love from momma

Liebster Blog Award

2012-01-26T14:04:00.000-06:00

No matter the situation or reason, we all LOVE being rewarded and appreciated! It is especially nice in the blog world because you never really know who reads... unless they comment, of course! I know I get alot of traffic on my blog, but not everyone comments. So to be rewarded for sometimes feeling like I talk to myself is pretty awesome! Ha!

I was nominated for the Liebster Blog Award by Rachae and Janelle from How To Fall in Love. Thank you girls so much! You two are hilarious!

If you haven't heard, the Liebster Blog Award is to recognize newer blogs, with less than 200 followers. This gives us all the opportunity to talk about the blogs we love while helping our own blogs grow too.

The rules for the award are: 1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog. 2. Link back to the blogger who awarded/nominated you. 3. Copy and paste the blog award to your blog. 4. Reveal your top 5 blog picks! 5. Drop by your top 5 picks and let them know you chose them by commenting on their blog! Here are my top 5 picks:

The Averitt Fam - Jill has a sweet, sweet little girl that reminds me so much of H as she gets older! I also love to hear Jill's Christian parenting ways! I always feel peace after reading her blog!
Wolf's on Safari - Great momma blog about her babies! I love momma blogs and seeing what other kids are up to!
Our Happily Ever After - Another great momma blog! Jessica has two of the cutest babies, and I always want to ask for Ms A's clothes! Adorable!
Journey with the Jenks - I have read this blog for a long time! Another great momma blog! Can you tell I love them?! :)
The Schuler Family - I have followed Erin's blog about the longest of any blog. She is also an amazing photographer so I love to see her pictures!

And because this is my momma blog and I cannot get enough of this little girl, a quick video to show you our evenings.... poor baby bear!!

wilw / wssw

2012-01-25T15:54:00.001-06:00

What I'm Loving Wednesday...

This sweet, sweet boy! My bed partner... or one of them! I just love him to pieces! {he needs a hair cut asap!}

I'm loving that daddy took Had to Little Gym last night while I went to a meeting. He said she was perfect! They even went out to a sit down dinner (which wasn't fast food) all by themselves! Daddy was BRAVE!

I'm loving my AWESOME husband! Remember how I was complaining about laundry yesterday?! Well... I didn't get home from my meeting until close to 9PM so daddy and H did FOUR loads of laundry! And two were put away! AND... daddy had given H a bath and they were eating a snack waiting on me to get home so I could kiss her face and put her to bed myself! I swear those two are the best thing EVER!

I'm loving H's daycare as they all send me random texts through the day with pictures of my silly girl! Hadlea LOVES Ms Kelsey! They are just so great about keeping me up to date and making me feel apart of Hadlea's day!

What She's Saying Wednesday...

I swear I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried! Ha!

"I wanna go shopping" - music to a shoppin' lovin' momma's ears! Anytime we are about to leave the house, she asks to go shopping. I wasn't sure one morning if she 'KNEW' what shopping was, so I asked her what she wanted to go shopping for. Her response, "I wanna shop for one toy". She knew exactly! Hilarious! Justin and I think it is so funny because she hardly even asks for toys at the store. Ha!
"It's okay baby, I be wight there!" - Her response to her babies lately. Do I tell her to hold on often?! I guess so! Ha!
She is on her way to become a world class singer! Ha! ...or so she thinks! These days she 'sings' anything she hears on the tv or radio. I am not sure of the words most of the time, but her bouncing head and body sure do give it away! :-)

bike ride, a walk and parenting

2012-01-24T13:14:00.049-06:00

Days like yesterday make me want to be a SAHM momma SO bad! Although I choose to work, sometimes I feel so guilty about the choice I make. But in the long run (once H is in school), I know it will be the best decision. It is just so hard to convince myself of that after days like yesterday!

After daddy and H got home and I finished working, we all headed out on a bike ride! It was a nice day! H normally runs straight to the kitchen for a snack when she gets home, but after asking if she wanted to go on a bike ride, she was not about to chance asking for a snack! (although we did fix her one to take with us. we didn't let her starve! ha!)

After our ride, we headed out on a walk with Berkley! H is very into walking B on his leash. I am pretty sure Berkley would rather one of us do it as she is constantly telling him to STOP and GO! Poor guy! He listens so well and does exactly what she says, but by the end, I am pretty sure he doesn't know which way to turn! Thankfully, he is just so happy about being out on a walk!

H IS FLYING!

{yes. that is exactly what she is doing in this picture. not sure how you could be confused?! I mean, doesn't that look like a flying 2 year old?! Where do they come up with this stuff?? As we were walking, she leaned to one side and said, "take my picture of my flying". her exact works! i now have about 30 pictures of this on my phone. she insisted. and we had to stop and look at every single one!}

Once we got home and had dinner, we took baths. She asked for a snack while we read books. Her choice of snack.... a piece of bread?! Who is this kid and where did she come from!?

And while we were reading books, I guess I "bit two of her fangas (pronounced fang-as. aka fingers). Yep, I got set in time out for biting two of Hadlea's fingers. Thankfully after about 5 minutes, I was able to get up! Atleast she let me keep my phone! Ha! {and excuse my hair of a mess... we had been outside, remember! :) }

Her sweet imagination grows more and more everyday! She was SO much fun last night... which makes me want to spend every waking moment with her! Now... the tantrum evenings, I like to hand her over to daddy! Ha! JK!

Hadlea is hell on wheels. She never slows down. She keeps us on our toes. She is not a kid to sit and play with anything for too long. Which totally blows my mind as I thought that's how all first borns were. I WAS WRONG. Oh the things we think we 'KNOW' before having a real human of our own to parent!! But no matter how many times I have stuck my foot in my mouth or how many times I KNOW I will be proven wrong over the next several years, I am so thankful to get the chance to make these memories with her. I can only do what I think is best for her... even if that means doing things I said I would NEVER do! Everything is worth watching a 2 year old fly... even if she has to tell me what she is doing... and proving me wrong because I thought she was just leaning over! Ha! :-)

And to keep it real... I thought I would always be 'that' mom to have it all together, to remember everything (I used to get so mad at my mom when she wouldn't remember something. sorry momma!), to never get frustrated and raise my voice, to never take something out on my husband and to ALWAYS stay on top of my laundry...

I am again WRONG! In a big way this time! There is a laundry basket under there somewhere. And this is less than a weeks work of laundry. And this is only Justin and I's laundry. H has her own basket! Oh there is not a sad enough face to put on the end of this paragraph! Ha!

Parenting is tough. I honestly never knew. I sometimes want to write REALLY long posts on my thoughts on it, but I never do. We all have our own ways. I see some ways that people parent that I want to copy. I see some ways people parent that make me never want to discipline H again because I feel so sorry for those poor kids that get screamed at over and over again.

I know I can only do what works for our family. And works for my larger than life attitude of a 2 year old! Ha! I sometimes feel like I am a great parent. Other times, I think I do an awful job, which makes me feel guilty and then tell my husband that I do not think we are worthy of trying to raise another human. I know this is SO not true. I know deep down in my heart that I am a great mother. I have some awesome examples out there to learn from. I am sure we all go through this. Or I hope! :)

We talk about having baby #2. I still don't think we are ready. I always wanted to have one by the time H turned 3. That would mean I need to get prego SOON. It is NOT happening! Which again... makes me feel SO guilty! Everyone around us is having babies. Many of my friends that have babies around H's age or even younger already have #2 or are pregnant. It is a constant battle in my mind as to what we should do. I can definitely tell you when I think too much about it, I feel guilty. Guilty because I do not want to deprive Hadlea of a close brother or sister. Guilty that I am NOT ready. I would have to say this is my number one thing to pray about right now. I am just so divided. And I think mostly because I feel guilty over my own decision.

I am really not sure how we went from bike riding, to walking a dog to the guiltiness I sometimes feel over my parenting abilities. But I did...

Not sure how many are still reading... Ha! This was completely random. But thanks for listening! :-)

weekend

2012-01-23T14:50:00.000-06:00

This past weekend my cousin from Kansas and her family came down to spend the weekend. This trip has been in the making for 3 years now! Our husbands have been planning a wild hog hunt and every year something came up that we couldn't get together! This past October we set a date and we are all DETERMINED to make it work this year! ....and I am SO glad we did!

I took a total of FOUR pictures all weekend! All we did was play in our pj's and made a Chili's run for lunch! Other than that, we just caught up and played with the kiddos!

Hadlea and her Anna Gwace (Anna Grace)

Anna, Harvey and Zac gave their complete and undivided attention to Hadlea. She was in heaven! She loved every minute of having them here!

Michele,

I can honestly not think you all enough for making the drive! It meant so much to have our families together! We cannot wait to see you all again VERY soon!

After they all left, we heard "Where Anna Gwace go?", "Where Harvey and Zac go?" no less than 100 times. We then decided to take a drive and find dinner... hoping that would make H stop asking where everyone went! Obviously she wasn't feeling special enough! Ha!

She is just so funny and happy these days! So very thankful today for my sweet little family along with relationships that seem to just pick up where they left off! I may not get to talk to Michele daily or weekly, but our relationship is always there... such an amazing feeling!

joining the church choir

2012-01-22T21:25:00.000-06:00

In my 30 years of existing, I have NEVER joined a fan club. Even back in those days of NKOTB and N'Sync.... even though I probably had 100+ of their posters in my room at some point, I never joined their fan clubs! But this year, I joined my very first fan club.... which is ever so cleverly called The Church Choir! I literally think my husband thought I was going crazy when I told him! Ha! But, they were offering meet and greets at the concert we were going to, and I was SO getting my chance at meeting Eric Church!

Eric's music has been around for quite some time, but it wasn't until I went to my first concert where he was opening that I fell in love! He is an amazing performer! He is so engaging and personable. I knew once he became his own headliner that the concerts would be more of a production... and I was SO right!

Everything he did had meaning... it was a great show!

And I guess having great friends to experience it with was pretty great too! :)

Me w/ Alissa / Taran / Stephanie / G and Justin

If you have never listened to Eric's music, I would definitely recommend going HERE and checking some out! I promise, you will NOT be disappointed no matter what you listen to!

My all time favorite song "Springsteen", you can find HERE!

TLG, Celebrating & EC

2012-01-19T14:54:00.000-06:00

Tuesday night we had Little Gym! H is a MONSTER at the gym! She doesn't want to pay attention or follow in line... she just wants to run as fast as possible and hit every single station! Thankfully for their class, the teachers tell the parents it is fine for them to run free and do what they want. Once they move up, it will become more structured. However, H is usually 1 of maybe 2 or 3 others that don't follow in line. She is just one WILD and BUSY child!

But really... this DOES NOT get old to watch! That girl is STRONG!

walking the balance beam and taking a rest on the balance beam! :-)

Wednesday, I took off early to take H to the doctor. She just hasn't been herself, and I was convinced her allergies were out of control! The dr thinks she has a sinus infection. It is possible, but I am not sold on it. I am trying some different allergy medicine.... guess we will see!

Once we got home, Riley, Hannah and Aunt Leslie came over! The birthday boy wanted CFA for dinner! Who am I to tell him NO?! Ha! Love me some CFA!

After CFA, it was yogurt time at Cherry Berry!

Once we got home, we updated their new iPhones and then listened to some music. Hannah, Had and I danced around! LOVE those two girls!

Hannah wanted a lemon to eat, so guess who wanted one too?! We got lots of laughs out of their faces!

Today, Nana is coming to stay and daddy and I and 4 friends are headed to Fort Smith AR to see Eric Church! If you have never listened to his music, you are missing out! If you have never seen him in concert, you are missing out!

This will be our 3rd time to see him in less than 2 years, and we will see him again next month! He never really gets old! I just LOVE, LOVE him!

More on him tomorrow... after the concert! :-)

Happy Birthday, Riley!

2012-01-18T11:51:00.004-06:00

Today, my very first baby ~~nephew~~ turns 10 years old! It seems like yesterday that we got up bright and early and headed to the hospital for my SIL to be induced. She wasn't even my SIL at the time, and I think Justin and I had only been together about 4 months, but I knew after those 4 months, I wasn't going anywhere. And I guess my SIL did too, as she invited me to be in the room when Riley was born.

This was my first experience with a live birth. I ABOUT DIED... there is just not enough warning for that stuff... and everyone still likes to make jokes about it to this day! Ha!

I remember that day like it was yesterday, and it is a memory that will thankfully never go away! My heart just about exploded when I seen his sweet face for the first time ~~which was right after I counted all of his fingers and toes to make sure they were intact~~!! He has always been my best little friend! He makes me more proud than he will ever know! He gave me the nickname 'Hova' since he couldn't say Heather, and it has always stuck! He just makes me feel so darn special!

I LOVE to give Riley a hard time. He is so much fun and is so good at taking jokes! I always bug him about his little girlfriends. I always threaten to come find them! I tell him I want to be his first date when he turns 16. I tell him to never be embarrassed by the crazy aunt that shows up at his functions. I tell him he can always move in with me if he can convince his momma to let him! Ha! I constantly tell him how much I love him and to never outgrow me! One thing I can never tell him enough is how much he means to me! He was the first piece of my heart to get up and walk on two legs. He may not by MY baby, but words can just not express how much I love him!

To see Riley interact with Hadlea is THE MOST precious thing ever! He loves her and the feelings are VERY mutual. Most 10 year old boys are all about their friends, but he never hesitates to give her attention and talk to her in the sweetest little voice ever! I have no doubt that they will be always be the best of friends!

You can find some of my favorite pictures from over the years HERE on last year's post.

Riley Biley,

I love you so much sweet boy! I am so proud of the young man you have become. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your life. I am so glad you love to come stay with me... even if these days it is to come see Haddie Mae! :-) I cannot wait to watch you grow up. You have so much potential, and I know you will do great things! I still want that first date when you turn 16... that is NOT a joke! And yes, you have to buy! Ha! I hope you have your greatest birthday yet!

Love always,

Aunt Hova

His birthday party was very cute! Skulls. Definitely right up my alley! :-) There were 16 kids. Oh.My.Goodness those kids were adorable! And hilarious! I LOVED seeing him interact with his friends!

It was such a beautiful day so the kids were able to play outside! H was all about that!

Happy Birthday, Riley!

We cannot wait to see you tonight and celebrate on your actual birthday!

weekend and talkative tuesday

2012-01-17T12:28:00.002-06:00

We had a fun filled weekend... what else is new?!

Uncle Alan and Aunt Amanda picked up H from daycare Friday afternoon and took her to Chuck E. Cheese. She LOVED it! ...obviously by that sweet ~~hilarious~~ face!

Once Justin and I got off of work, we picked up dinner and headed to their house to eat. We spent the evening just chatting and playing with H. Uncle Jake was there too so I got in some good brother time!

Saturday morning, we got up and headed to my nephew's 10th birthday part! To get to their house, we have to drive through the town where Justin and I first lived as a married couple. We always drive by our very first home! ...sad to see that it has kind of gone down hill, but I LOVED this house! We always talk about how we wish we could have picked it up, moved it to the country and fixed it up! Such great newlywed memories!

