Hadley Grace is 23 Months old!

This is the last time Hadley’s age will ever be measure in months, from this point forward she will simply be a 2 year old, then a 3 year old…

It is amazing to me how much she has “grown-up” in the past couple months. Here are some of my favorite highlights of this month:

• She is very polite and almost always, without being prompted, uses please and thank you
• She can sing her ABC’s pretty well, she does better when someone sings with her
• She can also sing Twinkle, Twinkle, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Patty Cake
• I don’t necessarily like this, but she does summersaults all the time, again I am not sure where she picked this up
• She is increasingly sweet and is quick to say I’m sorry if she did something she knows she shouldn’t have
• She loves to clean, anytime anyone tries to clean she has to help, whether it be cleaning the carpets, vacuuming, sweeping, or cleaning the toilet she wants to help, or as she say I want to try.
• She has added Diego and Blue to her favorite characters on tv, oh and of course Elmo…
• She loves to color- LOVES it!
• She likes to be outside and really likes to slide. She has even attempted to make my legs a slide that she can slide down
• The potty training is moving along rather nicely, she is getting pretty good about saying she needs to go and actually going when she gets on the potty.
• She is great about communicating what she wants and knows how to ask politely
• I hate to say this for fear it will stop, but she pretty much sleeps without waking up once she gets to sleep (however, lately she has not been wanting to go to sleep until about 2 hours after her bedtime, this is not good)
• She had her second Thanksgiving and seemed to love turkey and dressing and all the good stuff as much as she did last year; she particularly like the cranberry sauce
• She loves dog/puppies, she made a friend in my step brother’s dog Lilly
• She is just a mess! She is a happy girl most of the time and loves to play, many mornings she wakes up and says “I want to play,”


She is just a joy to be around, we have our moments, but mostly she is just a fun loving little girl. She loves to laugh and read and play. She loves all her friends at daycare, especially her BFF Bryce, those two cause a lot of trouble!! She is just a character that brings so much happiness into my life. It’s funny to see how similar in personality we are, I think this is what causes us to bump heads (both figuratively and literally) every once in a while. I am excited to be celebrating her second birthday in a month…it really just seems like yesterday that I was pregnant…crazy!!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

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It is almost December and we are really getting into the holiday spirit. I am pretty excited about this time of year with Hadley, because unlike last year she is more aware about what is going on. We have been listening to Christmas music, talking about the Christmas story with the help of Little People Nativity, playing Christmas games on the IPad, dancing like reindeer, “ho, ho, hoing” about. It’s been fun. I am excited about the things we have coming up in the next few weeks. Hadley will be taking her Santa pictures Saturday morning. We have a Christmas parade next weekend, there are Christmas cookies to make, Christmas lights to see, and a Christmas party at her school. It is just a fun, festive time of the year. I am doing the best I can to make an almost 2 year old understand why we have Christmas and am not really playing up the whole presents thing, in fact, I don’t think I have even mentioned it really, so she is going to be in for a surprise.

Hadley has just been really fun lately. She is so full of personality. She loves to dance and has turned into quite the little ballerina. She like to grab onto the counter and do arabesque, I don’t know where she gets this stuff! I am pretty sure that we will be looking into dance lessons this summer, she will be two and half then and she seems to have a real interest in dance, so we may give it a shot. I am just not sure how much she will enjoy dancing at the instruction of someone else.

I picked up our stockings yesterday. I had then embroidered with our names on then and I am very happy with them, I think Ty are very fitting for us both, so yay!

Thoughts for Thanksgiving

It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a thankful post, would it? I have much to be thankful for, this has been a great year for me and Hadley.

So in no particular order, here is what I am thankful for this year:

