hysterically. It was so funny that I was laughing so hard I was crying and could barely get the words out. Mike tried to capture the hilarity of it all, but once Hadley saw the camera she became rather intruiged by it and stopped laughing so hard at me. Either way the pics are pretty cute and I thought I would share them, Enjoy!

Happy Father's Day!

Daddy and daughter in matching types of hats

Daddy teaching Hadley about the animals.
Mommy and Hadley

We had a wonderful time celebrating father's day today. Mike woke up to breakfast in bed. Then we went to church and after we headed to the zoo and had a blast. It was so fun to watch Hadley taking in all the different things to see. Mike really enjoyed his first father's day and we had a great time just being together as a family. Both Mike and I are still blown away every day at how thrilled we are to be parents and how blessed we feel.

4 month shot

We wanted to take a picture of Hadley when she was exactly 4 months old for her baby book. I just think this outfit is so darn cute, had to post it!

4 months old!!!

Hadley is 4 months old today. She had her 4 month check up with the doctor on Tuesday and remains in the 95th percentile for everything. She was 17.4 lbs and 25 1/2 inches long. She got 4 shots again, which we all hated, but outside of that everything was good. The doctor said she is doing great. She started on solids and as you can see in the pictures below is doing well with that also. She rolled over for the first time yesterday and both mommy and daddy were so excited! As you can see from her bath time photos she wants EVERYTHING in her mouth. We bought her some teething beads and she loves them. It is amazing how much she has changed in the last month.

Before Green Beans....

After Green Beans....

Hadley is onto trying vegetables and let me tell you, she much prefers the vegetables to the rice cereal. She is really getting this eating thing down. She tried sweet pea's first and now we are onto green beans. It is really exciting giving her a new food and watching her face when a new taste hits her mouth.

Busy Weekend!

Hadley got to hang out with many of her friends this weekend and even met a bunch of new ones! Saturday we went to her friend Brady's 4th birthday party where she met Brady and Makenna for the first time. We also went to see her friends Gabe and Rowan at their house. It was really fun to see all of them since we don't get together often enough! Saturday night we stayed at Mimi and Papa's and they were really excited to have Hadley there. Sunday we went to a shower and she got to see her boyfriend's Joseph and Monroe at that party. By Sunday night she was wiped out from all the excitement!

Hadley eating cereal for the first time

Here is Hadley enjoying cereal for the first time. I couldn't stop laughing because she was cracking me up! By the end she was getting it down though, she figured out how to work it to the back of her throat and swallow.

I'm up at 2:30am, but not for the reasons I used to be....

So, I had a sort of epiphany this morning at 2:30 am while I was attempting with all my might to rock my daughter back into a slumber that would hopefully last until 6am. The epiphany was this.... How things have changed in my life in the last 10 years and how I couldn't have imagined it any better. You see at 2:30 am, I had already been in bed for almost 5 hours, 10 years ago I would have thought I was a boring person. In college we saw 2:30 am often due to the close of the bars, we had not gone to bed yet and probably wouldn't for awhile. Now, I can't even remember the last time I saw 2:30am for something other than tending to the angel that is my daughter. I wouldn't change those college years for anything, they were some of the most fun I have had, and as a treasured friend told me the other day, "you have always lived your life with the motto "no regrets" and this is true. I have no regrets. Well, maybe only one, I wish I would have studied abroad. But, as far as regrets go, this one I can handle. Perhaps I made some poor choices in those years, but I successfully survived them with little scars and many lessons learned.

Now, less than 10 years later, I have a wonderful husband, a great house and a beautiful daughter. I have many friends and family that mean the world to me, I have a job that on most days fulfills me and makes me feel like I am giving back to the world, and each night I go to bed thanking God for thinking I was deserving of all of this fortune. I will admit, while I am thanking God for this, I am also praying that he thinks I am deserving enough to have my daughter sleep through the night. (:

For the past two nights however, Hadley has decided that she can't make it through the night without a bottle. Maybe she's growing, maybe she's just hungry, who knows. There is always that moment when we first hear her stir that we think, "maybe she'll just go back to sleep" and then we lay there and wait and hope. Usually, not too much longer Mike or I are sleepily entering her room because she isn't going back to sleep. I'll admit, most of the time, when it is my turn, I am not overjoyed and thrilled to be awake in the middle of the night, but then I see her. I look over the side of her crib and our eyes meet. When she recognizes that I am there she gets the biggest smile on her face and I can't help but laugh. This has been the case the last two nights. At first I am just wishing that we were having one of the nights that she sleeps from 8pm to 6am and then, as I sit in the rocking chair that my parents used to rock me long ago, I secretly cherish the moment. I love that her body conforms to mine and she snuggles against my chest. I even wonder for a moment, maybe she just woke up because she wanted to have this moment with me. Although that is probably not the case, I still wonder it.

So, as I am on my second cup of coffee for the morning because I am just a little extra tired today due to my middle of the night rendezvous with my daughter I am still thanking God. Thank you God for the life that you have given me, I couldn't have imagined it any better.

Not too newsy!

Not too much new to report this weekend. We just spent some time hanging out. Here are some pics of Hadley playing. Her favorite toy at the moment is the pink bumblebee. She loves to put that in her mouth!