Christmas parade

Hadley experienced her first christmas parade last saturday. It was really cold (as you can see from how bundled she was!) so we only lasted about an hour, but she enjoyed it. She especially liked the sesame street characters that were walking in the parade.

9 months

Here are a couple of Hadley's 9 month pictures. Wow, was this a different experience than the ones we have had in the past with her. She did not appreciate not being able to move around the whole time and touch all the props. She had no interest in sitting still and the more we tried to make her sit still, the more mad she got at us. Hence, only two pictures that I really liked!!! Anyway, she had her 9 month check up today and again got a great report. She is checking in at the 95th percentile for weight and 99th for height. She is meeting all her milestones and the doctor said she looks great! She has 8 teeth, is walking with assitance, eating all table food, and "talking" up a storm!

Turkey Day

We took lots of family pictures with the different families that were in attendance.

Our attempt at getting a christmas card photo for mimi and papa's christmas cards!


Hadley enjoyed her first Thanksgiving yesterday. We had lots of family here at our house and it was really a good time.

Giving Thanks

I am sitting in my favorite recliner in my living room, enjoying a nice glass of red wine, my baby is sleeping and my husband is preparing for our Thanksgiving feast tomorrow. Life couldn't be any better. This time of year always causes me to reflect on all that I have to be thankful for. Sometimes it is easy in day to day life to take those things for granted and to focus on life's more annoying aspects like how much gas, diapers and formula costs, that rude person that cut me off on the drive to work, etc. However, it is nights like this, on the eve of Thanksgiving, that cause me to take a step back and realize all that I have in my life, and boy do I have a lot. I have a wonderful job that I adore most days. I get to work with kids that don't necessarily have a lot to be thankful for, but try their hardest, in their own ways, to be good kids. I have an amazing daughter that, as I have said plenty in the past, makes me thank God on a daily basis for her. I have a husband who treats me as I should be treated, works hard, is a phenomenal father, and has the ability to make my daughter laugh and smile the minute he walks in the room. I have a house that makes me feel like I am at home in it. I have an amazing extended family that supports me, Mike and Hadley on a daily basis. I have friends that I marvel at because they are amazing people that make me feel exceptionally proud to call them my friends. I belong to a church that accepts me and my family for who we are and makes us feel like we are at home there. I don't think that there is much more I could ask for. I have it all.

I will try to remember this when money is tight, the day at work feels like it will never end, that person cuts me off on my drive, or someone treats me unfairly. I am a lucky, lucky person.

I will remember how lucky I am especially when I am at work and see some of my "regulars". My regulars are those kids that are sent out of their classrooms on a daily basis, sometimes several times a day. Their behaviors often times leave much to be desired. I will remember that although I have seen them in my office for the seventh time that week (and it is only tuesday) that they are going home to a home that doesn't have furniture, there aren't many hugs and they may not be eating dinner. I will remember that they don't have what I have, they are left with much want. I will think of each and every one of them tomorrow as I enjoy my house full of family with way too much food. I will silently pray that they are all enjoying a warm meal with people that make them feel loved. I will also know that many of them are not and it will break my heart. I will remember that on Monday when we get back to school and I already have one of them in my office by 8:30am. I will tell them that although their behavior isn't acceptable, that I care about them very much. I will tell them this with the hope that I very much believe in, everyone needs someone to care about them. I will pray that maybe, just maybe, I will affect one of them for the better, my sincere caring will help them choose the right path and become a successful person. I may even hand out a few hugs....

So, take this opportunity to be thankful for all that you have and remember that there are plenty of those that do not have enough this Thanksgiving. We are extremely thankful for all of you. We love you with our whole hearts and are grateful to have you in our lives.

Our Little Badger-Weekend Part Two

Hadley with Mark Polzer

Hadley and Jen

Hadley and Jenna Polzer

Hadley and Mike Polzer

Our little fish-weekend part one

So, we realized this weekend that we have a fish! We went to Minnesota this weekend for the annual badger/gopher weekend with the Polzer family. It was much fun! Hadley did great and we were thrilled to see everyone. Hadley has many new admirers in the Polzer family, they all thought she was great. It is always so nice to have others think she is as great as we think she is! Here are some pics of Hadley's favorite activity this weekend, the pool at the hotel. She LOVED it! She couldn't get enough of splashing in the water!

Here's a couple pics from our pre-church photo shoot this morning that mom and Hadley had while we waited for dad to finish getting ready!

Walking with the toy!

Walking toy

Hadley has a new toy and she is in love with it! It gives her the ability to walk and boy does she ever! We were doing laps tonight back and forth and back and forth from the living room to the kitchen. It is crazy to see her walking! She isn't able to do it without the toy or someone's hands, but we don't think it will be that long before she is running around all on her own! I will try to post a short video of her walking with it tonight or tomorrow. You'll have to excuse the blurry pics, when she gets going, she goes so quickly that I was having a hard time getting pictures!

Pretty in pink

Here's a couple pics from Hadley tonight. She just looked so cute, I had to take some pics!

Melanie and daylight saving time

Hadley and Melanie giggling together.


Hadley checking out Melanie's dad, Joel's, face.


Jill's friend, Melanie, from high school was in town this weekend so we headed over to the Fonderosa for some home cookin and catching up. It was wonderful to see everyone and they all enjoyed laughing with Hadley!

On another note, I clearly remember the days of the past when daylight savings time would come around in the fall and I would be so excited because it meant another hour of sleep. I tried my hardest to explain this to Hadley yesterday and tell her how excited she should be that she can sleep an extra hour. I didn't try hard enough apparently... At 4am this morning Hadley was up and ready to go. I arrived to her crib to find her laughing and ready to play. I again tried to explain to her that it wasn't time to get up and didn't she remember, she was supposed to sleep that extra hour. She thought that was hilarious and just kept on laughing. So, there we were, playing our hearts out from 4 until 5:20 am when she decided she would take a little rest until about 6:30. There could be another explanation however, the poor kiddo has an ear infection. We noticed all day yesterday that she was tugging on her left ear and sure enough, after waiting an hour and ten minutes to see the doctor at the walk in clinic this morning, ear infection it is. Hopefully she will be feeling much better after the amoxicillin starts to do its thing. We spent the day today just taking care of her and cuddling with her. Unfortunately that meant that mom missed her friend Becky's baby shower, sorry Becky, thanks for being understanding! Now, it is 8pm, I must be off to bed. (:

Strawberry Shortcake

So I picked Hadley up from my mom's tonight to find her dressed like strawberry shortcake. The outfit was so darn cute I couldn't resist snapping some shots. Good thing I took them when I did, these pics were approximately three minutes before she dumped the cats entire water bowl all over herself. I tell you, she's quick!!!