More from christmas

Here are some photos from Christmas day. 

Max in his cute pjs

Hadley enjoying her gifts, too

Cute cousins (that's Cordelia if you don't know who she is- she is  James' brother's step daughter)

TOO CUTE

Merry Christmas

Things have been CRAZY the last few days. We got delayed in leaving for our new house but we are finally here! We pulled into town last Wednesday around 10 am and had family coming into town that night. We had movers here two days later and more family come in also. The house has been a mess but my family scrambled to put it to a presentable state for James' family to see. I could not be more appreciative for all the help with the house and baby girl Hadley. We will continue to have family in town until the new year so blogging will be minimal. The boys have done many house projects already and work has started with Hadley's nursery (on top of putting away our regular house hold items). It's been an adjustment for to this new small town, too. There is hardly ANY shopping/eateries like we're used to. I guess that will save us money :). I will leave you with some pictures from what we've been up to. I hope you and your families had a great Christmas. 

Making cookies

Santa came
max and hadley really racked up

no words

On Friday, the most horrific crime was committed against innocent children and faculty at a Connecticut elementary school. This hits hard to home for anyone who has kids, or anyone who is a decent human being. I know first hand what it's like work and be in an elementary school as I am/was a 2nd grade  (and other grades) teacher for 6 years. I am taking time off to raise my precious baby girl Hadley but once a teacher, always a teacher. We did many lock down drills over the course of the year. I would always go the extra mile and talk to them about what if they were stuck in the hallway (like if they went to the bathroom) or if we were on the playground. It was all business when we were in the actual drill but you always knew that it wasn't real and the likelihood of it being real didn't seem possible. We would all line up against the cabinets and wall by the door. It was always a tight squeeze but they did such a great job. Our principal would come around and check to be sure our doors were locked and that they couldn't see us if they peaked in the door window. I also remember when we had a couple classes out on a playground during one drill and they weren't sure what to do. Later after finding out, they were supposed to all lay as flat as they could on the ground.

Over the years security has been tightened due to many reasons. We had two entrances that were open at all times only and had to wear our ID badges. We required guests to always have a visitor's pass and sign in at the office. The school in CT had more security than this and it still occurred. My view on this is if somebody wants to do something, I don't think anything could have kept him out. Those teachers and staff acted with great heroism just like I know my fellow teachers would have. It's a sad tragedy and I just hope that we can live in a better place.

That being said, I think I'll keep Hadley in a bubble in my home forever. I will leave you with a picture of her because I love her so much.

Hadley's newborn photos

I am just giving you a little look at a couple of her photos. I'm saving most of them for her announcements so I don't want to spoil it just yet. Once those go out I'll update the blog with more. These were taken when she was 8 days old and much much more sleepy than she is now. 

She's just so beautiful!

Hadley's bedding has arrived!

Here's a sneak peek of Hadley's crib bedding! We are moving this week and will get the crib put up in the next couple weeks. So until then, here's a look at what it is! I forgot what I even ordered, but I love it.

Hadley 3 week/ month update

Hadley had a 3 week check up because she was SLIGHTLY under weight at her 2 week appointment (refer back to that blog post about it). She was 6 pounds 13 ounces at that appointment (her birth weight was 6 pounds 15 ounces).  I am HAPPY to report at her 3 week check up, she was at 7 pounds 8 ounces!! That's 10 ounces! in a week, you go Hadley (and me). I really didn't do anything different so I think their scale was off that 2 week day. She is incredibly LONG. I don't know where she gets it. I believe at the 3 week, she was in the 67 percentile for height. She is tiny in weight and especially considering her unusual length. I can't remember the percentages for the 3 week because I thought they were going to write it down (oops).

She is in size newborn diapers and newborn clothing fits the best but are about to be on the way out. They're getting snug. She does wear 0-3 months but they are a bit baggy. She started out for the first 2ish weeks being a REALLY sleepy baby. I mean slept non-stop and we were having to wake her at night for every feeding.... Fast forward to week 2.5-3+ weeks and we have a different story. She is a happy baby during the day. She usually naps for 2 hours and then is ready to eat. She'll stay awake maybe 15 minutes then she'll get upset but goes down for a nap super easy. She loves being swaddled, she loves our bathroom apartment fan (it's excessively loud), and is no problem.  She mostly sleeps in her bassinet and the occasional mamaroo swing.

Now, the nighttime. I think someone comes in and switches my baby around 10 pm. We are trying to do a feeding around 6 and then 9 pm with a bath around 8:30 but she's been very fussy in that time that the times are fluctuating and the bath isn't a regular, YET. She wants nothing to do with going down for bed either. She may settle down, but the second you set her in her bed or even her swing, she screams. That cycle continues for a LONG time. We tried letting her cry for about 3 minutes before we go in to paci it up or pick her up. All of these soothing techniques work during the day but at night, forget it. She wants nothing to do with the paci and she'll calm down a TINY bit if you hold her. I would hold her all night long if she was quiet, but really that doesn't work half the time either. It seems I can't even go 1.5-2 hours without breaking down to feed her. It's the only thing that calms her down. Then after that good feed session, we repeat with the screaming/crying.