Riley had an awesome 10th birthday party! More on that tomorrow on his actual birthday...

Saturday evening we decided to go to the hockey game with some friends! Hadlea and Trevin thought it was the greatest thing ever!

They ate enough popcorn for 5 people and couldn't stop watching the game! They also danced to the music... definitely entertainment to the people around us!

Sunday morning, we got up and headed to church! I swear... she is like my own personal dress-up doll! Eeeekkkk!

Then it was to lunch and daddy headed out to meet some guys to fish. H and I went home for nap time and then once daddy got home, we had friends over for dinner. Since Uncle Jake was in town he also stopped by! We cooked out steaks and played with H!

Talkative Tuesday

In the past, I did 'What She's Saying Wednesday', but I have another post for tomorrow {since it's some little boy's birthday} so I decided to post a few things Hadlea is saying... so here is your Talkative Tuesday! Ha!

Oh Ma Gawsh - And yes, you need to say it VERY southern! This is what she is saying to her babies. "Oh Ma Gawsh, baby. It's o-tay. Oh Ma Gawsh." hilarious!
When I thought H was down for a nap last week, Justin and I were watching tv and hear "oh yucky. me poop my pants. oh yucky. daddy says dats awesome." We listened and laughed for a good 5 mins! Not sure what daddy teaches her when I'm not around!? :-)
Enough! - Hadlea's answer to everything when she wants you to stop. This is awesome to parent! :-) Example: Justin was chasing Berkley around the house one afternoon. Berkley was barking. She tells Justin, "Daddy. Enough. Don't scare Berkley anymore!".

a day with my baby girl

2012-01-16T21:32:00.003-06:00

MLK Day = a day off for most unless your customer isn't off! :-( However, I only had to work a few hours to do some reporting. Other than that, I had an awesome day! ...an awesome day on LITTLE sleep! Hadlea has been having terrible allergies. Just before bed her eyes started matting and continued to do so all night. I think I finally went to sleep after 4AM, after getting up many times to clean her eyes. She was so good during all of it. I just felt AWFUL for her!

After we got up around 8, I gave her some allergy medicine and waited to see how she was feeling. She was in a great mood so I took her to daycare and headed to my massage, which I had previously planned! Yeah! It was AWESOME and much needed!

After my massage, I picked her up and we headed to the park. This is her new 'cheese' face. Expect to see it ALOT going forward! Ha! Berkley got to go with us too... which she LOVED!

20 minutes at the park = not a good idea with allergy issues... her poor eyes! Obviously not the smartest momma moment. *sigh* Can I blame it on little sleep?! :-)

She was NOT happy we had to leave the park so we played in the driveway in her car! She LOVED giving her baby a ride!

We then came in for popsicles... and because momma wouldn't let baby have a popsicle, she got an apple juice!

I love days like this. Even on little sleep, she was PERFECT... and it was a perfect day for momma!

Pinterest Recipes

2012-01-14T15:31:00.001-06:00

What did we ever cook before Pinterest!? (follow me here) I have made several things over the last couple of months, and I have been meaning to share them as I made them. Obviously that didn't happen! Ha! So here you go... everything I have tried to make! And not one single failure! Score!

Drool-worthy Strawberry Cake - I am not a HUGE fan of strawberry cake, but it is my husband's favorite so I made this for him. I do have to say, it was AMAZING!

http://southernhospitalityblog.com/drool-worthy-strawberry-cake/

Greatest Queso Ever - I didn't think this tasted much different than regular queso. I could eat queso everyday, so leaving the cream cheese out will be better for my waistline! :-)

http://pinterest.com/pin/216102482089202444/

Bacon-Wrapped Li’l Smokies in a Brown Sugar and Maple Glaze - I have made these a few times for different parties. Always a hit!

http://pinterest.com/pin/216102482089190649/

Crockpot Italian Chicken - LOVED this! We had this about a month ago and I cannot wait to make it again!

http://pinterest.com/pin/216102482089178807/

3 Packet Crockpot Roast - I love roast. My husband does not. He will eat it if I make it, but only because there isn't anything else in the house to eat! Ha! However, he did like this. He thought it made the roast alot more moist.

http://pinterest.com/pin/216102482089188928/

Taco Cornbread Casserole - This I LOVED too! Need to make it again soon!
http://pinterest.com/pin/236255025/

Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti - We just had this a couple nights again! We loved it. Hadlea did too!

http://pinterest.com/pin/216102482089323085/

Monkey Bread Muffins - These might be my favorite of the entire post! YUM! My advice, make them the day before you need them, but leave them in the pan. All of the goo goes to the and makes them so moist.

http://pinterest.com/pin/216102482089221653/

Chicken Roll Ups - I actually didn't make this exact post, but I have made something like this for a long time. This is a weekly meal in our house because everyone loves them. We do chicken and sour cream only. I have never added cheese. Then for a sauce, I use Cream of Chicken soup and a half can of milk. Heat in the microwave and poor on top. Soooo good!

http://pinterest.com/pin/216102482089214681/

Chilis Copycat Salsa - This tastes VERY similar. We really liked it.
http://pinterest.com/pin/216102482089192438/

Muffin Omelets - We made these Christmas morning. Gigi made the sausage the night before so all we had to do was poor in the ingredients in the morning. These were fast and perfect!

http://pinterest.com/pin/216102482089190208/

There you go! If you 'pin', leave me your link or let me know if you have posted about the recipes or crafts you have made!

snow and playroom update

2012-01-12T16:21:00.001-06:00

We got our first snow last night. Not sure what it is about snow, but I turn into a little kid and hope and pray that it brings a snow day! Not that it helps me at all since I work out of my house, but I will take any excuse I can give my customers as to why my daughter is home with me ~~and annoying them on conference calls~~! :-)

We just received a small dusting... but enough to make me break out the hot chocolate!

I went to get my hair cut before it started snowing so when I got home someone was WIRED from being home with daddy ~~and eating way too many sugar cookies that they made~~! {and yes, you read that part right! daddy and H made sugar cookies while I was gone. Such a good daddy he is!} She was ALL about taking some pictures... especially of her babies! She would say, "sit wight there baby. Say cheese. Oh good job baby. You so cute!" Talk about melting my heart! <3!

After she went to bed, daddy and I did some work to the playroom.

We added 2 turquoise storage ottomans and bookshelves.

Of course I found the bookshelf idea off of Pinterest! :-) My friend Taran made them. {I still need to add the hot pink fringe to them!}

We took the closet door off and added shelves. {Do not look at the top shelf. More organization to come there! Ha!}

My friend Taran also made me a curtain to go on the back of the kitchen. I wanted to add color because I chose not to get a colored kitchen, which was a decision that took most of last year to make! Ha! I really wanted pink, but was afraid baby #2 might be a boy! I'm loving the way it turned out!

Since I had sent Taran plenty of fabric, she made H an apron too!

So here is hoping that 2012 brings lots of fun times and memories for our family! No doubt we will be eating LOTS of fake food and drinking LOTS of fake drinks! Sounds like a fun party in my book! :-)

our first week of the new year!

2012-01-11T13:19:00.002-06:00

I am completely anal about pictures... I take TONS and normally download them to my computer before I go to bed.... you know... because someone is going to break into my home at night and take my camera but NOT my computer! :-)

I have folders by year and then month. Organization. If only my house looked like my computer folders, I would be in AWESOME shape!

I say all that to tell you how crazy my life is! We HAVE to get back in a routine and FAST! I just found about 50 some pictures one my camera that I wasn't even aware of. Not sure how that happened! But here they are...

On Jan 2, Oklahoma State played Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl. Since Uncle Alan and Aunt Amanda had 'kindly' bought H an OSU cheer uniform, I thought she needed to wear it...

She obviously didn't think so... Ha! jk!

We started back to Little Gym and H was LOVING it! She got a new teacher. She was so impressed with how strong Hadlea was. This class is for 18 months to 2.5 years... H was the only one that could kick her feet up on the bar and hold them there.. like this! Show off! :-) {old pic}

On Friday, we had our friends G and Taran over. Taran needed to bring me the curtain, apron and book shelves that she made me. So I cooked dinner and the kids played!

Saturday, we spent the morning at home. We let H wear some cute little panties around. She LOVED them. We have been talking alot about pottery training. If we can only find a long weekend to just DO IT! Yikes! Where is my baby?! As much as I hate buying diapers, it just makes her seem too old to no longer need them!

Saturday afternoon, we headed out for lunch and then onto Oklahoma City. There was a fish and tackle show going on that Justin wanted to stop by. There are a few stores in the mall there that we do not have so we agreed to go as long as we could both go to OUR places! Compromise at its best! Ha!

At the tackle show, there were snakes, lizards, alligators, etc. Hadlea wanted to hold the snake SO bad! Although the one she wanted to hold was a 9 FOOT boa! It was yellow. Her current favorite color. Go figure! Since that wasn't happening, she settled on a small one, 3ft!

I asked Justin to take her picture and these are what I get...

Are you kidding me?! Justin is terrified of snakes. He would wrestle a bear before even touching a snake! And no doubt he was ffff-reaking at the thought of Hadlea touching one! But for goodness sakes, could be have got our heads and bodies! :-)

Hadlea also held and touched an alligator. She said, "you cute baby. pretty white teeth". And I am NOT lying! :-)

Saturday night, we met Uncle Jake for dinner and headed home.

Sunday morning, we got up, had breakfast, played, got dressed and headed for church!

After church, it was lunch, a little shopping and home for the evening!

This was our first full weekend for just our little family in a very long time. It was such a great weekend! I am so thankful for my husband and baby girl. I truly enjoy both of them so much and enjoy making memories with just the 3 of us!

random thoughts and iPhone pics

2012-01-10T15:24:00.005-06:00

Just a few random thoughts along with pictures from my iPhone:

Having my baby brother stay with us for two weeks at the end of the year has me missing him something terrible since he had to go back home! Hoping he makes a visit this weekend!

{future VSecret model?! :) she wanted to stand in the window while shopping one day!}

My parenting skills have been on my mind alot lately! How do you know the 'right' decisions to make for your child?! I find myself eating so many words these days of things I 'thought' I knew before becoming a parent! It is a hard job!

{cuddling with my sweet baby boy before bed one night. he makes me one proud momma!}

I never make resolutions for the new year... mainly because I have a terrible memory and barely remember what I had for dinner last night... so there is no way I would remember them for an entire year! Ha! But this year, I want to vow to help others... volunteer and donate. This is something I want Hadlea to be aware of and do once she is old enough.

{having a slumber party with her baby in her new sleeping bag from the Justice fam!}

I really need to get back into my work routine! After the holidays and coming and going as we please, I am completely lost! I need routine! (and a secretary to keep up with everything we have going on!)

{This was from a lunch over Christmas break. She was a 'little' upset that she couldn't have a cookie before eating her lunch! She lives a tough life! Ha!}

We have talked on and off for more than a year on whether we want to move into a bigger house. I think we made the decision yesterday to watch for a 'great' deal, but other than that, we will be staying put and working on a few home improvements... mainly organizing!

{we have been working on Hadlea's playroom. we are about finished where I can submit an entire post. I had my friend, Taran, create some things to add color. One of them being a curtain for her kitchen. She had enough fabric left over that she made her an apron too!}

I have been seeing so many outfits for Valentine's and Easter that I want to buy, but I KNOW she doesn't need them! I swear, I am constantly playing the buy or not to buy game! Grrrr....

{we have been looking for a bike helmet for Hadlea to use when we ride bikes. we have had a hard time finding one in her size. until we found this one... she loved it! and wore it around the store until we left! ha!}

**side note: I got a comment yesterday asking where I got Hadlea's LOVE shirt in the photo here. I got it at Target. I know last week they still had some. Sorry to whomever asked, but it came through anonymous and there wasn't an email to reply. Let me know if you have anymore questions!! :-)

december catch up, uncle jock and jumping

2012-01-09T15:28:00.000-06:00

There are just a few more things that I wanted to post about December... I swear, for as fast as December flew by, it is sure dragging around here on the blog! Ha! It was such a fun filled month... although, if every month was that busy, I am pretty sure I would die an early death! It was just TOO busy for my liking!

H had her 2 year doctor visit! No shots + stickers = an awesome visit in her book! She was perfect and let them do a full check-up! She was a motor mouth in the visit and the doctor commented twice on how well she talks! Now... if they only gave you advice to get her to be quiet sometimes! Ha! JK!

She is a TALL and SKINNY girl! 24.6 lbs 24%, 35 1/2 in 78% {I would SO be lying if I said I didn't pray about her height! I am about 3 inches taller than my mom, so if Hadlea is 3 inches taller than me, that would put her about 5'10 or 5'11. ALMOST 6' TALL! Her daddy is 6'3! I am terrified of her being 6' tall! Don't judge me! I know how petty is sounds! :)}

I was able to take off the last two weeks of the year! It.Was.Awesome! Although, some days I was super jealous of SAHMs and some days I was wondering how in the heck you all survive every.single.day! Hadlea only napped one or two days, so a couple of the days were super long, but I loved every single minute I got to spend with her! She is just one super funny girl! She is also my little dress up doll! I LOVED dressing her up to go places everyday....

Looking back at some of the pictures we took through December just makes my heart smile! We made some REALLY great memories... It definitely makes me want to be a SAHM, but my job is just too good to pass up! Since I work out of my house, she will one day get to stay home with me and not have to go to before or after school daycare! That is... once she learns, "Hadlea, momma's on a conference call, you will need to be quiet"! :-)

Since I was off, we got several visits from Uncle Jake! He was off almost the entire month of December so he came and stayed with us when he didn't have anything going on! We got super spoiled with him taking us shopping and out to lunch! I could definitely get used to being a SAHM and having Uncle Jake spoil us! Ha!

Uncle Jake taught Hadlea to say, "Uncle Jake and How-eee Strong"! She says it to this day!

Jake had bought them matching shoes for her birthday so we got some pictures of them in their Creative Recreations! (these are the only tennis shoes that can be worn at red carpet events!)

LOVE!

Daddy also got Hadlea's trampoline put together so we spent HOURS outside! So thankful we have had some nice weather!

I promise, my next post will be about 2012! We are finally moving on to the near year! Ha!

project 365 - week 52

2012-01-06T10:44:00.001-06:00

I did it! I set out to document one picture from each day of the year. After going back and counting, I was able to take one picture 341 out of 365 days. That means I only missed 24 days. That is VERY impressive... or so I think! Ha!

I plan to make a photo book with all of the daily pictures. Will I do it for 2012?! Not sure. It took ALOT of time to go in and photoshop each picture. Maybe I will just make a folder and keep one picture from each day and not add a frame and the date to them! Maybe.

After going back and looking through my Project 365 folder, I CANNOT believe how much Hadlea has changed! It is almost scary to think about how grown up she will be a year from now!

Santa baby! Santa made a visit to our house on Christmas Eve! Hadlea ran straight to him and never batted an eye!

Christmas morning! Hadlea must have been a super good girl this past year as Santa left her some really fun toys! Even though we thought a new baby would win her over, shee fooled us by LOVING her tee-ball set!