• That my mom has relocated here, it has been awesome to have a family member that is closer than four hours away- both me and Hadley are beyond thrilled that she is here
• I am thankful for my job. I love what I do and I LOVE the people I work for and the people I work with. I am thankful for an amazing partner in crime. Having Kristi in the office has made my job even more awesome- she is a team player and an amazing friend!
• I am thankful for my friends, especially those that love me even though I am not always the best at keeping in touch; it is hard to juggle friendship and single motherhood sometimes. I have so many women that make me laugh, check on me, motivate me, and just are there for me- words can’t express my gratitude for these people!
• My church: I have called Lakepointe home for over two years now. I love the friendships I have made through serving and bible study, I love that Hadley loves it there, I just love everything about it, here’s hoping this is the church that Hadley grows up in
• Technology: I am thankful for my iphone and ipad, they both make it infinitely easier for me to stay in touch with people, whether it be email, facebook, or skype…I love how it keeps everyone connected. I also love how I am doing my principal certification entirely online; I never will have to set foot in a classroom.
• On the same token, I am thankful for education- I love being a part of the educational system and I also love that I continually find ways to be a student- I love school, what can I say?!?!
• Of course family, I have mentioned friends and would be remiss to not mention my family. I have great parents and extended family- they all have made me who I am today and for that I am grateful
• Stand-up comedy; I have taken to listening to various standup comedy stations on Pandora during my drive to and from school; it is just a nice way to start and end the day!
• Hadley’s DVD player, it makes car trips much more entertaining for her, and she learns a lot from Dora, or Blue, or Elmo
• DVR- I don’t think I could live without it, I am sorry I love to watch TV and I have so many shows that I love, it wouldn’t be possible to catch them all on live TV
• I am thankful that Hadley and I are both fairly healthy, fortunately we have had no major health issues
• I am thankful that Obama won the election, there I said it…
• I am thankful for dr. pepper, I can’t start the day without it
• The Aggies and the awesome season they are having, glad that others are finally giving A&M the respect it deserves---WHOOP!
• I am thankful that I am able to do it on my own, sure it isn’t easy, but I am glad that I am in a position that I can. I am also thankful that I can lead by example and show Hadley that she doesn’t have to depend on a man. That was a powerful lesson my mom made sure I learned, and who knows where I would be today had she not made sure I understood that.


Really this is a relatively short list. I truly am thankful for so much, not just on Thanksgiving, but it is nice to take a moment to reflect on all the blessing I have in my life. At the top of that list is my precocious, rambunctious, strong willed, sweet natured, beautiful, fun, intelligent, happy little girl; Hadley truly is the best thing that has ever happened to me; my life would not be nearly as exciting if it weren’t for her. She makes all the hardships, the bad days, the stumbles, worth it. Hadley and I are two lucky girls; we are surrounded by so many blessings. I hope that I am raising a daughter with a thankful heart.

Balloons and a feast

It has been a while since I have done an update…so here is what we have been up to.

The biggest excitement around our house has been balloons. I bought six for Hadley’s birthday pictures that we took last weekend, and they have been a constant source of entertainment for her. She loves to carry them around the house or kick them, or try to bite them. It has been really exciting for her!



Today was the Thanksgiving feast at Hadley’s school. The contrast from this year to last is crazy. Literally the Thanksgiving feast at school last year was the first time she had a meal that was not a puree. I was a nervous wreck at each bite, afraid she would choke. This year was a breeze. She loves mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and gobble (or turkey to those that are not 22 months old). She had a great time chowing down, and as an added bonus my mom got to go with us. Hadley seemed really excited to have us both there. It is just really nice to be able to have a job that I can get away and be a part of these little celebrations. Next on the list, Santa comes to read stories (oh and as an added bonus, my principal plays Santa).



I am feeling pretty stressed about Christmas. I haven’t done ANYTHING…no shopping no decorating, nothing. I think this weekend while Hadley is with her father, I might take advantage of the time and put up some decorations. Since we are going to Humble for Thanksgiving, I want it done before then, so we can come back to a decorated home. I get all panicky if I don’t have my decorations up before December…

Our weekend...

Let me start off by saying, how the heck is Thanksgiving next week?!?! Time sure is flying…



I finally took myself to the doctor, well really the minute clinic in CVS, on Friday. I just wasn’t feeling any better, and was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. Things were pretty slow Friday at work, so I took that to mean I should go on and go to the clinic. I got there and there was no wait at all, a stark contrast to the 17 person wait I faced Sunday. I did in fact have a sinus infection, so I got some antibiotic for that, as well as some allergy nose spray, and drops for my eye to hopefully stop these styes from popping up.

The weekend was sort of a lazy weekend, but with the holidays around the corner, I don’t see another one of those happening for a long while, so we enjoyed the lazy time. We basically hung around the house Saturday playing and such. We went to church on Saturday night because we had our Christmas cards scheduled for Sunday at 10. I am really glad we decided to that. It was a great service, we had communion and they had a parent dedication; I just love those parent dedications and those sweet babies. During the service, my phone vibrated. I thought it was the parent pager paging me that something was wrong with Hadley, but it was something way better. It was my ESPN app letting me know that A&M had BTHO Alabama- talk about awesome. It was a proud moment for Aggies everywhere, my Facebook feed was filled with Whoops and Gig ‘ems, I loved it!!! When we got home we had some yummy shrimp creole made by yours truly. I just kind of threw it together, I didn’t really stick to a recipe and it was probably the best I have had in a while.