Then magically around 2am, someone returns my baby. She takes the paci again and she settles down. I have no idea what happens or why but I really hope this is a fussy stage/growth spurt possibly and that it will resolve itself quickly! We are moving to our new house at the end of this week and I bet our apartment neighbors are THRILLED. I would be, They probably think we are harming our baby based on the noise that comes from the apartment from 10-2am.

She's starting to smile a bit (during the day of course) and I'm loving it. She's so cute that you forget about her fussy period but it is rough on the sleep department. I mean really, how do these young teen moms take care of babies on their own? I am really thankful James can calm Hadley and is so helpful because it can get overwhelming. One other interesting fact, SHE PEES ON US every time you change her. She pees like a fountain. Just when you think oh she just went she won't go again, SHE DOES. On the changing table, with or without a diaper on, in the bath, in the towel after the bath. What can I say, she likes fresh air :). Hadley's bedding arrived Friday and I could not be more thrilled with how it turned out. I will post a sneak peek next blog post. Also, her newborn photos came in! Lots of exciting blog posts coming up.

look how long she is

She was cooing and happy here

Nursery ideas

As we're getting ready to move (really soon!) I've been looking more at nursery ideas. I put together a little collage of photos. The dresser is a mirrored one. I am thinking about adding in some grey as shown below. What do you think? The room is still a yellow on the walls with a white chair rail at the bottom. I think I'd like white curtains with a pink chevron border on the bottom (I need to be a sewer). I'm thinking about mixing a lot of different patterns because that's "in" right now. Hadley's bedding is coming in the mail very soon! I can't wait to start buying accessories once I have the actual pink color in my hands. What do you think? Don't forget it'll be yellow walls.

New house!

Well I have been meaning to post about this but the arrival of Hadley has occupied my time and also we were waiting on the long list of inspections etc. We are actually closing TODAY! (via fedex since we can't be there in person). We aren't moving until a week or 2 though. We may get the house cleaned/painted before we move in though. It's in a nice neighborhood with trees! I know you think, why is trees a big thing. Well coming from Abilene and a fairly newer neighborhood we had NO trees. This is an aging neighborhood and our house was built in the early 80s. Which is also different for us. We chose a house that had a good mix of move in ready and fixer upperness. We really don't have to do anything but we definitely are going to. We are buying it from another military couple that has 2 kids and love the house. It's been an interesting process buying from the owners instead of realtors. I think we got lucky because they are so nice/accommodating, but could also be the military camaraderie.

The house is 2000 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths. It has a formal dining room (which is pictured as the office- which we will probably do as well). It also has a screened in patio which was a must have for me! (and Bella our cat). There's also a very nice yard for Maddie and Hadley. We can't wait to move in soon! The previous owners did a LOT of painting and adding of crown molding. Most of the paint is staying but they did a great job updating the house.

Our house! We are going to paint the green shutters a different color (any suggestions?) and the garage doors because they are green as well. It has a nice front porch for our rocking chairs, too

Living room with fireplace. There are built ins on both sides of the TV and the door goes out to the screened in patio

Kitchen! The majority of where our renovations will happen. We need new appliances and we'd like to knock down the upper cabinets on the right to open up the kitchen (those are some immediate needs). We'd also like to reface the cabinets to make them a cream antiqued look perhaps and change out the sink for a farm type sink. The counter tops are not granite but it may be too much of an upgrade for the area so that may or may not be updated.

Eat in area of the kitchen. It has a great bay window (with a window seat!) and I love the yellow wall color. I want a circle table that seats at least 6 (any suggestions of where to get one?)

formal dining room/office
I love the wall color and the molding and wood floors

Guest room
although it's decorated girly, this will be the guest room. it has great closets though

Hadley's nursery! I want it for her room because of the nice molding it has already! It's also right across from our bedroom so easy access. We'll be painting this room yellow to go with her nursery theme (stay tuned for the next blog post of an update on her room).

Master bedroom
the walls are a DARK navy blue and unfortunately that will not be staying. We will be painting this room a grey color
It should fit our king bed set nicely (and have I mentioned I can't wait to get my bed back). We love the nice bay windows and Hadley's bassinet will fit nicely in that nook area (while we transition her to her crib). The master bathroom is past the dresser to the left. It has a nice sized closet but the master shower/tub area itself does need some "mastering" up. So we plan to do some updating there, too. It does have tiles but just doesn't feel glamorous.

back yard

Screened in patio

So what do you all think?! We can't wait to get back into a house and not have to worry about being loud or having loud neighbors (not to mention the taking the dog out part). Feel free to leave a comment about what color you think the outside shutters/garage door should be.