Silly girl! Hadlea and I spent the last two weeks together at home! It.Was.Heaven! I could so get used to her being at home with me every single day! We enjoyed our time by playing, going shopping and going out to momma/daughter lunches! No doubt everyone else in Panera enjoyed her silly self too!

Hurley girl! Daddy is a big time lover of Hurley clothes. Not sure why, but that is about all he buys. I found that Dillards was carrying baby Hurley and just had to pick up something for Hadlea! Daddy no doubt loved seeing her in it!

KK and B! We got a visit from our KC friends... had lunch and played outside! KK and B couldn't get enough of Hadlea as they both wanted to hold her and help her in whatever she was doing!

Jumping! Daddy got Hadlea's trampoline from Nana and Rusty put together! It is SO adorable! Just the perfect size for Hadlea and a friend! So thankful the weather has been nice here so she has been able to spend time playing on it!

Zoo! I cannot believe it was almost 70 degrees on December 30! It made the perfect day for a zoo trip with momma, hadlea and gigi! Fun times!

NYE! Gigi kept Hadlea while daddy and I went to the Hard Rock for NYE! It was a great time with awesome friends!

And this closes out 2011! It is so hard to believe it is actually 2012! It was so fun to look back through 2011 and reminisce about so many fun memories! I cannot wait to see what we will be posting about at the end of 2012!

ringing in twenty twelve

2012-01-05T14:50:00.000-06:00

Justin and I rang in the new year by going to dinner with friends and then going to the Hard Rock casino for the night! Gigi came to down to watch Had and stay at our house!

me and my handsome hubby/best friend

{i swear i would lose my mind without him!}

This is what the bottom half of the above picture looked like! Ha! She didn't want us to hold her to take a picture, she just wanted to hold my leg! I think she knew we were getting ready to leave! :-(

Waiting on our friends at dinner!

My high school bff, Catherine, and her hubby drove up to stay with us!

Cat, Alissa and I

Alissa and Justin

We had a SUPER fun night! We spend most of our time hopping from bar to bar inside the casino to visit friends. The night went so fast and before I knew it, it was 11:50 and Justin was texting me asking me where I was! We had to sprint across the casino to find our husbands just before the strike of midnight! Is that when you know you are officially old... when you go somewhere together, split up to find other friends, just to meet up at the end of the night! :-) We made so many fun memories with great stories to share! {just none that can be shared here. more of those 'you had to be there' moments! ha!}

I am so ready to see what 2012 has instore for us! I just feel so blessed by everything that happened in 2011. I cannot think of one single thing I would change about 2011... so here is to hoping that our blessings of 2011 continue into 2012!

Happy New Year to each of you!

zoo on new years eve eve??

2012-01-04T12:08:00.000-06:00

I CANNOT believe the weather we have had in Oklahoma over the past couple of weeks! On Dec 30, it was 60+ degrees! And this week, it is supposed to be close to 70! I am not sure this has EVER happened, or that I can remember!

Gigi came into town to keep H while Justin and I went to stay with friends at the Hard Rock Casino on NYE (another post to come on that), so we headed out to the zoo on New Years Eve Eve!

Hadlea could NOT wait to see the elephants. Thanks to a Barney show, she is currently obsessed them!

They were in the process of lowering down hay to them when we arrived. They were making noise and snorting, which Hadlea thought was hilarious!

When we walked past the rhino, he was out towards the end of the fence. We were literally this close to him! I didn't have to zoom or anything. Kinda creepy!

Hadlea kept calling him, "Gross!" Ha!

We took a nice long train ride!

Hadlea wanted to hold a snake! She has got to twice when being at the zoo, but this time, they didn't have them out.

Thankfully we hit the petting zoo toward the end! Everything we seen after the goats, she wanted to hold to touch! She just couldn't figured out why she couldn't go in and pet the monkeys?!

And before leaving, as always, we have to catch the merry-go-round! And no surprise the elephant was her choice!

Love making fun memories with my momma and my baby girl!

KK and B Love Me!

2012-01-03T11:39:00.000-06:00

We got a visit over our Christmas break from KK and B!

They showed up with their mommy and daddy, had lunch and then we spent the afternoon playing outside!

We also exchanged gifts. Hadlea's Godmother knows her WAY too well... a pack-n-play for her baby, a monogrammed sleeping bag, carrying bag and a little lamb that says, "KK and B love me!".

We never get enough time with the Justice family! We miss them so much since they have moved, but I am so thankful for their friendship!

Christmas 2011: Christmas Day

2012-01-02T21:20:00.000-06:00

We woke up Christmas morning to some awesome gifts from Santa (Baby Alive, Tee-Ball set {because daddy being an ex-baseball player doesn't know of any other sport!} a Doug and Melissa piano puzzle {not Santa's greatest gift seeing how that thing got annoying in 5 seconds! ha!} some fun stocking necessities and clothes {a Columbia fleece, a Hurley shirt {for daddy too!} and two outfits from Saks Fifth).

Berk-y boy must have been a great baby too! He racked up some fun toys, bones and treats!

We got this super cute video of Hadlea walking in to find her presents from Santa! I actually thought she would go straight for the baby, but nope, she went straight for the tee-ball set!

ONE.PROUD.DADDY! I really wasn't sure about this gift at first, but we have played with it almost every day. She LOVES it! She also likes us to hit her the ball and she will run after it! Great entertainment!

The rest of the family showed up for lunch. We ordered ribs and grilled chicken from a local restaurant. Hopefully a new tradition! It was SO yummy!

We must have been extra special this year because Gigi and Poppa went crazy with Christmas this year! We got some AWESOME gifts! And Gigi must have been SUPER good because she scored a new LV!! I guess this was the year of Louise Vuitton in our family! Ha!

Hadlea will NEVER go without clothes! I even had to go by 20 new hangers and I still have clothes laying in piles! Ha! No argument here though! :-)

And a girl can NEVER have too many shoes! (Toms from Alan and Amanda, Boots from Nana and Creative Recreations from Jake!)

This wasn't actually a Christmas present, but our friend and professional fishermen, Fred, just got back from South Africa and brought Hadlea this dress! For a guy that has never been around baby girls, I think he did pretty darn good!

I made Alan and Amanda a couple gifts this year. I found them on Pinterest, of course! I made them one ornament with their Save The Date and one with their Wedding Invitation. I wasn't sure about making them as it took all I had to cut of there adorable invites, but I did it.... and SO glad I did. I think they turned out perfect!

After opening gifts, we all headed out to go bowling. Something we did last year, which was SUCH a good time! Just good family time! We didn't get any family pictures, and I didn't get any of us bowling! Hadlea ended up constipated (sorry, TMI!) after we got there and she was in so much pain. We ended up having to get her medicine, but she overcame everything before we had to give her anything! It was such an AWFUL experience! Poor baby was just miserable!

Christmas time is always my favorite time of year. I feel like I need to go into detox after it is all over, but I am always so sad to see it go!

Hope you all had an amazing Christmas season and a Happy New Year!!

Christmas 2011: Christmas Eve

2012-01-01T22:25:00.001-06:00

Christmas Eve day, Daddy, Hadlea and I ran around trying to complete some last minute errands. Grammie and Poppa made it in that afternoon, and then we all got around to make an early Christmas mass. I tried tirelessly to get a picture of Hadlea in her adorable little Christmas dress, but I failed miserably. And of course thought I would try again when we got home, but I forgot!

Our sweet family of 3.

After church, we came home to eat dinner and then changed into our pjs. Hadlea was in an AWESOME mood! There just always seems like something so magical about Christmas Eve!

Santa's Little Helper!

And as we were taking some pictures, guess who arrived!?

I honestly thought she would FREAK when he just barged in the door, but NOPE, she ran straight into his arms. And of course wanted to know where her candy cane was!? Ha!

Santa was sweet enough to bring her a candy cane and a present for her babies!

She spent about 15-20 minutes just talking and hugging on Santa before he had to go! But not before some sweet sugars...

We have been so lucky to have Santa come to our own house the last 3 years! Hopefully Hadlea will continue to be a super sweet little girl, and Santa will want to come see her! :-)

I LOVE Christmas Eve. It is probably pretty even with Christmas Day. Just something about going to church and the anxiousness of knowing what is to come in the morning! I cannot wait to continue to make memories with Hadlea and start more traditions as she becomes more in the 'know' of what Christmas is all about! No doubt we will continue to discuss the 'Reason for the Season' as the years go by! I never want Hadlea to forget that the only reason we are celebrating Christmas is because it is truly Jesus' birthday! It is only a special day because we celebrate Him... everything else is just extra special because that is what He is to us!

Christmas 2011: Nana's!

2011-12-31T15:24:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Christmas with Justin's family at our house. We got Riley and Hannah the night before so they could spend the night. We went out to look at Christmas lights and then stopped at Cherry Berry for yogurt. It was pretty empty... after all, who goes out for yogurt when it is 30 degrees outside?! Ha!

The kids were SO good! Ry and Hannah are just so good to go along with whatever Hadlea wants... or when she wants to do whatever they are doing, they are so good to let her or help her! I swear, I would take those two kids in a heart beat... Aunt Les, wanna ship them to live at our house?! :-)

After lights and yogurt, we headed home for bathtime! Hadlea was IN HEAVEN playing with Hannah! Riley opted for his own bath, of course! Ha!

After bath, they wanted to open one present. Lucky for them, Alan and Amanda had sent presents over for them.

LOVE this picture! More proof Hadlea thinks anything those kids do is just AMAZING! Ha! She was more concerned about their presents than her own!

After presents and a few games, we were all off to bed.

Hadlea woke up the next morning yelling, "Wiley, Hannah where are you?"! And they were off to get her up! After some jumping in the bed, of course!

Our bed became a trampoline that weekend! I think about 3 hours of the day was spent jumping and wrestling in our room!

The rest of the family made it in that afternoon. We ate some dinner and then opened gifts. The kids all got some SUPER fun stuff! We gave the kids our old iPhones! I think they were a hit! :-) We downloaded all of our games and music on them... the house got quiet shortly after that! Ha!

Hadlea got a new tent and Berkley got some sun glasses and a Dallas Cowboys visor! Someone knows me too well! Thanks, Donna! :-)

our family with riley and hannah!

nana with her babies and grand babies!

hadlea's super cute clothes! she also got a new pair of cowboy boots to go with all of her denim!

and a trampoline from nana and rusty! I need to do a separate post about this... I think that girl is going to be a jumping machine! She LOVES it!

We had an AWESOME Christmas with Justin's family! So thankful I married into this family! They definitely spoil us!

Christmas 2011: Kilian

2011-12-30T21:33:00.001-06:00

My dad's family's Christmas was the Sunday following my mom's side's Christmas {did that make sense at all?! ha!} This is our HUGE family. With my grandparents, my dady's brothers/sisters {there are 12 of them}, spouses, grandkids and great-grandkids, I think I counted 97 people. Not everyone was there. Yes... that is one LARGE family! So different from the 16 that make up my mom's side.

Here are most of the GREAT grandkids that were at the Christmas....

our family with gma and gpa {minus alan and amanda}

family!

with my uncle gary {godfather} / with my cousin, Shelly {love her!}

hadlea and her new best friend/cousin, lola / hadlea and mason playing babies! ha!

hadlea pushing her baby! LOVED her new outfit!

It seems Santa knew where we were at all times this Christmas season. He showed up so many times! I am just SO thankful H loved him! It could have been a rough year with as many times as we seen him! Ha!

We had such a great Christmas. Hadlea got some new movies. She also received a little camera as a late birthday present from my aunt rene and uncle tony. When we got home, I was unloading bags and didn't hear her. I later found her in her room. She set her baby and frog in the chair and was taking their picture! Just melted my heart! Ha! Atleast she knows pictures HAVE to be done! :-)

Christmas 2011: Byford

2011-12-29T21:55:00.000-06:00

We celebrated our first Christmas out of five with my mom's side of the family. We went to my parents in Medford. My Granny came from the south and my uncle/cousins from the north. Once everyone got there, we hung out and had lunch...

Then the babies couldn't wait any longer to open presents! It was a hard day without my Grandad being there. With it only being a couple months since he passed, the emotions are still very fresh. However, everyone did a great job, and we celebrated him with some very sentimental gifts.

All of us girls received necklaces with "God be with us together and apart" and the boys received key chains. These came from James Avery. Grandad was also buried with a charm on his tie with the same verse.

For my Granny, I had her a memory bear made out of one of my Grandads shirts. This was from all of my us grandkids. Alan and Amanda had her made a pillow made with their picture. Amanda's mom made the pillow. It is so beautiful!

I had Teresa at Forever Friends make Hadlea and Anna dresses out of Grandads shirts. They turned out so precious and will always be a great memory!

Granny and her great-grand babies

LOVE this picture!

{Anna Grace is SO good with Hadlea!}

Our scary Star Wars babies!

And then guess who made a visit!?

Santa, Granny and the Greats!

Our family of 4 with Santa!

We took a group family picture, but I need to get a copy from my cousin. (Michele?! :)

We had such a great Christmas with the family! The older I get, the more and more it means to be with each of them! I just wish the days wouldn't fly so fast!

Be prepared for several for Christmas posts!

project 365 - week 51

2011-12-28T21:31:00.000-06:00

1st Christmas! We had our first Christmas of the year with out cousins, Anna, Harvey and Zac! And as always, Santa knew we were all together and made a stop!

Kilian Christmas! Definitely our biggest Christmas of the year... these are SOME of the great-grandkids! It is a wild and LOUD Christmas, but super fun!

Uncle Jock Strong! Uncle Jake had two weeks off of vacation so he came to spend some time with Hadlea, daddy and I. We LOVED having him over, especially Hadlea since she got almost ALL of his attention! By the time he had to leave, he would say, "Hadlea, what are we?" and she would respond, "stwong... uncle jock, had-wee stwong!". Definitely gave us a great laugh!

December 20: No picture - Hadlea stayed home to spend the day with me! We then went to the Roumbanis' house for dinner and Christmas cookie decorating!

December 21: No picture - Hadlea went to daycare, while Stephanie and I went to OKC to the new outlet mall. Daddy picked up H after work and then they spent the evening together.

Cousin time! Riley and Hannah came to stay the night before we all celebrated Christmas. We went to see Christmas lights and then stopped by Cherry Berry for ice cream. The kids LOVED it and had a great time!

More Christmas! We celebrated Christmas with Justin's family at our house. We made dinner, opened gifts, played with the kids toys and then went to look at Christmas lights. Hadlea was so sad to see everyone leave! She loves Riley and Hannah SO much!

project 365 - week 50

2011-12-27T15:30:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday party! We had Hadlea's birthday party at a bowling alley! The kids LOVED it! After bowling, it was cupcakes, presents, arcade and then onto go-karts! Everyone was worn out afterwards!

Clean teeth! Hadlea is very much into brushing her teeth, which is fine with this momma! She is always willing to jump up on her new stool and start brushing!

Fun time with T-man! Hadlea's friend Trevin came over to play. T's daddy helped Justin hang Hadlea's new tv for her playroom. It is always so fun to watch the kiddos interact together!

