pretty!

Being pregnant, it is not so easy to paint your own toes. If you are lucky like me, and have a steady-handed husband, these things are not really an issue ;)

Hadley saw that my toes were painted, and she immediately took her shoes off and grabbed a bottle of polish. Begging, "pea pea pea" Chris thought it would be fun to paint her little toesies too! I looked away for one second, then discovered the interesting color choice... not sure I would have gone so "bold" with a 17-month-old. She makes it work.


What lucky girls in the family to have such a cute dad/husband!

shooooes

I suppose it is a girl thing to love shoes.. but Hadley takes it to a new extreme. Here she is sleeping peacefully with her beloved salt water sandals. She pretty much refused to go to bed without them. In public, Hadley likes to show every stranger around her shooooes. If we are hanging out at home and I am not wearing shoes, she goes into my closet to get a pair. I love seeing her little personality emerging. Not only is it important to her to be well accessorized, but she likes to stay clean. Playing in a sandbox is not ok with this child. She will cry if food is stuck to her hand. If there is a tiny piece of paper on the floor, she will pick it up and throw it away. Love you Hadley! ...even if you do make me feel bad about my house-keeping skills from time to time.

summertime!

22 weeks...

with this little girl in my belly. we love her so much already!

hadley doesn't understand yet. she points to my growing belly and says "baby!" or "be bah" (belly button, duh), but she also points to her own belly and says the same thing! we have been trying to prep her as much as possible for her new baby sister. i am sure i will regret saying this later, but i think she is going to be the best big sister ever! hadley loves all things little baby! she takes care of her own "babies" ...feeds them, wipes them, gives them pat pats on the back, and puts them to sleep with a blanket and kiss goodnight in the dish rack. must buy a doll cradle.

seventeen months

hadley has entered her seventieth month of life. she is growing and changing ever day! this morning she slept in.. until NINE FIFTEEN instead of her usual 6:30. how did i know she was awake? i heard her blabbing to herself followed by a loud thud. the little lady climbed out of her crib! she cried for a few minutes, but seems to be fine. time to go big girl bed shopping!

uncle eric was in town this weekend and he gave me a little camera lesson and took some photos of us.

thanks uncle ewic!

happy 3rd of July!

This year, we went back and fourth about having our annual 3rd of July party. Chris had been working especially longs hours lately and didn't feel like the yard was "party ready". Well, we got over it, and decided a week before to send out an invite to friends. So glad we did!

Friends arrived bearing wine and amazing toppings to create delicious brick oven pizza. We feasted all evening until it was time to head down to the country club for fireworks!

We managed to round up everyone plus a baby in a stroller, and made it just in time to find a good spot for our quilt and relax a but before the show. Hadley loved seeing all the kids running around on the lawn with glow sticks- there were hundreds! our friend Bobby went to buy Hadley her own glow stick necklace and it made her night! As the show began, we were not sure what Hadley's reaction would be. For the fews few minutes, Chris and I took turns holding her cheek to cheek. She got comfortable with the sound and began to clap, squeal, and "ohh and aww".

Happy 3rd/4th of July!

love,

the walden's

sugar, spice, and everything nice

the wait is over!

the ultra-sound was booked at exactly 20 weeks, just like it was with hadley. chris came home early from work that friday afternoon and we were off the take hadley to sarah and caleb's.

we waited in the waiting room for what seemed like forever, giddy with excitement. chris' prediction was that we were expecting a sweet baby girl, and i had gone back and fourth for the past few months. once our name was called and we were settled in the ultra sound room the tech asked us if we would like to know the sex. we said absolutely! as soon as she put the machine on my belly she said "ok i am going to tell you right now, this looks like a girl." we were so thrilled to hear these words. images of our little girl and her big sister with all things fun and girly in our future have been flashing through my mind ever since these words were spoken. we were told that everything looks perfect. we were given a long strip of glorious photos of our girl to stare at for the next few months until we can see her in person.

Chris was so excited, he got a little lost in american canyon trying to find a "short cut" to sarah's. we finally found our way and picked up our hadley to head home for the gender reveal party! i had baked cupcakes and prepared frosting earlier in the day and now it was time to add in some pink to spread the good news!

our families came over for pizza, but i couldn't wait for desert to share the news. we gave hadley and bella each a cupcake and waited to see how long it would take to get to the pink center. the both took their time licking the white frosting atop the little cake as we stared them down. finally we asked bella what color she saw and she said "pink!" everyone shouted for joy.. well, not hadley, she just kept on enjoying her cake.



twenty weeks along!