Sunday morning I had to rush around finding balloons for Hadley’s birthday pictures. She loves balloons like you wouldn’t believe (we live by a car dealership, so we drive by cars with balloons on them every day, and she literally squeals with delight, every time we drive by them) and I thought it would be super cute to include them in some shots. It rained for about 30 minutes before our timeslot, and I thought for sure we would have to reschedule, but miraculously the rain stopped just in time. We were doing Christmas photos for Christmas cards and also Hadley’s second birthday pictures. I used the same photographer I used about a year ago, that takes amazing photos, so I was really excited to use her again (Sassyflash Photography, look her up on Facebook if you are local). She has sent me some previews and they are so good. Hadley, in true Hadley fashion, had a few meltdowns along the way. Most photographers would get annoyed, but she thought it was perfect for a two year old and some great shots of the tantrum, I LOVE IT- it truly does capture all that is Hadley.



Here are a few of my favorites….

Thoughts about family

**As a warning, I just sat down to write this post, so it is in a stream of consciousness, it might be a bit choppy, but I think the point is clear**

Sometimes when I am driving, or doing some random thing, I get an idea in my head. An idea that I think could possibly make a good topic to blog about. About a week ago, I got to thinking about families.

Isn’t funny how different everyone interprets the word family. I mean at some point in time everyone is a part of family, and yet what that actually looks like can vary so much. As an educator, I get to see all different types of family, I see how family dynamic can affect a child, I see how lack of family involvement can impact a child, and I have seen the whole gamete. Even within my own extended family, I can see differences within each nuclear family. People perceive familial roles different. I gew up in what I think is a pretty matriarchic family, but I know this is not how all families are. On both sides of my family I have seen what society might call nontraditional families, and in a lot of ways, these version of family seem more comfortable, or knit more tightly than those that follow more rigid definitions of family. What I have learned is this, there is not one way to define a family.

This fact got me to thinking about my very own family.

I am the product of what I guess you would call a blended family. I am also the only child of my two parents. My dad is the baby of six, and my mom is the only child who was raised by her grandparents, because her parents were tragically killed in a car accident when she was two. My dad’s parents divorced, basically because my grandfather was having an affair with my now step grandmother. My dad was really close to his mother, not so much his father. I think all of this is important to note because I think in some way or another it makes a difference in who I am today.

My mom in a lot of ways of different as a mother than I am, I think a lot of this has to do with how she raised and the fact that she did not have a mother. My mom wanted to be a stay at home, that was something she enjoyed and had it been financially prudent she probably would have been happy doing just that (I want to point out she is a college educated woman, so education was important, but a career probably wasn’t stressed so much). I think being what she perceived as a good mom was really important to her- she wanted to give me what she didn’t have; as most moms do. Believe me, my mom is a FANTASTIC mom, I know that she 100% is always there for me- no matter what- so mission accomplished I would say.

My dad is a whole different story. My dad is very supportive, I know he is proud of me and I know that if he can help me in any way he will. We are not exactly super close, but he loves me and I love him and that is all that matters. Usually my dad is on a need to know basis, there is pretty much an understanding that when I call my dad it is because I need something, or something has happened. That is just how it has been. Oddly enough, I think me and my dad are very similar despite the amount of time we spend together…go figure.

When my mom and step dad got married, I was 8, so pretty much my stepdad, and step brother and sister have always been a part of my life…in theory. For a while, for the most part it was great. Everyone got along, we had family get togethers, we celebrated holidays and birthdays and saw each other all the time. It was pretty much a great example of what a blended family could look like. I mean really, it seemed as if everyone was happy. Sadly, that isn’t how it is today, not at all. I rarely see my step siblings, and they seem to prefer it that way. It makes me sad that these people that I loved that were basically a part of most of my memories growing up, are no longer really a part of my life at all. I see them maybe once a year. Everyone is cordial, but that is all it is. As I raise Hadley and as I get older, I see how important family is. It makes me think a lot about the state of my own. Especially as we get into the holiday season. There are tons of things I wish were different and there are also so many things I am so incredibly grateful for. Despite the “shortcomings” I have a pretty great support system in my family, and even my extended family. In a lot of ways Facebook has helped me stay connected to several of my cousins, and that has been pretty cool too.

However different/crazy/dysfunctional one might perceive my family to be, I truly believe family is super important, they are your backbone. I have also come to the conclusion that truly great friends become a part of your “family.”