Uncle Jock! My little brother Jake came to stay the night. H was LOVING having him over and getting all of his attention! She thought Jake in her tent was super fun!

Christmas Program! Hadlea's daycare had their Christmas program. She did great standing on stage and just looking adorable! She was not about to sing or perform! Ha! She wasn't so sure about Santa once he arrived, but once seeing he had candy canes, she was SO in!

December 16: No picture, but we headed to Medford to celebrate Christmas' with our grandparents!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T12:21:00.001-06:00

We had a special visitor last night! H LOVED him!

Hope you all have an awesome day celebrating the birth of our Savior! God is so good!

daycare christmas program

2011-12-24T22:04:00.001-06:00

Back on December 15, Hadlea's daycare had their Christmas program. I LOVE her daycare, especially the staff. They treat Hadlea like she is their own! (and this is coming from a person that SWORE they would NEVER send their daughter to a large daycare! I always wanted a nanny or an in-home daycare. After having both of those, I would NEVER go back! But obviously, that is my opinion from experience.)

Since this was my first daycare Christmas program experience, I wasn't sure what to expect! We all got dressed to head out. Hadlea wore a new dress that I had ordered and a pair of tights from last year. I LOVED her outfit! Sometimes I dress her and just SQUEAL from all of the cuteness! She is just too much sometimes! Ha! I was definitely made to be a momma of a baby girl! :-)

Her class sang "If you are happy and you know it" and then the 3 year old class joined them to sing "The Reindeer Pokey". Hadlea was NOT about to participate in any of it! She stood there all nice and straight, but would not move her mouth or body! Ha! (Her best friend is Ms E in the black and red dress. She talks about E all of the time! Ms E... she has a voice and some moves! We could NOT stop laughing at her! You can definitely tell she is the baby of 3 other girls!)

After the kids sang, you could go get your child off of the stage. Had and E watched the other kids up front! They just looked SO cute!

And then guess who arrived?! I made a last minute call to the daycare director to see if they needed a Santa. They didn't have one planned, so I made a call to the North Pole and got one set up! There is just nothing cuter than a face of a baby when they see Santa! They chased him all the way to his seat! Hadlea.... well, she wasn't quite sure so she jumped in Uncle Jake's arms!

Santa lured H with a candy cane and then she was just fine to sit and chat! She actually went back 2 or 3 times!

Hadlea and her great-granny with Santa!

Hadlea got to see all of her daycare teachers! She LOVES them... and so do we! I just cannot say enough great things about these girls! They treat Hadlea like gold, keep us up to date daily on how she acts/what they do, etc. They also post pictures or send me texts of things she does during the day! That is just so refreshing to a momma!

Top: Ms Hannah (H's 1 year old teacher and sometimes babysitter / Ms Kelsey (afternoon teacher)

Bottom: Ms Adrian (morning teacher) and Ms Kathy (daycare director)

Our little family!

Hadlea and her grandma's! Gigi and Nana

Some of Hadlea's audience: Gigi, Granny, Uncle Jake and Stephanie

When Hadlea's class first started singing, I about lost it with the tears! I am so proud to be Hadlea's momma. We waited so long to bring her into the world and things like this where dreams I had when we were waiting for a baby!

I am so thankful we found this daycare, and I am so thankful for the amazing staff that they have!

happy 2nd birthday: party decorations and gifts

2011-12-22T14:18:00.003-06:00

As you can see from my previous post, the party totally rocked! We had such a great turnout of friends and family! Definitely makes us realize being so close to Christmas how truly blessed we are... and how much we REALLY have to be thankful for!

But on to the specifics of the party!

I made the invitations. I seen several things online that I liked and decided I would give my photoshop knowledge a try! :) I was pleased with how they turned out!

Hadlea's shirt was made by Mary Kate's Monograms. You can find her HERE on facebook!

The cupcakes and cookies were made by my friend Pamela. The banner was made by my friend Taran. The cupcake toppers and straw tags were made by my blog friend, Kelly. You can find her Etsy store HERE.

I also made the bag tags as party favors. Pamela made the cookies.

All of the clothes Hadlea racked in! SUPER cute stuff!

The toys! (you will not see ONE baby! Ha! I think everyone either knew she had 100 of them or thought she would receive a ton of them! Thank you to all of those smart friends!) (There are a few things missing... bath toys that she immidiately wanted to put in the back and a handmade blanket from our neighbors.)

I ordered this stool for Hadlea from Ellies.com. Love.love.love this! And so does Hadlea!! Working with Ellies.com was so easy! I gave her ideas and she no doubt delivered!

Nana and Rusty got Hadlea her table and chairs.

Gigi and Poppa got Hadlea her kitchen set!

And Uncle Jake got Hadlea a new tv for her playroom... (well, not this one, he exchanged it for a 26 inch!)

Again... someone is overly and SUPER spoiled!

Of course, we wouldn't have her any other way! :-)

happy 2nd birthday: the party

2011-12-21T20:44:00.000-06:00

I wasn't sure if I thought I could surpass Hadlea's 1st birthday, just because we had so many friends/family, and it was such a great time! But... I think I did it! I went a little lazy with this party and had it at a local bowling alley, which also has a party room, arcade and go-carts! What more could kids possibly want?! Ha!

After this party, I am not sure I could ever have one at home again! The bowling alley set up everything and all I had to do was bring the cup cupcakes and any party favors! They provided all of the table clothes, cups, plates, silverware, etc. Plus, we had a party coordinator that helped with everything! And if that wasn't enough, it was WAY cheaper than the first birthday! Score!

I thought I would be super mom and wake Hadlea up early that morning so she would go down for an early nap! What was I thinking!? That idea went to crap! So our no nap baby girl... was actually REALLY good!

We had a great turn out of about 30... and the babies LOVED the bowling!

{Hadlea. Jackson. Trevin. Katelyn}

My 3 babies!

{nephew-Riley, Hadlea and niece-Hannah}

my baby girl and I

H and her grandparents!

popcorn with Uncle Alan and hoping Aunt Amanda was getting baby fever by hogging our friend's baby! :-)

Riley Biley and Had getting ready for some cake!

After cupcakes, it was present time! (I have another post for decorations and gifts! Just too many pictures for this post!)

Most of the kids (minus some babies!) and then H and I with Allison and Finley

Friends and Family!

Then it was onto the arcade games!

Even the big boys got in on the action!

We ended with over 1600 tickets so all of the kids got some fun prizes!

Once most everyone left, we road go-carts! Hadlea was beyond mad that she couldn't ride! Poor girl!

After everything was over, some of us headed to dinner and then out for drinks! Momma needed something to de-stress from the busy afternoon! Ha! Gigi and Poppa took a tired baby girl home to put her to bed!

Thanks to all that made the day SO special! H is one VERY loved baby girl! Cannot wait to share all of her decorations and goodies!

happy 2nd birthday: december 9

2011-12-20T14:53:00.001-06:00

I am SO far behind on blogging! Hopefully I will have Christmas up before the end of January! Ha! But I could not wait to get Hadlea's birthday posts up! I am wading through TONS of pictures, so be ready for tons of different birthday posts!

Once again, H was spoiled by all... no surprise there! We have talked and talked about her birthday, so I couldn't wait to spoil her rotten on her birthday! I walked in at 9AM to find her awake and peeking out at me!

Daddy and I blew up balloons and filled the hallway after she went to bed the night before. To say she LOVED them would be an understatement! :-)

We spent 30 minutes playing in the hallway before we even made it anywhere else in the house!

Then it was onto breakfast... cinnamon rolls. This recipe. I had made them before and she loved them, so I thought they would be perfect for her birthday morning!

We played and then got dressed and headed out! I am pretty sure everything we did that day started or ended with singing Happy Birthday! She just KNEW it was HER day!

She got some cards and money in the mail!

And a card/gift card sent home from her daycare teacher! Ms Hannah was sweet enough to remember H's bday! Ms Hannah is the best... she recently took a new job and we are SO sad! I made sure to tell her to be back by baby #2!

We also got a package in the mail that I had ordered. I wanted an ornament from each year of H's life with a picture. Personalization Mall was having a great deal so I ordered these. LOVE them. They are ceramic.

Then it was off to lunch at Panera. I am not sure what it is about Panera, but H is always so good there! She knows she gets to set on one side of the booth all alone and eat like a big girl! I almost forgot that I was only eating with a 2 year old!

After lunch and errands, it was back home to play! Uncle Alan and Aunt Amanda wanted to drop by to see her on her actual birthday! They got her some Joe's Jeans, an H&M cheetah print coat and a dessert set to go with her new kitchen!

Cousin, Avery, came by to say Happy Birthday too!

Then Gigi, Poppa, Nana and Rusty came over for dinner! H was no doubt in heaven with all of her grandparents in one place! She had to eat dinner with her Gigi and Nana at her new table from Nana and Rusty! (table and chairs are from here)

Then she got to see her new kitchen from Gigi and Poppa and open some pots and pans! (kitchen here, but in white.)

And then onto a cupcake! ...with a couple rounds of blowing out candles!

I still cannot believe my baby girl is 2 YEARS OLD! This has been the fastest two yeas of my life, but I am loving every single minute of it. She is just the most perfect thing I have ever experienced! We cannot wait for another 2 years...

project 365 - week 49

2011-12-19T15:19:00.000-06:00

Bedlam! We had a few people over to watch the bedlam football game, which is Oklahoma State vs Oklahoma. OSU won.. BOO, but Hadlea had a fun time chasing Jackson and Trevin around EVERYWHERE! They had so much fun!

Pictures! Hadlea and I went over to the Roumbanis house to take a few pictures of the boys! We got several good shots for their Christmas cards!

Fire! Hadlea is loving a fire and popcorn! We have had many fun nights camping in front of the fire with a snack!

December 6 - No picture!

December 7 - No picture!

December 8 - No picture!

(Obviously, I have went WAY down hill with the picture taking!)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Hadlea! She turned the BIG 2, and we just couldn't believe it! She spent the day home with momma, out to Panera for lunch, a little shopping and then home for dinner with daddy and the grandparents!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-15T14:15:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

(sorry for the poor quality, I had to scan this one it)

front

back

You can see our Christmas card from 2010, HERE. Crazy what a difference a year makes!

I have been MIA and BUSY! It's just that time of year, I guess! But after tomorrow, I am off for over two weeks! Alot of pictures to come!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Hadlea!

2011-12-09T14:55:00.000-06:00

I have fought and fought talking about December 9, as I couldn't face (or believe) my baby girl was turning 2 years old! It's just so emotional! Ha! These last two years have been the best years of my life. I love her and her daddy more and more everyday!

I just cannot believe how much she has changed over the months!

Daily schedule: Wake up at 8AM, momma drops off at daycare by 9AM, lunch at 11AM, nap at 1230PM, snack at 2PM, daddy picks up at 5PM, dinner at 6PM, bath at 7PM, bed at 8PM. {We try to keep food and nap times the same on the weekends... it rarely happens, but we try! Ha!}
Counts to 5, sometimes 10
Colors she can point out: pink, green, purple, black, yellow, white, red
Shapes she can point out: heart, star, circle square
Bedtime songs and in this order. DO NOT change the order: Jesus Loves Me, Happy Birthday (we have been singing this for MONTHS), You are my sunshine and This little light of mine

She talks in third person - Hadlea drink (means Hadlea wants a drink), Hadlea do it (means do not even think about helping), Hadlea stinky (means she needs her diaper changed! ha!)
She says "Come here" when she is in another room and wants to show you something! Bossy should have been her middle name!
When she is looking for you around the house, she says, "Daddy hussey (almost our last name) where you go?", "Berk-y hussey, where you go" or "Momma hussey, where you go"!
If she wants to go get something to show you but doesn't want you to come, she will say, "Sit. Stay. I be wight back".

She says "Whoops, Oops, Oh my goodness, Oh no, Uh oh" when she does something on accident. She spilled her drink in the floor one day and day, "Oh my goodness, Oops. Momma get towel".
She LOVES to help with laundry. She will pick out her wash cloths, kitchen towels and all socks and put them in piles. After I fold them, she knows exactly where they go... even momma and daddy's socks! SCORE!
She is starting the blame game. If she does something that she shouldn't have done and you ask her who did it, she will say, "Daddy did it" or "Berk-y did it".

I still think Hadlea is somewhat OCD. Or maybe all kids go through this phase, but she can only do some things a certain way. Like puzzles, when you take a puzzle apart, the pieces either have to go in a bucket or have to be lined up. Strange little thing she is!
She has to have everything in TWOs... babies, food, shoes (of course, but if she doesn't see the other shoe she wigs out!), blankets, pacis.

She says, "Yes, Yes ma'am, Yea and Yep". Everyday it is different. If you correct her with "Yes ma'am", she will say it, but continue to say whatever word she is on for the day! I am just thankful for the days she is on Yes ma'am so I do not have to correct her 100 times! Ha!

She is a baby doll lovin' machine! She will rock her babies, put them to bed, brush their hair/teeth, feed them, etc. She talks to them as if they are going to answer her right back! And sometimes I seriously think she thinks they are talking back! It is almost scary! Ha!
She says, "Baby hussey, don't cry. Don't be sad. I wuv you."
She says, "Baby hungry? Want bottle? Here you go. That yummy?"
She says, "Wanna walk? Here I help you" (...as she walks them across the living room floor. She also helps them do splits and summer salts!)
She loves to change their clothes and diapers. She says, "Eeewwweee baby poopie stinky! Baby need new diapa."
Her babies get set in timeout on a regular basis. Sometimes 3 or 4 at a time. She says, " baby. sit timeout. wight here." When we ask her what they did, she says, "baby bite finger", "baby frow food"
or "baby hit me". Poor babies! They also get spanks along with timeout!
We have to take TWO babies everywhere we go!

She LOVES animals! We will sometimes go drive around the country area by our house and pull over and look at the cows. She will count them (with random numbers) and tell us what colors they are! She could definitely talk about animals ALL.DAY.LONG!

Hadlea Easton,

I CANNOT believe you are two years old! Where has the time gone?! I feel like we were just bringing you home from the hospital! You are the best thing that has ever happened to your daddy and I! You are my very best friend, and I tell you daily. You make me so proud to be your momma... even during those tantrums! Ha! You have the most contagious laugh! No matter where we are, people comment on how cute and good you are. When most people guess how old you are, they normally guess around 3! Your vocabulary is out of control for a two year old, and people always notice! Our little jabber box... sometimes I just wish it had a volume button! :-)

Your daddy and I are so thankful God chose us to be your parents! You have definitely completed our lives more than I could have ever imagined!

Thanks for being the greatest thing ever! We love you to the moon and back!

Love,

Momma

project 365 - week 48

2011-12-04T14:41:00.003-06:00

It is never too early to start! We all got dressed to head out shopping with Nana. Hadlea wanted to carry my purse! Her daddy quickly got her another one as he didn't love the site of her carrying the LV... He has been warned!

Ready for church! Hadlea was all dressed in her hand-me down Justice sweater and ready for church! If she wears a hand-me down outfit and I tell her whose it used to be, she always says, "No, Haddie's".

