Happy first birthday, Hadley!

August 26, 2014

Dear Hadley,

Today you turn one. We cannot believe how fast the time has flown by! You have changed so much over the year and we are excited to watch you grow. You are such a funny little girl. You love to make people laugh, which means you are usually doing something you shouldn't be doing. You have a bit of a temper but also the kindness of hearts. You become frustrated easily when you can't do something because you want to do everything. You're smart as a whip which I think is why you become frustrated so easily. We already know you're going to be a handful when you get older! You remind us so much of your Aunt KK when she was little. You love to wave to everyone and clap at everything you do. Recently, you've been crazy about writing on paper. You love to try and hold a pen in your hand like a "big girl" and write on paper. You've always adored kitties and your passion for them keeps growing. We have many kitty shirts, stuffed animals, and even a dress!

Now that mommy is back to work you have started a new daycare. You've only been there a week and a half but are adjusting pretty well. Mornings are still difficult when daddy drops you off but once you start playing you have good days. Your teachers tell us it takes a few weeks, even months, to adjust to the morning drop off. My favorite part of the day is picking you up. You usually scream with excitement to see me! You give me many hugs and kisses. You will also lean around (while I'm holding you on my left hip) to look at my face and just smile. It's the best!

You have been a nursing champ! We are very slowly weaning (because of all of our changes going on lately) and hopefully in a few months there will be no more nursing. I am a little sad but happy to have my body back to myself as well. After you were born I wasn't sure how this would all work out for us but it has been better than I've ever imagined. I can't say there were no hard times (there were plenty of tears) but it's been work it! I'm happy I could help you get the best nutrition for you during your first year of life.

It has been a pleasure getting to know you and being your parents during this first year of your life. We look forward to the many more years to come! Not only are we celebrating YOU today but we are also celebrating that you, me, and daddy all survived!

We love you our sweet Hadder Bear!

XOXO,
Mommy

Height/Weight

24lbs 30in

Diapers

Size 4! 

{I just bought 2 cases so hopefully you stay in them for a while. You don't seem to be growing as fast--knockonwood}

Clothes

Wearing 12 months and buying 18 months for this winter.

Feeding

You love to eat all solids! The only things you don't seem to like are the snacks at daycare like Pop.tarts, Nutri.grain bars, and other packaged snacks. To be honest, we are really happy you don't like them. This was the only part of the daycare we didn't like (snack choices) but we couldn't base it on that (everything else is wonderful). You love chicken nuggests, blueberries, pancakes, and hummus.  See letter above for more feeding.

Sleep

You have been doing amazing considering all you've been through. We've already moved twice (and still have another--more to come), started a new daycare, mommy went back to work, horrible teething, and a cold. So waking up once a night is something we can handle, especially when you usually go back to sleep on your own.

Where did the time go?

I can't believe how quickly life passes you by. I never intended to stop blogging. I just became...well, busy. I want to jump back on the horse again. Josh wants me to as well. He loves that I'm keeping a "journal" of our life. So, I thought now is better than ever to start back again. Now, being the eve of Hadley's first birthday.

Where did the time go...

Five on Friday!

{one}

 Hadley turned eight weeks old on Monday. Crazy times!! Tomorrow she turns two months (because it's the 26th). I'm sad that the newborn stage is slowly ending but we love watching her grow and experience new things. I'm so excited for her to have Christmas this year but at the same time, it will be much more fun next year when she gets it. I know four months will be different than two but she still won't understand what is going on. I really want to get pictures with Santa this year but J thinks she's too young. What age do you think Santa pictures should start? I've totally seen babies with Santa!

{two}

  

It snowed this week. SNOW! In October!! This rarely happens. In fact I only remember it snowing once before my birthday and that is when I lived two hours north of Columbus while in college. I'm totally not ready for snow. And I'm pretty sure my flowers are officially dead.

 

We busted out this little Halloween onesie that one of my sweet piano students gave H. It definitely kept her warm, but girl is a little toaster so by the time we got home from running a few errands she was sweating! It's just too cute though!

{three}

Speaking of my birthday (see above), I turned 29 yesterday. Scary!! We had a very low key day but I was so thankful to spend it at home with this girl. I told Josh not to get me anything this year since I'm taking a (unpaid) leave of absence at work until December to be home with our girl. That is present enough! He did bring me home some beautiful flowers though. Also, my crockpot is now longer heating up. SAD DAY! It's only two years old. Anyone experience this before?

{four}

I definitely wanted to get out of the house on my birthday so we headed over to Target. I decided I would treat myself to a Salted Caramel Mocha at the Starbucks. To my surprise, I got my drink for free because they were out of salt! Happy birthday to me!

While we were there I wanted to look at flat irons. I've probably had mine since 2004. No lie. And before that my sister used it for about a year. It's OLD. I don't use a straighten every day so I don't want an expensive one. I usually have great luck with Conair products and found this one. Does anyone use this Infiniti Pro straightener? How do you like it?