I guess this point is this, at the end of the day, I hope I impress upon Hadley the importance of family, and that she will grow up feeling like she has a strong support system in her family. I would not be the person I am today without my family, they have rallied for me in SO MANY ways over the past 28 years, and I am blessed that I can say I have an incredible trio of parents that I know are there to celebrate the good times and to be shoulder to cry on in the bad times.

Lately and pink eye

I have been neglecting this little blog here lately. I guess it is mostly because I have been fighting this sinus infection funk and haven’t felt like doing much of anything. I am slacking in lots of areas- I am not going to the gym as often as I would like; I am tired by 8 almost every night, and sadly asleep easily by 9. I am slowly turning into an old lady…although on that last one who am I kidding, I have always liked to go to bed early, I am just not a night owl-shoot me.

Today is election day, and I hope that everyone gets out there to vote. I did my civic duty and voted early. My vote most likely will not count in my state, but that doesn’t matter, at least I exercised my right that so many women have fought for in history…so yay to the 19th amendment, right?!?!

This weekend Hadley was with her father, so I had plenty of time to get my house clean, like really clean, do laundry, work out, and just relax- I thought that by doing nothing, I would feel a little better Monday, and for the most part that was mostly true. I tried to get in at the minute clinic at CVS after church on Sunday, but there were 17 people in front of me, and they are required to take an hour and a half lunch break, so they pretty much said come back another day. I had planned to do that, but then yesterday happened…

I was at work and got a call from the day care- they thought Hadley had pink eye. Her eyes were gooey and crusty and she was rubbing them and crying. So I had to go get her and luckily got her into the doctor right away. I was talking to one of Hadley’s most favorite teachers and we had to have a laugh at how dramatic Hadley is. Once she figured out something was wrong with her eye, she kept pointing to her eye all pathetically, I mean she is just a drama queen...

The doctor gave her some drops and already this morning it looked MUCH better, which is great because we are taking Christmas card photos this weekend…here’s hoping that I don’t catch it, since it is so highly contagious. I had never had any run ins with pink eye until I had Hadley and she was in daycare. This is her third or fourth time with it…I guess that just comes with the territory of having a child in daycare.



Here are some random photos from the last few days…

Happy Halloween!!

Last night was Halloween, as if that is news to anyone. Now that Hadley has two Halloweens under her belt I think it is safe to say we have started some traditions.

I am always thankful for my job, but even more so around this time of year. There are lots of exciting things happening at Hadley's school through the holiday season and that all starts with her Halloween party; I am beyond luck that I am able to get away from my office to make an appearance and snap some pictures. They get to wear their costumes to school and go trick or treating at all the other classrooms. Last year Hadley was just barely walking and didn't really get it; she was content to munch on the paper sack she was given to collect candy in. This year was a whole different world, she practically lead her class door to door, said "trick-or-treat" and "thank you." I was really proud, she did so great.

After the class was done trick or treating, they headed back to their classroom for their little party. Pretty quickly after they got into the classroom, it was time to put their candy away, and pretty much every kid started crying.  I love this picture below, I was able to capture Hadley and her BFF Bryce crying at the same time, but both looked right at me...too funny!

 

Hadley and Bryce have been in the same class for pretty much forever, they are so sweet together. They are always playing together and have a way of talking to each other it is just so cute!

 

They had their party/lunch, then it was time for mommy to sneak away and head back to work. Later that night, we met up with my friend Jill at her parents' house in Forney. This has become our tradition too. It was pretty fun this year, my mom got to come and we added Courtney and her adorable little ghost Evie, and Jill's niece Amelia was able to walk along this year (last year she was just a tiny baby!). Last year we were more or less spectators and Jill's mom helped me out tremendously by carrying Hadley for most of the night. 

 This year,  I was actually pretty worried about how trick-or-treating wold go, if you have ever met Hadley, you know she is a pretty stubborn little thing. She is little Miss Independent and thinks she can do everything on her own. This worried me, how would she do walking on a sidewalk in a group, going door to door? Would she run in the street? Would she throw a fit? Well, I worried for nothing, because overall she did AWESOME! She walked right up to the door and knew what to do. She got so excited about getting candy (candy that she will eat very little, if any of). She walked for about an hour, before she started showing signs of being tired. We had a wonderful time and a pretty great group too. I am glad that we have friends nearby with kids, it just makes Halloween that much more fun! Here are some pictures from the night (another perk of having my mom here was I could focus on Hadley and chase after her, and she could take pictures- that's a win to me!)