Shopping with the baby brother! I took a day of vacation and headed to OKC to spend the day with Jake and shopping for his new apartment. 7 hours later we had some great finds and got them all hung up! It was a much needed catch up day too!

No stitches! Hadlea fell in the bathtub while trying to kick and stomp on bubbles. After a picture text sent to Dr Justice, it was determined she didn't need stitches. Just a butterfly bandaid and lots of lovin's!

First fire! Daddy made a fire and momma made popcorn! We settled down to watch some tv and eat a snack around the fire.

"Bubba thirsty". Berkley always hangs out around the bathtub as he knows he will eventually get a drink of water once H gets out. NO IDEA why he loves the soapy water so much, but he does. H has now learned how to give him a drink out of a cup. And she thinks it is super funny!

Popcorn! Hadlea has learned where we keep the popcorn in the pantry. She gets a package, can remove the plastic and will stand at the microwave saying, "popcorn my-wave".... meaning she wants us to open the microwave and put in her popcorn. She always knows where we keep bowls that she can get out too... maybe we just need a stool where she can pop her own popcorn and she wouldn't need us any longer! Ha!

a few things

2011-12-03T16:15:00.000-06:00

Not until about a year ago did I find out that Justin's favorite cake is strawberry. I honestly had no idea. {We have been together 10 YEARS... WIFE.OF.THE.YEAR!?} I guess maybe because I only make chocolate because it was always one we agreed on. I like white cake, he doesn't. So I always made chocolate. One day I was feeling kinda guilty about it, so I searched on Pinterest and made THIS cake. He said it was AMAZING. Since I do not like strawberry cake, I didn't eat much, but yes, it was good. Just too sweet for me!

Do you know how long it takes to make a cake with a 2 year old?! Like a lifetime... OK, so maybe just twice as long as it normally takes, but she loved to help nonetheless!

We have our Christmas decorations up {I will post about them once my new stockings get in!} and Hadlea is loving them. Especially the nativity scene. She will sit and look at them several times every evening. She will 'pet' the sheep and cows. And tell Baby Jesus night-night before bed time! I think the nativity scene is always my favorite Christmas decoration. I cannot wait to get a big nice one some time. They are just so expensive! I am so glad H is loving it too!

Have you ever shopped for a single guy's apartment? If so, WHY didn't you warn me!? My little brother, Jake, has moved into his own apartment and wanted me to come help him fix it up. I took a day of vacation and went to spend the day with him. I got to Oklahoma City about 10AM and left at 5PM! 7 HOURS of shopping. SEVEN HOURS! And we grabbed a quick lunch!

We did get some great finds! A painting and bone/stick decorations at IO Metro, pictures for his dining room and a mirror at Kirklands and some knickknacks at Hobby Lobby.

Even with all of the shopping, it was a much needed catch up day with the baby brother! It was a really fun day, and I am so thankful he trusts my taste to choose me to help him out!

project 365 - week 47

2011-12-02T22:38:00.000-06:00

Too early for an eyebrow wax? Momma had to go get her eyebrows waxed and Hadlea thought she needed hers done too! :-) The sweet lady was nice enough to play pretend and clean and brush her eyebrows! Hadlea kept saying, "pretty eyes"!

Clean Teeth! Hadlea loves to brush her teeth. I am sure we do it 10 times a day when we are home. No fight from momma... it is better than fighting her to do it twice! {Notice her two bows... 1 is just never enough these days!}

Basketball! I took off of work to go watch my nephew play an early basketball game. Anything involving Riley and Hannah is right up Hadlea's alley. She LOVED watching Riley.

Monkey! Hadlea is still loving Little Gym. She just loves to swing on the rings and hang from the bars!

Turkey! Hadlea wore her turkey shirt to daycare the day before Thanksgiving! Goodness... she just looked so cute!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Huskey's!

Decorating! Hadlea helped Gigi decorate her Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Even though they were all at the bottom and in one corner, they looked perfect!

stitches?

2011-11-30T21:07:00.000-06:00

me + blood = no bueno!

You can ask my nephew. He never lets me forgot the time he stayed with us and decided before bedtime to pull his tooth. He walks into the living room where I am with a tooth and a pool of blood in his hand, along with blood down his face! I FREAKED out. My exact words, "ummm... I'm not sure what to do with you. Go find your Uncle Justin!" He laughed and thought it was super funny.

Which lead me to these events:

1. Hadlea taking a bath and playing in the bubbles.

2. Busted chin. Stitches or no stitches?!

3. Dr Daddy.

4. Proud of her band aids!

I walk out of the bathroom for 2 seconds to tape the Victoria Secret Fashion Show (mother of the year, I know!). She yells, "momma, come here." When I turn to walk back into the bathroom, I hear a thud followed by a huge breathtaking scream. I ASSUMED she bit her tongue or cheek. I check her mouth out, but see nothing. Within about 30 seconds she stops crying. I asked her if she was ok. She said yes. She then looks down. When she looks back up, there is blood all over her chest! I FREAKED!

Justin had walked next door to the neighbors. I call him and yell GET HOME! He comes running in. As he walks into the bathroom, Hadlea says, "Me fall down. Me got ouchie".

I get a rag and dab her chin. We got back and forth on stitches or no stitches. I didn't think it needed it... or nothing a few little butterfly band aids wouldn't fix. We shoot a text picture to Dr Justice and he confirms, no stitches. Just some cream and a band aid (he actually said maybe a little glue, but we didn't have any).

I honestly cannot believe how Hadlea reacted! She hardly cried at all. I definitely cried more than she did! I just felt so bad for leaving her for more than just a few seconds! But I am so thankful it wasn't worse and that she wasn't in any pain!

Tough baby girl we have! ...alot tougher than her momma and daddy!

Thanksgiving weekend

2011-11-27T21:18:00.000-06:00

I am not sure if it is me getting older or everything that is happening in life, but this Thanksgiving weekend seemed to be emotional. Tonight, I am more than thankful for everything I have... my family, friends and our health. Not having my Grandad with us for Thanksgiving was hard. I know I will continue to pray extra hard for my Granny as Christmas approaches. Also, a teacher where I went to high school was killed in a car accident Friday morning after being out Black Friday shopping. She had 3 kids with her in the car. All were okay, but the driver of the other car was also killed. Just really praying for their families today. It would be so hard to lose someone, yet extra hard to lose them around the holidays. An anniversary of a death is never fun, and I cannot imagine having that anniversary right before what is supposed to be the greatest time of the year!

I guess having all of those thoughts over the weekend made me think about the last 3 years and our journey to become parents! This has definitely been a fast few years... but I know I am right where I am supposed to be! And so thankful for the gift that God gave us...

{holy cow... at 38 weeks I was rather large! :-) }

We had an awesome Thanksgiving weekend! We headed to Medford on Wednesday evening. Thursday morning, the rest of the family came in and we headed to the church for my dad's side of the family lunch. {Only about 50 people made it to Thanksgiving on my dad's side. I think there are usually around 70-80 of us. It seemed so bare without everyone there! Hope to see everyone there at Christmas!}

Hadlea definitely soaked up all of the attention of those that were there!

Alan, Amanda and H / Jake, H and I / Jake and H / Kaitlyn and H

Taylor, H and I / the whole family / 4 generations! (Granny, Gigi, Me and H / Our family of 3!

After lunch, we headed to my Uncle Kevin's (dad's brother). They live on the farm and have the beginnings of a zoo! Jk! They had one week old baby puppies (which H thought were A-mazing!), pigs, kitty cats and sheep! She was pretty much in heaven!

We got to spend alot of time playing around Gigi and Poppa's.

No doubt that H is the center of attention at Gigi and Poppas and she gets pretty much whatever she wants... including money from Uncle Alan and Uncle Jake! Even though it was just $1 this time, I will be working on her asking for $5 from each next time! ... I mean, she needs to start building her own car and college fund now, right?! :-)

She also played kitchen (her birthday present which she will need to forget about before her birthday Ha!) with Uncle Alan and also showed off her splits... I showed H how to do the splits one time and now she goes around trying them all of the time. Hilarious!

After H went to bed Thursday night and some of the family left, we headed to see some of my high school friends.

Mikki Rae and I / Mikki, Jonathon and I / Justin and my baby brother, Jake

We got up early Friday morning and headed back. We wanted to get back in time to watch the Arkansas vs. LSU game with some friends. The game didn't turn out the way we wanted, but LSU is definitely better than I thought they were! :-( Not really an LSU fan even though my cousin coaches for them... definitely makes for a fun rivalry!

Saturday morning, we got ready to meet Nana for a little shopping. I got H dressed and I guess two pigtails and 2 bows were not enough... a PINK headband was needed too! She also wanted to carry my LV purse, but I don't think you can ever start them too early! Ha! Saturday afternoon, we put up our Christmas decorations, then went to dinner and then came back and let H add her decorations. Even though they are all on one side and at the bottom, the tree had never looked better! :-)

Sunday was church, which H was all dressed up in her warm sweater for...

After church, it was lunch and then a lazy day around the house. We spent most of the day trying to avoid tantrums since H wouldn't nap! To be so sweet and loving sometimes, that girl can turn down right hateful and mean! I say she gets it from her daddy! Ha! I am pretty sure he disagrees!

We had such a fun weekend with family and friends! Definitely wish there were more 'family' holidays throughout the year! Being together is always so great for the heart!

24 Thankfuls.

2011-11-24T07:54:00.002-06:00

It seems every year on Facebook that everyone does the 24 days of Thanksgiving... each day saying what they are most thankful for. I LOVE to read what everyone is thankful for... some being really serious, others being funny. Nonetheless, all things that people are truly thankful for. I have never participated, but there is so much I am thankful for that it is so hard to narrow it down to 24! I am just so blessed... and I am SO thankful for that!

Jesus. Who died for me so I could have eternal life. Who I can pray to and instantly feel better. Who even though I do wrong, forgives me. There really is no greater love!
Justin. My best friend. The love of my life. At times he makes me think I am losing my mind, but my life would be so incomplete without him! There is no one else that I would rather share my life with... and no one else I would choose to be the father of my children.
Hadlea. I truly didn't know love before her. I thought I did, but the second I seen her, I knew I had never experienced a love like that.
Berkley. To most, he is just a dog. To me, he is the best companion that God could have given me. God knew when I needed him, and he came into my life at the most perfect time.
Mom and Dad. Two people that have shaped me into the person I am today. At times I thought they were the meanest people on earth. Today, I think they are high on a pedestal close to Jesus Himself! I hope to be half the parent they are to me!
Nana and Rusty. Two people that excepted me as their own. They never had to, but chose to. They raised a son with the most loving heart. Two of the most caring and giving people.
Riley and Hannah. Wish they lived in my house! Ha! I love these two as my own. They make me so proud to be their aunt and make my heart so full of love.
Alan, Amanda and Jake. Three people that I look up to in different ways. I can call any of them at anytime and they will be there for me no matter the situation. I have no doubts my daughter will look up to them the rest of her life.
Brandon and Leslie. Two more people that excepted me when they didn't have to. We rely on Leslie for so many things and she is always there when we needed her. I will forever be grateful for my first SIL!
Grandparents. Not many people the have the memories I do with my grandparents. The best of those memories are the ones of them and Hadlea! I am so thankful that Hadlea met all four of them. But this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my Grandad and the memories I have with him. RIP Grandaddy! I cannot wait to see you again!
Aunts, Uncles and cousins. There are SO many of them, but I am thankful for the way that each one has shaped my life. At some time in my life, each one of them has made an impact in my life!
Best Friends. Life is not the same without them. People that never judge and you can pour your heart out to. I am been blessed with some amazing friends!
Our health. It seems that there is so much 'sickness' in the world today. I am so thankful for Justin, Hadlea, Berkley and I all being healthy!
Our Jobs. So many have lost their jobs in the last few years. I cannot imagine how that feels. I am thankful for the stable jobs that support our family!
Our home, food and utilities. We have a place to call our own that keeps us safe and comfortable. We have food to keep us nourished. We have heat and ac to keep us warm and cool. No doubt we take those things for granted!
Sports. Even though sports and my competitiveness might shorten my life by 10 years, I am thankful for the ability to play and watch the game. Football, most of all! :)
Memories. I am so thankful for fun memories of the past. I can definitely say I have very few bad memories. I believe they have all made me who I am today.
Technology. Is this questionable?! :-) I am so thankful for Facebook to see my cousin's and their kids and old friends who live hours away from us.
Blogging. Another that is NOT questionable! My husband might disagree. But obviously you might be thankful too or you wouldn't be reading this! Ha! But I am thankful for my blog friends... who are in the same stage of life with an almost 2 year old and let me know I am NOT crazy!
Parenting. Thankful that God chose to let me be a parent, especially Hadlea's momma! It could have very easily not been in His plan for me, but it was. And I am SO grateful!
Freedom. To live in a country where I can believe my own beliefs and raise my daughter in my own ways! Thankful for our soldiers and their families who choose to fight for the freedom that we have!
Hope. It is an amazing thing. To me, hope is when you want something so badly and pray for it... knowing that if it is meant to be that He will answer it!
Love. I am thankful to love and be loved by so many! I think our lives are centered around being loved and loving others. I am so thankful for God's love for me!
Thankfulness. I have so many things to be thankful for. But most of all, I am still most thankful for God's saving grace... and her...

happy thanksgiving eve

2011-11-23T14:31:00.001-06:00

I CANNOT believe it is the day before Thanksgiving! Where has the year went?! It has been such a great year, but we are down to the best part... holidays with our friends and family! In a couple of hours we are headed west...

We have had a busy couple of weeks. Work is always CRAZY (working 14-16 hour days) right before the holidays with last minute requests, reports and projects due before the holiday freeze begins! So when it hits Thanksgiving, it is pretty much smooth sailing from here!

Hadlea was all dressed up this morning for daycare in her current favorite shirt! She just squeals anytime she sees this shirt! She says, "Turkey say gobble, gobble" as she shakes her head! :-) {I bought this shirt back in August and it seems to be pretty popular this year! I think there are like 100 different versions! So fun!}

Last weekend I took my oldest nieces senior pictures. Obviously by the look of her, they weren't very hard! She is just so photogenic! And gorgeous!

Hadlea has been busy keeping up with her beauty as well... brushing her teeth and getting her eyebrows done! {okay... so momma got hers done and H just wanted to try out the bed! Ha! The sweet lady did brush her eyebrows which made H think she was in heaven!}

{I got Hadlea's birthday present in (I will share later) and let her try it out. She is standing on it while brushing her teeth. To say it was the perfect gift for our climber is an understatement. I am 'somewhat' bad at holding gifts! I guess I need to get better as she gets older and actually remembers!}

We went to watch my nephew play basketball. Riley plays on a 4th grade team for his school. They were hilarious to watch! Although alot of the kids had the idea of the game. I was very impressed. I will never get tired of watching him play!

We have had chiropractic appointments and Little Gym.... which Hadlea LOVES! ...which also wear her out! Ha!

