family dinner thursday

Cousins! Bella and Hadley love each other so much... even if they do
steal toys and books from each other all evening.

Learning how to mobile blog!

Check out these cuties from last night!  Hadley and I drove out to flood gate again so chris could get some extra zzzz's.  We went to Rosso pizzaria where our good friend, mike is a manager.  He spoild us with a few surprises; roasted beans in a sweet tomatoe sauce, and bruschetta with fresh motzerella and bacon.  Plus we ordered their amazing calamari, spicey ceaser, and uovo pizza. Yum! The amazing food isn't the only reason I love this place.  They are SO kid friendly!  The server offers a ball of pizza dough for your child to play with, then they will toss the creation into the oven and serve it with some marinara.

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baby appointment

what a relief! ...two things; one, chris was able to make it to an appointment, and two, i only gained ONE pound in the last three weeks! so much better than my NINE pound gain within the previous three weeks. i guess i made the right decision in keeping those dark chocolate peanut butter cups out of my shopping cart. instead, i have switched to snacking on frozen grapes. much less guilt involved.

on of the first things my np asked me was "so, are you ready?" ummmm, no? please don't say that. i think i might be the only term pregnant woman that has not said "get this kid out of me asap!" it's not that i don't want to see little eleanor, or cuddle, hug or kiss her. i am SO looking forward to meeting her! this harvest craziness to be over first. i know chris would make it to the birth no matter what, but what about before the birth? what about the recovery? and hadley? i am doing all i can to take it easy to keep this child in place.

it is a good thing i find comfort in knowing that God has a plan for this birth and our family. if i didn't have that, i would probably be even more crazy.

with that, i am staying hydrated, not lifting, cutting down on my "nature walk with had" time, and thinking happy thoughts. keep on cooking, ellie!

here is hadley on a nature walk, saying hello to the goats and horse. this little walk brought on some very uncomfortable feelings and a few braxton hicks contractions.

nesting: outside the home edition

the nesting instinct has been coming and going all through this pregnancy. i have had the urge to organize, scrub, de-clutter, and purge. it is great! along with preparing the nest comes gathering all the goodies!

last week, hadley and i took a trip to target to pick up birthing, newborn, and big sister essentials. i had been building my list for (ahem) months! we had a lovely morning strolling around the aisles picking up things like nursing camisoles, swaddling blankets, activity books for hadley, witch hazel, and more!

today was also very productive! although i would love to be running around getting baby goods with the baby daddy, my mom is such a great help... and so patient! We started out the (fall-ish feeling) day with pumpkin spice lattes (thanks for the tip, lindsay!) and headed out to my favorite thrift store. I had good luck as usual, scoring amazing deals on janie and jack, gap, little peanut, and JOES jeans for hadley and ellie. next stop was once upon a child in vacaville- found some adorable teeny pants, the perfect "coming home" outfit, and the EXACT shoes i was planning to buy for hadley- never worn- only $12. i think i have a little too much fun shopping at places like this.

next door at joann's we picked up the perfect pom pom trim for a lamp in ellie's nursery.

down the street at micheals, we picked up frames, and yarn for more baby projects. i feel such a sense of relief to have all these things purchased. now i just have to do a lot of laundry and crafting!

hadley coloring away while we are at bj's for lunch.

missing dada

harvest is finally in full swing.. FULL swing. Chris has been working an average of 15 hour days over the last week. the work plus being up all night, plus winemakers calling all day, plus the hour drive home is taking it's toll. chris decided to stay the night at the house on the vineyard tonight, so hadley and i picked up dinner and went out for a little visit. the property is beautiful! we enjoyed the sights, hadley loved pointing out all the "wowers" and picking sweet strawberries and cherry tomatoes. for some reason, she was also really into all the different chairs and sofas in the house. she would run for chair to chair giggling and shouting "chair! chair!". we enjoyed a few hours together, then left so chris could get a little more rest before waking at 11pm for another pick. i was worried about the drive home on the winding roads, so i took 101, spaced out, and missed my exit. oops. an hour and a hap later i pulled into our driveway with one sleeping baby in tow. now i am awake, as usual, thinking about my dear husband working harder than anyone i know. he is pretty wonderful.

thirty FIVE weeks ...

and i am feeling it. the heartburn, the sciatic nerve, kicking in the ribs, not sleeping, leg cramps, carpal tunnel, restlessness, ect. the thing is, i would not change any of it. as the due date draws nearer and my stomach is stretched to it's limits, i am soaking up every precious moment with this child living inside. while knowing full well this little one might complete our family, i may never be in this state again. pregnancy, while very brutal on one's body, is such an amazing experience. one of my good friends just news that her and her husband are expecting a baby of their own in the spring. although i feel awful for what she is going through with morning sickness, i feel relived that there is someone who can relate. she said (laughing) "pregnancy is not cute, it is actually kind of gross." so true. with that, i am looking forward to having my body, and range of motion back, but looking at the discomforts in a different way this time around.

some things i have been reminding myself...

my body is going through this for a reason.

there is an end in sight.

a few years from now, i am sure i will see cute pregnant ladies waddling around and wish for that feeling again. enjoy the now.

don't stress about the little things that need to be done around the house.

cherish this time with chris and hadley, us as a family of three.

be patient.

a real family photo shoot!