{five}

My parents came over for a birthday dinner last night. We were going to go out but by the time they got off work it would have been too late. I made Pioneer Woman Lasagna over the summer, so I decided to have that with salad and garlic bread. OH MY GOSH. You have to make this lasagna. It is SO good and it freezes so easily!

To end the night, H and I were both in tears. She has been on a pretty strict sleep schedule lately. She gets a bath around 530, eats, and goes to sleep. Well, last night she fell asleep while my mom was holding her around 6:30. Pretty typical. Stupid me told my mom to put her in her bouncy seat while we ate. Bad decision. She woke up 30 minutes later in a fit, which continued until about 9:30 pm. She finally fell asleep around 10 pm. Thankfully, for the both of us, she slept 6 hours. She ate again and then slept 3 more. When I woke her up at 9 am (she usually gets up at 8), she was in a fantastic mood and has been happy ever sense. Girlfriend needs her schedule desperately!!! We will never make that mistake again!

What would we do without video monitors? I feel so spoiled by them but I am so very thankful for them!

Hello 29!

The past year has without a doubt been the best year of my life. There were many ups and downs, like every year, but the most amazing little thing came into our lives during my 28th year and that would be Miss Hadley.

Even birthdays have always been good to me. When I was 24, I married the best husband and father, Josh. Then on December 14, 2012 our lives changed forever at the age of 28 when we found out I was pregnant. These two events are so different but they're also so amazing and life changing they are in their own ways.

I really don't have any feelings towards 29. I'm mean really it's nothing too special. Yes, it the last year in my 20s but I'm okay with that. While I'm not looking forward to anything age wise for myself, I am looking forward to all the days ahead with my sweet little family. It's crazy how when you turn a certain age you look forward to things that involve yourself--driving, rated R movies, voting (was I the only one excited about this?), buying alcohol, graduating college, or even getting married (not that has to happen at any certain age). But now that I am married and have my sweet Hadley, everything is different. My age is just another year I get to remember with my husband, daughter, family and sweet friends.

So this year while I hope not to stress as much or worry about silly things (pshhh, like that will happen), I want to focus on spending time with my new family and making traditions of our own.

Cheers to 29!

Happy 30th Birthday!

J's 30th birthday was on May 31st, however we celebrated with our families over Memorial Day weekend. We've done the same Sunday for the past five years and he loves every bit of it!

This year J asked me if we could have his "party" at my parents. He likes that their house is out in the country so there is a lot of space for everyone. Plus if it were to rain, which it was calling for, everyone can sit comfortably inside...that's not possible in our house! In the end it made it easier for me not worrying about people being our house while it was up for sale. I have enough stress so it was nice just packing everything up and going over there.

A little over a month ago I had planned to have an old comic book themed party. Later we renamed it to the onomatopoeia party (pow, crash, boom). I didn't tell him what I had ordered and he was pretty excited when he saw it. Usually I go to a local party store for the plates and napkins, but they didn't have this theme, so I ordered online!

We even had some balloons--only for your 30th!

I told J I would get him any cake or dessert he wanted for his birthday. I was hoping he would have let me order something just to be easier, but he picked his favorite go-to birthday cake--yellow cake with chocolate icing and it had to be from a box. So I tried to decorate it a bit. 

I even bought store colored icing which I hate and is usually a big no-no but it was so much easier!

Dinner consisted of yummy Pioneer Woman Sandwiches, pickle slaw, mac and cheese, chips, and watermelon. You can find the menu here.

Finally Emily and I made these fancy birthday banners just in time for J's birthday! I'll post a tutorial sometime this week! I love how it turned out and it was perfect for our fire place!

Overall, I think J had a great birthday with his family and friends. He only got a few small things from me because he went on a big camping (cabin) trip with his friends the weekend before. I'm just thankful that everyone made it safely and enjoyed the time for him.

Menu Monday: Pickle Slaw

Last week we celebrated J's 30th birthday, which was May 31st. I decided to go with a pretty easy menu that was yummy for summer time. I actually let him pick out the main part of the meal (sandwiches) then I added the rest. Oh, he also request Stouffer's Mac & Cheese. I was excited to make homemade but I can't argue with the birthday boy!

I love a good coleslaw, especially with BBQ. A coworker gave me a delicious recipe for a pickle slaw. It's similar to regular slaw but much different at the same time. It's so good! But if you don't like pickles then you will not like this.

Looks similar, right?

One key ingredient in this recipe is the pickles. You must use Farmers Garden by Vlasic. They are delicious! With the mixture of red peppers. carrots, and onion in the jar it gives them a great flavor. I think they're a little crunchier too!