It has been a busy few weeks, but from here on out, it is only 3 or 4 day work weeks! We have some fun stuff planned along the way... a trip to see my baby brother, shop and decorate his new place, a little girls awesome 2nd birthday and days off just to spend with her! And hopefully a night or two with my niece and nephew too! H always loves that!

Hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving with their family and friends! I am counting down the minutes to get to mine!

project 365 - week 46

2011-11-22T22:05:00.000-06:00

Shopping day! Gigi came to down to finish her Christmas shopping so we all headed to the mall. Gigi and H played on the carousel while Justin and I did some shopping!

Creative! While I was cleaning out closets and putting some of Hadlea's clothes in the attic, she dug out some old shoe boxes that I was throwing away. She decided to make herself a balance beam. She did this all on her own... You think she thinks of Little Gym much?! :-)

Future profession?! Hadlea thought daddy needed a trim!

Sick baby! Hadlea developed another ear infection. Thankfully we caught it with some new ear drops (Wally's from GNC) and several trips to the chiropractor. She stayed home a couple days from daycare (one with me, one with daddy). But I definitely enjoyed the snuggles from her and her brother! Although working one handed is kind of difficult!

Silly girl! Hadlea wore some hand-me down clothes from KK and Brynlee. I told her they were Brynlee's clothes and her response, "No. Haddie's clothes". Either way... she looks so big in 2T clothes!

Momma's big helper! Hadlea is into helping with everything! Cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry! No arguments here!

Sleepy baby! I get to watch this every day while I work. Geesh... I love him so much!

the entire family

2011-11-21T14:05:00.001-06:00

We had family pictures to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. Nicole Sullivan was gracious enough to take our last minute request and make it happen! She definitely captured some great ones!

Amanda's family also met us at the park to take pictures. So thankful Alan married into such a great family that loves him so much!

zb band

2011-11-20T14:06:00.000-06:00

A group of us went to the Zac Brown Band concert while he was in Tulsa a couple of weeks ago. Fred and Julie bought everyone's tickets for Fred's birthday! We had such a great time! Never a dull moment with these people!

Kathy, Julie and I

Clark, Justin, Fred and Kathy

Fred's birthday snowcone + candle

After the concert, we headed to a bar to meet some other friends. They were having a concert at midnight after the ZB concert. It was definitely a late night/early morning!

with J and Fred

with the newlyweds! Alissa/Me & Justin/Dustin

After the bar, we headed to breakfast. Again, an early morning! Someone should tell you that a lack of sleep is harder to recover at 30 than it was at 29! :-)

project 365 - week 45

2011-11-19T21:22:00.000-06:00

You can find week 44 here!

Mr & Mrs Kolar. We headed to Medford for my cousin's wedding! It was a beautiful wedding and a great time! So glad to get to see some of my family in town.

Picture day! We headed back home bright and early the next morning from the wedding for our family pictures by Addie Scott Photography! She never disappoints!

I went in to get Hadlea one morning and this is how I found her.... I guess one paci just wasn't enough that morning! :-)

TLG! Hadlea made it to little gym after missing a week. She was so happy to swing on the rings again!

Yeah Hadlea! Hadlea has started referring to herself in 3rd person. Anytime she does something, she cheers, "Yeah Hadlea"! This is after she put on some boots! :-)

Hey cowgirl! Hadlea was playing with her cowboy hat from Nana! She kept saying, "cute hat, Hadlea!"

I thought Hadlea looked SO cute (and old) in her outfit, and I wanted a picture, but I could NOT get her to stay still... so I handed her a comb which she put in her mouth... whatever it takes!!

family pictures 2011

2011-11-16T21:41:00.000-06:00

We had our family pictures taken by Addie Scott Photography. As always, she did an amazing job; however, Hadlea was NOT in the mood! All she wanted to do was chase squirrels around the park! Ha!

thank a veteran

2011-11-11T14:24:00.000-06:00

Thanks to all of our Veterans, past, present and future that sacrifice their lives for those of us that they will never know! I am so proud and thankful to live in a country with true heroes! And thank you to their families... who sacrifice so much so their loved ones can fight for our freedom... because after all, FREEDOM is not really FREE!

True Words.

Home of the Free, Because of the Brave!

And I am thankful for them so I can walk around in my country, believe my own beliefs and raise this crazy, sassy, independent little thing... I like to call her my heart that walks on two legs! ;-)

{ and yes, that is a brush in her mouth. whatever keeps her still! }

thursday thoughts...

2011-11-10T15:09:00.000-06:00

Work has been crazy, and we have had something every single night. No surprise there! We have so much going on, and I have all of these thoughts running through my head... so why not just write them here?! I have no pictures. :-( Sorry Gparents!

Work is crazy as we dwindle down to Thanksgiving! After next week, we will be ALOT slower as most will be on vacation! After next week, I do not work a full week the rest of the year!
My baby girl turned 23 months yesterday! I COULD NOT write about it... which means I cannot even write this bullet without tearing up! Where did the time go?! She CANNOT be a month shy of TWO YEARS OLD! ...moving on.
Justin and I are trying to budget our Christmas this year. Yikes! I have never added up how much I spend at Christmas. Let's just say I am glad I never have! After making a list for this year, I can tell you I have always bought WAY out of my budget! Hoping this year is better!
I just started Christmas shopping two days ago. {enter panic here}. But I think I know what I want to buy everyone, I just have to get out and do it.
I have not bought one thing for Hadlea for her birthday. Remember... it is less than a month a way! {enter panic here}
Can you tell I am panicking just a little bit!? It wouldn't be so bad if I had an idea on what to buy her for her birthday! I have not one single thing! NOTHING in mind! I have given all of my ideas to grandparents! {note to sell... do not give out your ideas to anyone! It will help with the panicking:) }
I am thankful that Hadlea is too young to know about presents. It does relieve some stress!
I have been writing a thankful Thanksgiving post for about a week now. I think I cry every time I start writing about someone.
Man... motherhood made me an emotional mess! Ha!
I planned to make alot of Hadlea's birthday supplies for her birthday, but I got nervous and ordered everything, except her invites! I made them back in September! Thankfully!
I do plan to make her a skirt to wear with a shirt I ordered her. Wish me luck! :)
I really thought writing this all down would make me feel better... I think I now feel sick knowing I have so much to do!

Hope you have a great Thursday! I better stop writing for now! :)

what she's saying wednesday

2011-11-09T16:24:00.000-06:00

It.Is.Time... for us to start watching what we say! Why do I feel like every new stage is so much sooner than I thought it would be! I didn't think Hadlea would start repeating us until closer to..... 3?? I thought I had a good few more months before I had to watch my mouth! Ha!

"Oh sh!t" - Justin was fixing Hadlea's piggy bank when he thought he broke it even more and said, "Oh sh**. And guess who repeated it?! ...several times!
"You pissy?" - Justin has a a bad habit of asking me if I am pissy! He does it to everyone. It is just something he says. Last night I was doing something in the kitchen, he asked me something, I gave him a short answer (because I was busy) and he says, "Are you pissy?". And guess who repeated?! "you pissy?', "you pissy momma?"!?

I really wish I could video Hadlea for a day and post it! She says THE funniest stuff! It is so hard for me to believe she is putting together full sentences. I guess she is just going to be a talker like her ~~momma~~ daddy! :-)

weekend of family, a wedding and pictures

2011-11-08T12:48:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we headed to Medford for my cousin's wedding. We normally leave out on Friday to spend the entire weekend, but we have been going so much that I think we are all exhausted, including H! So we spent one extra night at home so we could all sleep in our own beds and headed out Saturday morning!

Berkley is always excited to go anywhere... he is such a great co-pilot!

My two babies in the back with me! Hadlea isn't usually the greatest traveler, but this time I took stuff to keep her busy. She was alot of fun!

We spent all day just laying around and taking naps. Gigi hasn't been feeling too well so we all laid low! I do not know what it is about my parents house, except all I want to do is sleep at their house! It gets me every.single.time! It must just be that feeling of HOME!

That evening, we all got around for the wedding! My sweet family!

My husband HATES pictures... and I try to never use the word hate, but he definitely despises them THAT much! But he always gives in after some whining from me! Ha!

Hadlea with Uncle Alan and Aunt Amanda!

The bride, Emily, and I!

SILs!

We got up bright and early on Sunday morning to head back home. I have had family pictures scheduled for months, but we had never talked about a date other than 'in November'. How did I know it would also fall on the weekend of the wedding!? But I wasn't about to turn them down... you know how I LOVE my pictures!

This is just a sneak peek of one of her outfits. And this is with my iPhone, but I just think she is the cutest thing ever! Nope, not biased AT ALL! :-)

After pictures, it was back home to change, out to dinner and then to WM for groceries! I guess we continue to think we just do not have enough going on!

We went out to a new Italian place. It was OK. A little too pricey for the food, so I doubt we go back, but H LOVED the meatballs!

So I guess to sum it up, we has a super fun, fast weekend! Got to see alot of my family and friends. We did miss Ady's birthday party, which made us super sad, but I know she had a great birthday! I hope you have an awesome birthday tomorrow, Ady! We love you so much!

you decide

2011-11-07T12:52:00.000-06:00

One day last week, we had an early appointment at the chiropractor. I made Hadlea some Eggo's to take with us.

Someone was supposed to eat them, and someone ended up eating them. Someone got a sucker because they were so distraught that they laid their Eggo down and someone else got them and ate them. Of course, a sucker fixes ALL problems.

So who's the guilty one? You decide! :-)

project 365 - week 44

2011-11-06T13:59:00.001-06:00

You can find week 43 here!

Ready for Halloween! Hadlea and Berk got all dressed up to practice for trick-or-treating! Cutest pirates around!

Family pictures! We had our family pictures done at Woodard park by Nicole Sullivan!

Happy Halloween! Hadlea loved every.single.minute of trick-or-treating!

Crazy hair! Hadlea is definitely into dressing herself... notice the bow AND headband!

Multi-tasker! Hadlea always take a handful of stuff to the car before going to daycare. A baby, blankets and whatever else she passes gets a ride to daycare and back. And usually when she runs out of hands, she starts stuffing her food and drinks into her load... I guess all of that working carrying her gear makes for one thirsty girl!

Prince Riley! Hadlea and I went to watch Riley at his school coronation!

My future shopper! Hadlea, daddy and I went out to eat and then to do a little shopping. Hadlea was in a great mood and loved to see herself in mirrors as we passed them. She is into making faces in the mirror...

Prince Riley & Corn on the Cob

2011-11-04T15:45:00.000-05:00

My nephew's school has a fund raiser to sell raffle tickets to win prizes... flat screen tv, tree stand, iPad, motorized scooter, etc. The girl and boy from each class that sells the most tickets becomes the Prince and Princess of their class. My nephew won for his class and became Prince Riley! :-) He was definitely the most handsome too! And no... I am not just biased! Ha!

{sorry. blurry pic. should definitely break out my good camera that sits in a bag!}

The winners overall become the King and Queen. I have no idea who these kids are {hence the hearts on their faces}, but I thought this was just the cutest thing ever! And this is only elementary school! The kids all together raised over $11, 000! Really Impressive!

Hadlea was no doubt excited to see her Riley. Although we missed our Hannah Banana who was home with strep throat!

They have a fall carnival with games after the coronation, but it was outside and cold! The kids played a couple games and we headed home!

When we got home, daddy was waiting with dinner! Hadlea is way into corn on the cob there days. She finished off the entire thing. Well... with a few bites for momma!

project 365 - week 43

2011-11-03T14:11:00.000-05:00

You can find week 42 here!

Celebrating my 30s! Justin, Shannan and Amanda hosted my best birthday to date! Turning 30 has been great... so far!

Ridin' with Poppa! While daddy and I celebrated my 30s, H spent the weekend with Gigi and Poppa in Medford! ...where she was no doubt spoiled beyond belief!

Home! Hadlea made it home from Medford! Daddy and I got alot of pats and kisses!

TLG! Hadlea has been rockin' the low bar at little gym!

Carving pumpkins! We had my SIL, niece, nephew and the Roumbanis family over for pizza and pumpkin carving! Hadlea loved every minute of it! She was so proud of every one's 'wight punkin' {lighted pumpkins}!

Crazy girl! Hadlea loves to run around the house without clothes, but she insists on wearing boots! This is how I found her... watching Blues Clues on the iPad, without clothes, but with rain boots!

H&T! The Goff family came over for dinner and to watch the final game of the World Series. Hadlea and Trevin play more and more together each time they come over! They crawled through the tunnel together and then pushed shopping carts and baby buggies for hours!

Halloween Weekend 2011

2011-11-02T14:25:00.000-05:00

I LOVE Fall! It is definitely my favorite right behind summer! I love the 'cooler' weather {notice cooler... NOT cold! I HATE the cold!}, the beautiful trees, tights, shrugs and boots {my daily attire}, and the holidays!

Halloween is definitely that time that kicks everything off for us! And I only thought we were busy during the fall before H came along! Now we have to plan for her to trick or treat, her parties and play time with friends/cousins, and it books the weekends and evenings faster than I ever thought possible! But I love it... and today, I am extra thankful for my 4 weeks and 2 days of vacation... since I am now going to start using them to clean and do my household chores during the week since every single weekend is booked for us through the end of the year! :-)

I have to say this was my most favorite Halloween to date! Although it was stressful at times, it was perfect! {PS... never watch pedophile shows on tv before Halloween. It will complete ruin certain moments of trick or treating! :) }

Saturday morning, H got up and dressed in her ever ADORABLE Pirate costume! {And I cannot tell you how much she LOVED having Berkley dressed up too! She squealed for a good 5 minutes! Ha!} We went and met Aunt Amanda and cousin Avery {the squirrel} to trick or treat at BooHaHa. The stores on Brookside all hand out candy, which H LOVED to take! She was always so sweet to say, "trick treat" and "thankful", which she sometimes signed! <3

We then went shopping for some clothes for our family pictures that were Sunday. Nothing like waiting until the last minute for 8 people to find coordinating clothes! But we did!

That evening, Gigi and Poppa came to town and we headed to dinner. H was so good and everyone LOVED her costume. She was so proud to show it off! Although her Pirate sound of "Arrrrgggghhh" sounds more like a Bear's growl! Ha!

{H LOVES her Gigi and Poppa. But Gigi's days of being the favorite are numbered. Poppa is about to take over! Gigi... you better get ready!! :-)}

Sunday was family picture day! We wore black, gray and a darker turquoise/blue color. We haven't seen any of them yet, but I know they will be great! This one I snapped with my phone before we left. My brother Jake and his GF Erica and H and Daddy!

Sunday night at 10PM I decided H needed treat bags to take to school for her party! Thankfully I had already bought some of the stuff, it was just printing out tags and filling the bags! I am so thankful for free printables these days... add in a little photoshopping and you have some personalized cards!! :-)

Monday was Hadlea's school party! They normally post pics after the parties, but I haven't seen any yet! No doubt all of those sweet babes dressed up was adorable!

Monday evening, we were invited to a party by Allison/Finley and Emily/Cate. We met them for lunch not too long ago, so I was so happy for H to see them again and play with the girls! The food was GREAT! I think I could have eaten my weight in all of the soups! :) They had soups, chips/dips and some super fun deserts!

Then it was off to trick or treat in their neighborhood!

Obviously, H thought it was THE GREATEST thing ever! She ran full speed the entire time, not wanting any help! Thankfully she let Allison help her a few times!

Daddy/H and Mommy/H!

The party was so much fun! I definitely think we need more of those throughout the year! Thanks so much for having us Allison and Emily! And hope to have a girls night with you all soon... you too Katie! :-)

Obviously we accomplished alot in 3 days. It was ALOT of work, a little stressful but super fun!

h's weekend with gigi and poppa

2011-11-01T13:01:00.000-05:00

While Justin and our friends/family celebrated my dirty thirty, Hadlea went to Medford to stay the weekend with Gigi and Poppa. I have let her stay one night without me there before, but I was barely away from her for more than 24 hours. And I know I have been away for a couple weekends from her, but Gigi normally comes to stay at our house, which makes me feel SO much better because Hadlea is at home in her normal routine. Hadlea isn't the best traveler or sleeper away from home, so when I have to be gone, I just feel most comfortable knowing she is at home in her own environment. I know that makes me sound like 'THE' crazy over protective momma, but I am COMPLETELY fine with that! :-)

Because alot of my friends that were coming to the party are from out of town, we sent H to Gigi and Poppa's so we would have more room for sleeping arrangements. And thankfully we did.... a large group coming in after 3AM can be kind of loud! Ha!

Gigi is always great to send pictures when she has H. And by looking at them, it looks like H was perfectly fine being away from home! They went to the vet to work cattle with Poppa.

It must have been hard work because she needed a break to drink!

More helping Poppa... which caused her to step in cow poop so Poppa had to clean them off. I definitely heard "Me step poop, Poppa clean shoe" a million times when she got back! :)

Then it was off to the farm to help feed the cows and see Poppa's pets... The cat 'Fatso' and dog 'Bubba'.

Riding the buggy with poppa, sittin' in the tractor wheel with Gigi and then because she got dirty, poppa had to blow her off with the air hose! She thought that was super funny!

Then it was off to the park!

And back home to Momma and Daddy, where we got lots of pats and kisses!

I know Hadlea is always in good hands, no matter who has her. If I didn't trust them, they obviously wouldn't have her... but man, does it feel good to have her back home! I always find it so hard to sleep when she isn't around. After all, I probably look at her 100x a night on the monitor... kind of hard to do when she isn't with me! :)

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T12:42:00.000-05:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

....from my two favorite PIRATES to you and yours!

celebrating my 30s

2011-10-30T22:02:00.000-05:00

So many warned me about turning 30 that I started to be unsure on exactly how I would feel. Age has never bothered me before, after all, I barely feel mature enough, remember!? :-)

But if these last few months are any indication on how my 30s will be, I wish I would have turned 30 long ago!

My baby girl is at the funnest stage of her life! I know I say that with every stage, but she is just so funny these days... and definitely makes each day better and better!
I was gifted with 2 LVs, enough money to buy my Dallas Cowboy tickets (which I decided against), and a new car.
I received the best phone calls, text, emails, cards and fb messages from friends, old and new... enough to make you feel extra special!
I got to go back to homecoming, see my family, see tons of old high school friends and reminisce about the past! Definitely brought back ALOT of great memories!
And if all that wasn't enough, the best friends and family ever had a party to celebrate my day! My hubby, bff, Shannan, and SIL, Amanda, threw the greatest party ever...

Tons of friends and family showed up to celebrate. We all met at El Guapos for a Mexican dinner! My fav... they know me too well!

Shannan . Amanda . Becca/Jessica (sisters) . Mikki/Cat

SIL-Amanda/brother-Alan . Stephanie . SIL-Leslie . Mark/Deanna

BIL? :) My SILs brother-Josh or Uncle Joshie . brother-Jake . Jake/Nathan

After dinner, we headed to the Dust Bowl. It is an adult bowling alley. We rented out our own room, which had two lanes and a projection screen to watch the football games! PERFECT! I was a little unsure about bowling, but it ended up being so much fun! Obviously we are all a very competitive group!

The cake table decorations! Super cute!

Bowling! Baby brother and I . Cousins Shawna and Tyler

Top pics: Me . Jake. Joshie . Cat {little bitty Cat killed us all in bowling!}

Bottom pics: Amanda and then Alan grabbing Shannan's ball as she went to throw it. :)

The gang!

After bowling, we headed to the Treehouse, which ended up being really strange! So then it was on to Pink to dance! I definitely think this ended up being the funnest part of the night! Funny, funny times!

And a special thanks to my SIL and BIL for being the Pembrook taxi service! My sweet SIL was our DD and bussed us anywhere we wanted to go! Thanks Les! We love you!

The party was definitely one for the record books! I know so many other family and friends wanted to be there, but it just didn't work out for everyone! I am so thankful to all that came and all that wanted to be there! Thanks for the great memories! I am ready for a redo! :-)

pumpkins and pizza

2011-10-29T08:55:00.000-05:00

We had my SIL, nephew, niece and the Roumbanis family over for pizza and pumpkin carving! The kids had a great time, but I think Justin and Fred were the most into it!

I bought Hadlea a small pumpkin and paints, but she was way more interested in helping and watching the big kids! She had no issues sticking her hand in and pulling out the seeds! She just added a little, "Ewwweee Gross!" every once in awhile!

With the finished products!

Riley's, Fred's, Hannah's, Fred's, and Justin's. {Obviously you can tell which two are Fred's with the fish on them! Ha! ...and he did them free hand. Impressive!}

dinner and concert

2011-10-28T12:16:00.001-05:00

Nana and Rusty took us to dinner a week or so ago for my birthday. Hadlea wore a new dress and, of course, I thought she looked SO cute!

Even with no nap that day, she was in a GREAT mood and FULL of personality! She talked non-stop at dinner!

A couple days later, Justin and I went to a concert with Nana and our friends G and Taran. Rusty was supposed to go, but he came down sick the day of. Hadlea stayed at home with Alan and Amanda.

We went to see Don Williams, an older country music singer. When Justin told me he was coming to town, I was like, OK?! I guess his Grandma, Mom and Dad were big fans. But after hearing him, I totally remembered some of his songs. Well... I knew like 4 of them...

You're My Best Friend
Good Ole Boys Like Me {I don't think he sang this one, but it is probably the one I knew the most}
Tulsa Time {obviously people here in Tulsa went crazy for this one!}
It Must Be Love

10 years

2011-10-27T15:05:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month, I went back to Medford (where I grew up) and celebrated by 10 year high school reunion! SEVERAL of my Tulsa friends thought I was 'crazy' for having a 10 year reunion, but completely nuts for even thinking about going. Medford is my home... always will be. But going back to see all of my friends that I went to school with just makes it so much more special.

I think all but one in this picture went to school together our entire lives. They shaped me into the person I am today. I am so thankful for their friendship. We all might not be best friends or hang out or talk on a regular basis, but these people are just as much my family as my 2nd or 3rd cousins I see around the holidays. They have always been a part of my life... and always will continue to be!

Homecoming is huge in our little town. So many come back for all of the festivities.... football game, parade, luncheon, etc. The 10, 20, 30 year etc classes all ride in the parade. Our class went through this year and like always, we made the best of it. We threw candy to the little kiddos and had a great time laughing all of the way through!

This was Hadlea's first homecoming! ...and her first of many! She LOVED to pick up candy with daddy. I also had her an 'MHS' shirt made for the big day! Ha!

my sweet baby girl and I

And if you thought having a 10 year reunion was crazy, well you are going to think we have lost our minds to know we had a 5 year reunion as well! Here we all were 5 years ago. We had a cookout and reminisced about the old times!

And here we are at 10 years! I have to say everyone has aged well... if at all! :-) We had a cookout at Jonathon's house, looked at year books and pictures and spent more time reminiscing and telling stories. Several of us are married with kids now, so our spouses (none are from Medford) thought we were INSANE! Our class wasn't the best class. We had ALOT of crazy kids... which always make for REALLY good stories! Ha!

That evening we all met uptown at our local bar and had drinks! We had several upper and lower classmen in town so always great to see them and catch up too!

what she's saying wednesday & TLG

2011-10-26T14:25:00.000-05:00

I think I said this in my last post, but Hadlea is VERY vocal. I really need to get better at writing down the things she is saying. I really just write about the things I can think of at the moment, but her vocabulary is off the charts. Most of the things she says are bossy... which make me wish she wasn't saying them yet! :) She has no trouble telling us exactly how she feels or what she wants!

"Haddie Hussey", "Berk-y Hussey", "Mommy Hussey" and "Daddy Hussey" - Since Hadlea has learned her own name, she now says it all of the time. When Berkley gets in trouble we yell, "Berkley Huskey" (yes, we call him by his last name!). So of course, when Berkley gets in trouble, Ms Bossy Pants has to get onto him to saying, "Berk-y Hussey, No, No!". But now, when she wants Justin and I to do something, she yells at us, "Mommy Hussey, come here.", "Daddy Hussey, no, no." {Have I mentioned lately that she is BOSSY?!}
"No sing momma", "No dance momma" - I wondered when the day would come that Hadlea would be embarrassed by my singing and dancing. I really thought I had a few years, but these days, anytime I start dancing or singing with her she yells, "No sing/No dance momma, me sing/dance".
"Me no like it", "Me no want it" - Another fateful day... the day she started telling us things she didn't want or like. Just recently she started saying, "Me no like it" or "Me no want it".
"No thank you" - She has learned to say no thank you correctly, which about melts my heart. Except when I say, "Let's go take a bath" and she replies with, "No thank you". How do you argue that?! :)

I haven't posted about The Little Gym in a few weeks. Hadlea is STILL loving it...

And this week, Gigi was able to come to town and go with us! Hadlea 'LOVED' to show off for her!

I am about 100% sure I could NOT do this. And I would be lying if I said it takes everything I have not to try it on the high bar right next to her! :-)

cows and a funeral

2011-10-25T10:03:00.000-05:00

I am SO far behind on blogging, reading blogs, email, etc. I am hoping to get caught up this week on all of my pictures, posting, etc. I swear these last 3 weeks have been out of control busy. Just when I don't think I have anything to do, 5 more things show up. Work is getting busier again, which happens just before the holidays. So... hopefully this week slows down where I can get caught up!

Before heading to my Grandad's funeral, Hadlea and I stopped by the state fair to watch my nephew, Riley, show his heifer. Hadlea LOVED seeing all of the animals. Riley loved to show off both the heifer and Hadlea! Ha! Riley put his hat on his calf, which Hadlea thought was so funny!

Sunday evening, we had the viewing for my Grandad. I had planned to dress Hadlea in something more church-y, but she hadn't worn her new Halloween outfit! I just thought she looked so adorable!

Monday, October 10, we laid my sweet Grandfather to rest. The service was amazingly beautiful!

I wanted to remember at what age Hadlea was when we laid Grandad to rest, so I got a couple pictures of her before the funeral. I am so thankful for the memories I have of Grandad and Hadlea together.

project 365 - week 42

2011-10-24T12:14:00.001-05:00

You can find week 41 here!

10 years! We went back to Medford for my 10 year homecoming reunion. We had a cookout with my class. It was a GREAT time! It was so great to look at yearbooks and pictures and reminisce about the past! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!

Serious face! We had a busy weekend in Medford so once we got home we played outside. Hadlea was worn out and was kind of a bear, but swinging can always make her happy... whether she looks it or not! Ha!

Dinner with Nana and Rusty! Justin, Hadlea and I met Nana and Rusty for dinner for my birthday. Hadlea was in a great mood! Even with no nap, she was full of personality!

TLG! Hadlea had another great night at The Little Gym. Although she didn't want to follow directions or play with the other kids, she was still fun to watch! :)

Don Williams. Nana, Justin, Taran, G and I went to Don Williams at the casino. I knew very few songs, but he was great to listen to.

Sick/happy girl?! Hadlea got sent home from daycare yesterday with a fever so she could return for 24 hours. Ry and Hannah were out on fall break so Leslie, Ry and Hannah came to babysit. Hadlea loves having them so much that I don't think you could tell she was even sick!

Leslie and Hannah came back to keep H a second day. Obviously, H was in heaven again!

project 365 - week 41

2011-10-18T13:38:00.000-05:00

You can find week 40 here!

Showin' cows! Hadlea and I stopped by the fair to watch Riley show his cow. Hadlea loved to pet and talk to the cow, and Riley loved to show her off... the cow and Hadlea! It was so great to see the family before we headed south to Duncan for the funeral.

Viewing. Hadlea was dressed and ready to head to Grandad's viewing. I had planned for her to wear a church dress, but this outfit was just too cute to take off!

Funeral. Our dear Grandad was laid to rest with an amazing service. So thankful for the years with him!

Boots! I had to day off after the funeral so Hadlea stayed home. We went to run some errands, and she wanted to wear her boots! I thought she looked so big!

My 30th! Uncle Alan, Aunt Amanda and the Roumbanis family came over for a last minute cookout for my 30th birthday.

October 13: No Picture! :-( Busy day of work, packing and getting the boat winterized!

Juicy! Justin, Hadlea and I went to Medford for Homecoming. Hadlea wore her very first Juicy outfit from Aunt Amanda!

hadlea's 1st fair

2011-10-17T15:10:00.001-05:00

Justin and I debated back and forth about whether or not to take H to the fair this year. Of course, I wanted to go just to eat, Justin didn't care to go, and we assumed H would be too young to ride anything. But then Uncle Alan called and wanted us to bring H to the fair so she could go to the petting zoo. And who are we from keeping her from seeing her Aunt and Uncle?!

So we went... we got there before A&A so she road the carousel. She always loves this, but at $4 a ride, I was less than impressed! (side note: but how on earth do half of the people at the fair afford the fair?! I think the kids should get to go and enjoy it, however, it costs so much money!)

Daddy and H played a couple of games and won some animals.

Baby girl and I on another ride!

I think this has to be the funniest picture of Hadlea to date! She LOVED her first fair corn dog, but no idea why she stuck her finger up (which kind of looks like she is giving the bird if you look fast). Just hilarious!

And much to my dismay, she played on the jump house and slide. GERM city!

And then it was time for the petting zoo! After this, I was so glad we went! They had some of the craziest animals!

So I think H's first fair experience was perfect! But next year, I think we will send her with someone else that will enjoy paying for $4 rides... Auntie A, Gigi, Nana?! :-)

a birthday to remember...

2011-10-14T16:47:00.000-05:00

It happened. I turned 30. THIRTY. 30 years old! It still sounds VERY old... but yet, I don't feel a day over 25. Okay, so today I feel about 35 because I didn't get much sleep last night, but on a good day, I don't feel over 25! And if you remember THIS post, you know I do not feel mature enough to be 30. So... I can definitely say there were no melt downs, break downs or anything on my birthday! It was the perfect day!

It started with phone calls before 7AM... which I silenced and then turned my phone to silent because after all, it was MY birthday, and I was sleeping in! Ha! I received TONS of cards, calls, texts and facebook messages... 146 facebook messages to be exact! Great friends and family always know exactly what to say to make you feel so good!