Here is how you make it:

1 bag of of slaw (you can make it homemade but the bag is easier)

1/2 cup mayo

fresh dill to taste (start with 1/4 c.)

Pickles to taste (I started with 4)

Pickle juice (1/2 cup but I added more)

salt and pepper

Basically this slaw is going to depend on your taste. If you want it to have a little more liquid, add more pickle juice. If you like the dill flavor, add more! I actually like to make it then let it sit overnight and let all the ingredients blend together. It's something a little different and was a big hit!

I gave J a couple of options for the main part of dinner. We talked about burgers and bbq but we get that at every picnic or summer party (although I can never turn down bbq). When he asked me for other options I went straight to my favorite blog--Pioneer Woman. We love everything she makes!

I found these Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches and knew that J would love them (he did). I also liked that I could change up the recipe with different meats, cheeses, and sauces.

I should have warmed it before I took the pic!

PW's look much better

These sandwiches were all made the morning of, then I just popped them into the oven about 20 minutes before it was time to eat and wallah! I made half roast beef and half ham. I did make two with Cheez-whiz, which J's brother enjoyed! They were huge sandwiches and we even had extra. I loved that they were hot (so I could eat them), gooie, and delicious!

Happy Menu Monday and don't forget to link up!

Random Acts of Kindess

As you may have read, yesterday I started my twenty-eight random acts of kindness in 28 days to celebrate my 28th birthday.

Did ya get that?

I don't have a list of what I plan on doing each day but I do have a "to-do" list of ideas that I would like to accomplish. Will I get to all of them? Probably not. Will I think of others on the way? Definitely! I also hope that I am put in to situations where I am needed.

I asked all of you in my post yesterday to participate in at least one day if you could. At the end of the 28 days, on October 24th, I will post a link up where you can share with me what you did. I'm already so excited to see everything! If you can't join in the link up, then you're welcome to just shoot me an email or leave a message and I can add it in my post.

I also shared this "event" (what would you call it?) with my students at school. Their reaction was nothing that I expected. They have decided to use a class notebook to record their acts of kindness. All of the students in the class can write down what they did in this journal. They can also go back and read other entries. At the end of the 28 days, they said that I can keep it (wahoo!). For 5th graders, I was very impressed with their journal idea and at the fact they really wanted to participate.

With that, I will leave you with my list of ideas. If you have any to add, feel free to leave a comment below. I'm always trying to think of other ideas and those that require little to no money are great too!

• Pay for someone's {coffee} order in the line behind me
• Leave an extra tip for your waitress
• Write/Send a Thinking of You card to a friend
• Invite a friend over for dinner
• Take your neighbor's trashcans up to the garage
• Make a special treat for your coworkers
• Let the person in line behind of you at the store go in front of you
• Renew an old friendship by sending them a letter
• Leave a small token of appreciation for the mailman
• Help out a family member or friend
• Write notes of appreciation
• Say something nice to everyone you see that day
• Donate clothing
• Put quarters into the grocery carts at Aldi
• Write anonymous, loving post it notes for strangers to find them
• Pre-pay vending machines
• Ask others what you can do to help them
• Leave the nice parking spots for other people
• Clean up a school's playground
• Take a friend out for coffee (your treat)
• If you see an older person or soldier eating alone, pay for their meal
• Send a dessert to another table

There are so many wonderful things that you could do to make someone smile. I can't wait to hear what you have done and other ideas that you have!

Thanks for participating!!

In 28 days... (you're going to want to read this)

In 28 day I will be 28 years old.

While this may not be a big mile stone, I feel like so much has changed in the past year. We made so many changes in our home. I graduated with my masters in administration. I moved up to teach 5th grade. I finally feel {somewhat} organized at home. I feel like life is coming together. *knock on wood*

I'm pretty sure 28 is going to be a good year for me, which is why I want to start it off with a bang and I need your help!

Every year when my birthday roles around and my parents ask me what I want and I can never think of anything. I feel truly blessed to have everything that we do have. I really have to think about what I really want because I don't really need anything. It actually makes me feel bad. There are so many bad and dramatic things going on in the world, that I want to do something good. I want to make someone else happy or surprised because it just makes you feel amazing!

So starting today I want to give back for my birthday. I want to take the next 28 days to do twenty-eight random acts of kindness and I want you to join in too! You don't have to do one every day, but I would love for you to participate in one day out of the twenty-eight. I'm not going to post specific things you have to do on certain days. It's all up to you. I will share my list of ideas I have tomorrow. I'm not even sure what order I will go in, but I think I'll just know that day.

The only thing I ask is that you share what you did with me. I would love to hear all of the wonderful acts of kindness going on. You can comment daily or I will have a link up on my birthday, October 24th. I think that would be the best birthday gift of all!

So get out there and do something today to help someone else!

Don't forget to grab my button on the side and share it with your friends and readers!