That evening Alan and Amanda were coming over and then Fred and Julie called and said they were coming over, so we just did a last minute cookout. It was a great evening with great friends/family.

Hadlea got in some Uncle Alan playtime, and I am hoping Aunt Amanda got baby fever! Ha!

Baby Avery was THE BEST baby! He slept the entire time other than to eat once. I definitely loved to snuggle him and send him home! :-) Definitely no baby fever here!

And on to my amazing gifts... I swear, my family has to be THE MOST thoughtful people in this world. And if you remember THIS post again, you will remember I asked for two things. A LV bag and Dallas Cowboys tickets.

I definitely think I should make lists and/or posts for every birthday/holiday! Because they delivered!

For my Anniversary/Birthday, Justin got me the LV Neverfull. It is large and more like a tote, which is perfect for having Hadlea! I have pretty much started carrying it as her diaper bag. Since she eats off the menu when we go out, all she really needs is diapers/wipes. It is perfect!

For my Birthday, my brothers and SIL got me the LV Pochette. I have borrowed my SILs to go on vacation before as it fits my wallet, phone and camera perfectly.

And as for the Cowboys tickets, I actually received the money for them from my other family, however, I chose to be responsible and use the money for clothes. I REALLY need clothes. I only have one pair of jeans that I can ware since I have lost so much weight after being pregnant. It is definitely nothing to complain about other than everything looks so big! So... off on a shopping spree I will go and forgo seeing my beloved Cowboys. I know my day will come soon enough though!

I cannot forget to mention probably my biggest present. If you read THIS post about my parents trading my car and me buying theirs, then you probably already know. They just made me an offer that I couldn't pass up!

This was definitely one of my greatest birthdays to date. I know it is not always about the material things you receive, but this does show me how much my family cares about me, and they will never know how much I appreciate them and their thoughtfulness. But I can say it was very nice to be completely spoiled for a day! :-)

project 365 - week 40

2011-10-14T14:13:00.000-05:00

You can find week 39 here!

BBB! Justin and I went to Arkansas to the Bikes, Blues and BBQ with our friends Mark and Deanna. We went downtown to meet my little brother, Jake. Hadlea stayed at home with Gigi.

Happy girl! Hadlea, daddy and I played outside. She played in the water table before she got wet and stripped off all of her clothes!

Snake! Justin found a snake in our garage. It was probably just over 2 feet, but still... a SNAKE! Justin is deathly afraid of snakes, so it has definitely given the neighbors a big laugh! {and no idea why I cannot get this picture to rotate correctly}

Boots and sweats?! Hadlea decided to dress herself for daycare one morning. She had on tennis shoes until we were about to walk out of the house and then she wanted to change into her boots... no arguments from momma. Whatever makes her happy! :-)

Pumpkin Patch. I took a vacation day to attend the Parents As Teachers day at the Pumpkin Patch. Hadlea wasn't acting like she felt100% so we didn't get to stay long, but she did pick out Berkley a pumpkin. She was so proud to bring it home and show it to him! We then went to lunch with some friends, Allison/Finley and Emily/Cate.

Hadlea's 1st Tulsa State Fair! We met Uncle Alan and Aunt Amanda at the fair. Hadlea road a couple of rides, played in the jump house and fed the animals in the petting zoo!

And this is the only picture I took all day... I took a pic and sent it to Justin! Hilarious!

one little monkey...

2011-10-13T14:53:00.000-05:00

~~jumping~~ swinging on the ~~bed~~ drawer!?

As I walked into my kitchen the other night, this is what I seen! I about had a heart attack! I started to yell, but then thought I might startle her and make her fall! So I waited until she was done, told her she shouldn't do that because she could get hurt, and then said, do it one last time so I can take your picture!

And don't judge, I wouldn't be a good mother/blogger without getting this on film! Ha!

Thank so much for all of your comments, texts, emails, etc. about my Grandad. No doubt he is in a much better place than the rest of us! We have had so much going on lately and a busy few weekends coming up! Cannot wait to share... Oh, and someone {maybe me} turned the big 3-0! I cannot wait to share what I received!

project 365 - week 39

2011-10-08T10:03:00.003-05:00

You can find week 38 here!

Picture Day! I had bought Hadlea an outfit over the summer that I wanted her to wear for pictures. While it was a nice day, we went and took some!

What Hadlea does = what baby does!

Go Cowboys! Hadlea went to daycare supporting the Cowboys in MNF against the Redskins!

TLG! It was Little Gym night = Hadlea's LOVE!

Playdough time! Hadlea loves for me to make her glasses or holes to look through! Silly girl!

Meeting Avery William. We went to the hospital to meet baby Avery William who was born Sept 28 2011! Super sweet baby boy... super sweet jealous baby girl! Ha!

September 30: No picture. I volunteered the day at the Food Bank. Gigi came in for a visit and we spent the evening playing.

he's in a better place...

2011-10-07T21:28:00.002-05:00

October 6 will now be on my calendar as the day as I have dreaded for so many years. My grandad went to be with the Lord. This was my first grandparent to lose. I am so thankful for the years I got with my grandad, and I am so thankful he was able to meet Hadlea.

She will never remember meeting him, but I will have pictures to show her of her great-grandad. And man did he love her! He used to rave and rave about how smart his great-grandkids were! I am positive he told everyone about them and how they were the smartest kids on the planet! :-)

My Granny and Grandad did everything they could to attend my brother and I's sporting events. No matter how far the drive might have been, if they could make it, they were there! They will honestly never know what that meant to us. It is a great feeling as an adult to know that your grandparents loved and cared for you with everything they had.

I have no doubts that my Grandaddy is in heaven right now... seeing his other family members along with my cousin, Malisa. I am so jealous he is seeing her. But we have two amazing guardian angels now. Hadlea is now more than double protected! :-)

My grandparents are two of the most amazing, caring people in this world. They are giving... to their families, friends and church. They have instilled strong values in each of us that I hope I can also pass down to Hadlea.

I am thankful for the moments we shared together. I am thankful for the memories we had. I know he is in a much better place and no longer suffering. RIP Gdaddy. I will always love you!

my day as a stay-at-home mom

2011-10-05T21:16:00.000-05:00

The Parents As Teachers program that Hadlea belongs to has started doing monthly play dates. This month they were going to the pumpkin patch. It happened to be the same one that we went to last weekend with Gigi, but I thought she would love to go with other kids (or 'babies' as she calls them!).

I took a vacation day and we headed out... first off, getting a wagon! {Funny story about her outfit. When we bought the shirt, I thought it was red and white striped. I planned on her wearing her little red flats. We were running late this morning so thankfully I already new what she was wearing. I dressed her and we headed out the door. It wasn't until we were at our chiropractor appointment that I noticed the shirt was pink and white striped and NOT red! #proudmommamoment. Thankfully no one seemed to notice... or care enough to bring it up! ha!}

And next was picking out the perfect pumpkin. I asked her if she wanted to pick one for daddy. Her answer, "No. Berk-y".

Except she wanted Berk-y to have a little pumpkin.

Then it was back over to feed all of the 'babies'.

Oh if these little guys didn't get any bigger, I would be taking them home! They were precious!

After the pumpkin patch, we headed home for a little rest. Hadlea was acting very tired and like she had a little stomach ache. She hadn't had breakfast so I thought maybe she was just hungry.

For lunch, we headed to CFA to meet Allison/Finley and Emily/Cate. The girls were definitely more interested in playing than eating. They were so fun to watch! Hadlea is acting more and more like she wants to start potty training. Every once in a while when she pottys in her diaper, she FREAKS and has to be changed immediately. And of course it happened TWICE while at CFA! Oh... I am not ready for the potty trainings days, but I am ready for no diapers! :-)

I had planned to take H to the zoo after lunch, but she still seemed to be tired, so we headed home and she took an almost 2 hour nap. Once she was up, we spent the afternoon playing... babies, play dough, outside.

I could definitely get used to staying at home with her everyday, however, she is SO busy and completely wears me out! It is 9PM and I am exhausted and heading to bed after typing this. I 'normally' do not go to bed until close to midnight! No idea how some of you stay-at-home moms do it with busy kiddos!

Once daddy got home, we played outside, cooked dinner, did bath time and then H was already ready for bed... it was about 745PM. I guess I wore her out too! Ha!

I am so thankful for days like today. Just me and my baby girl. I definitely wished it could happen more often!

pinterest completion #1 & a snake

2011-10-04T12:59:00.001-05:00

I thought once I caved and joined Pinterest that I would mainly be pinning clothes or playroom ideas for Little Miss... however, those darn recipes keep popping up everywhere! They just look so darn good!

I pinned this Taco Cornbread Casserole a couple weeks ago, HERE. I have to admit, I did it selfishly. I LOVE Mexican food... or anything taco related. My husband, not so much. But he does love cornbread. So I thought, PERFECT, I can get my taco fix and he can have his cornbread!

It was delicious! I am not a big beans fan, so I left them out, but everything else was perfect! Hadlea even LOVED it! I would definitely recommend trying! {and for you non-pinners, (first, get with it and get an account. we can never have too many addictions! ha!) just click on the link above and then click on the picture. It will take you to the recipe.}

And for those of you with weak stomachs or have that tasty picture above in your mind and do not want to ruin it... STOP READING NOW!

Okay, you have been warned!

Last night after we did a little spring cleaning in the garage, I went to put H in the bath and Justin ran to put some stuff in the boat. He came running in the house, COMPLETELY out of breath and said something really fast. All I got was snake. If you know one thing about my husband, you will know that he is DEATHLY afraid of snakes. My 6'4" 230+ lb husband, is DEATHLY afraid of snakes! That guy is nuts... needless to say, he calls a neighbor to come hunt the snake down and kill it. It had crawled under our deep freeze so our neighbor had to pull him out with an old fishing pole.

While the guys were doing that, I was showing pictures of snakes to Hadlea on the Internet. We got in alot of hissing... She thought the snake was very funny! Her daddy... not so much! Ha!

But we, or I guess our neighbor, got him! And that is all that matters. Although, Justin wouldn't let the dog go outside the rest of the night because he was afraid there are more... I hate to tell him, but I am sure there are! :-)

And this pictures makes him look alot larger... he was about two feet long and probably the size of my finger around. But still a snake. Still VERY creepy!

I will spare you the video I took of him still moving and opening and closing his mouth while being headless. No idea why I find that so fascinating! But I do...

Now... go make that recipe! :-)

pumpkin patch, dr & BBB

2011-10-03T21:29:00.000-05:00

On Friday, I took the afternoon off to go volunteer with a group of co-workers at the Food Bank. I LOVE to volunteer, and I definitely need to make more time to do so. We put together food boxes that will be delivered to those that are less fortunate. I am always so humbled when volunteering. To think that some people sit and wait each month for those boxes... only filled with vegetables, fruit, protein and maybe cereal or breakfast bars. If there is one thing I did learn though... stop donating green beans or corn! The food bank has TONS. They need more meats/beans for protein or boxed meals. Another thing I learned is that you can volunteer at anytime, with big or small groups. Some have even had birthday parties there to give back! Kids cannot start until the age of 8, but I think that would be great to start with H when she is old enough... to receive gifts for your birthday, you must also give...

Gigi arrived on Friday. We cooked and hung out around the house. Hadlea has not been feeling well lately. We started to take her to Urgent Care that evening, but decided to wait and see her doctor on Saturday morning. H vomited on Thursday, but I thought maybe she had an upset stomach, but she hasn't been the same since. She pretty much did not eat all day Thursday or Friday. Friday evening, we were all trying to bribe her to drink so she didn't get dehydrated. We went to the dr Saturday and it seems she just had a virus. I guess several things are going around.

After the dr, we stopped by a pumpkin patch. I thought maybe getting H out of the house and outside would boost her spirits... WRONG! She did okay, but was still very whiny and clingy. We did get a few cute pics!

After the pumpkin patch, it was back home. H went down for a nap and daddy and I headed to Arkansas to spend the weekend with some friends. We were greeted by sweet Briggs!

Deanna is my bff from college. It was so good to spend some 'adult' time with her and catch up! Mark and Deanna got a babysitter for Courtney and Briggs so we could head out to the Bikes, Blues and BBQ event. I had never been, but I have heard about it for years! It was INSANE! I know I am getting too old when I think the crowd is too big for me! Ha! They expect over 300,000 people/bikes in a town of 65, 000. CRAZY!

My little brother, Jake, and some of his friends road their bikes over there so we got to meet up with them! Always good to see my sweet baby brother... and make sure he is behaving! Ha! {and sorry to have to add stickers over my husband's stupid hand gestures! That guy will do anything to ruin my pictures! Ha!}

We got up Sunday morning and headed home to be back in time to take Gigi to lunch for her 60th birthday! Instead of going out, we picked up food and took it home so her and H could continue to play! After eating, H went down for a nap and Gigi and I headed out shopping! Fun mother/daughter time!

After shopping and Gigi leaving, Daddy, H, Berkley and I all headed outside. I think we played in the backyard for like 5 hours! Hadlea was SO funny! I definitely think she was feeling better!

We have had two baby swings on the swing set since we got it. We decided to take one down and put up a regular swing. She decided instead of swinging regularly that she wanted to swing on her belly. She HAS to see kids at school do this. I have never done this, but she knew right away what to do. Even running forward and then kicking her feet up to swing... Hilarious! That girl has NO FEAR!

and the cutest face ever!

And proof of no fear!

She did fall head over heels a couple of times and ended up flipping over the swing...

but that obviously didn't stop her from getting back on! Ha!

I don't think I posted this video from the other day... my talented 'almost' two year old! :-)

a great weekend & a birthday

2011-10-02T21:25:00.028-05:00

We had an AWESOME weekend!

Gigi was in town. 'Nough said for Ms H! :-)

We hit the pumkin patch...

got to see my bff from college friend...

and played all afternoon outside with Hadlea and daddy!

Weekends don't get much better! Only drawl back, a trip to the dr for H. More on all of the details later!

But we cannot end the day without saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of the greatest women in our lives! Gigi turns the big 6-0 today! Yes, SIXTY! And so many of my friends have mentioned that she DOES NOT look 60... which I have to agree!

Gigi got to spend her birthday weekend with Hadlea, her one request! Ha!

Gigi, we love you more than words can express. You are the most selfless person, which I am positive I have wrote in many other posts. You are constantly looking for ways to make others happy, other than doing things to make yourself happy! We look up to you in so many ways! Thanks for always being there anytime we call! We love you so much!

meeting baby boom

2011-09-29T21:11:00.000-05:00

The Roumbanis Family had their second little boy yesterday, Wednesday, September 28. We were able to go visit him today, and it 'ALMOST' gave me baby fever! Ha! He was so sweet and slept the entire time. Hadlea wasn't really into momma holding the baby unless she was in my lap too. She did love to pat Avery and tell him how "cute" he was!

Fred's fishing name is "Boom Boom" so Baby Avery has already been referred to as Baby Boom II.

Avery William . 8lbs 8 ozs . 20 3/4 in