When I was pregnant with Hadley, our funds were a little low to say the least. I quit my full time job when I was just six weeks pregnant. Plus, we had a lot of purchases to consider for the arrival of Hadley. Maternity and newborn photos were not in the budget! Luckily, we had our good friend, Rob take photos for us. They turned out really great and we were so thankful to have such a nice friend- who is also very talented!

Newborn photos are a whole new skill set. I am so thrilled to have Sarah at Sarah Lane Studios booked for a newborn session just a few days after Eleanor is born. The package we got with Sarah included a family/maternity shoot. We have never paid for professional photos, mainly because I am just not a fan of sears/jcpenny type of photos, and I have a decent camera. I was so nervous that Hadley would not be in a good mood. I brought snacks, bubbles, and my mom along to keep the girl smiling- it totally worked! We are so pleased with the photos! Looking forward to the newborn session... and going back for more family photos next year!!

nineteen months

It feels like Hadley has gone from baby to toddler overnight.. literally, in her new big girl bed! She now has a few hundred words in her vocabulary.

Some of her favorites:

yep- still working on getting her to say "yes", but i suppose it is a step up from "yeah"

more

milk

plea

shoes

no no no

shirt

chair

nana, papa, gramma, poppy, uncle

car! "hi car! hi car!" as we are driving along

ewww -if something is messy, or gross to her, she will let you know. the other say she pointed at chris' elbow and said "ewww" it is cute, but brutally honest.

dirty- goes along with "eww" most of the time.

any sesame street character- elm, ernie(said with the most enthusiasm. i think she appreciates his sarcastic sense of humor), big bird, cookie!!

any animal- goat, horse, bird, butterfly, cat, dog, plus many more and the coordinating sounds to go along with :)

baby, momma (when she sees one big animal with one small one)

sister (she points at my belly, says "sister" "aww" and gives her a hug and a kiss! last night, she put a blanket on my belly and said "night night sister")

any facial feature/body part (hadley loves to talk, so if she doesn't know what to say, she will remind you of your nose, eyes, ears, cheeks, mouth, teeth, hair etc.)

I love when she gets very close and say "hi!" with a huge smile on her face.

she is even forming short sentences. i love having conversations with her!

the most common phrase is hear from hadely is "ju ju ha" we think she is saying "thank you hadley" because I have always told her "say thank you hadley" oops.

we hear a lot of "love you, dada" "love you, mamma". those never get old.

the other day, hadley was eating cheerios out of a cup and my mom was encouraging her by eating one herself. hadley said "no no no. say plea!" we couldn't believe it!

hadley has been playing so well by herself lately; reading books, playing with puzzles, organizing her babies. I am getting very hopeful that her new independence is a sign that she is getting ready to share chris and i with her sister.
we love you so much, hadley. every new month brings new discovery, adventure, and fun.

about the pig roast

We had lots of fun at the pig roast this year! Chris had been trapping pigs like crazy over the last few months. He kept one to fatten up for the roast, and it turned out pretty good! Hadley had a great time playing with all our crazy friends.

a year and a half!

We had so much fun celebrating Hadley's year-and-a-half Birthday! First, we went to the Doctor for Hadley's 18month check-up. This will be our last appointment with our pediatrician, as she is retiring at the end of the month... just as I was starting to like her! All went well at the appointment, Hadley gained back the weight she had lost, he head, and height measurements were right on track, and she was well behaved! When we walked into the waiting room, there was a long line of people waiting to check in. Right as we got in line, a nurse popped her head out asking for a "Hadley Walden". We were escorted in ;) and told the Dr. wanted to see Hadley early because her appointment was in the middle of a family with three kids. Yay!

That evening, Gramma met us at Gott's/Taylors for burgers and fries. Hadley does not do well at resturaunts these days, so this is the perfect place to bring her, plus she loves to dip the fries in ranch dressing. Next, we headed to the oxbow market for some cupcakes at cara's. Hadley promptly dropped her mini cupcake on the ground. She made friends with some little girls... meaning she just walked up to them, smiled her huge smile, and stared.

This little lady of ours gets more amazing by the minute. She is constantly picking up new words- she had about 100 in her vocabulary right now. She is so tender and loving. She is polite, saying plea and ju ju (thank you). She is SO dainty and girly. She is also very finicky. We love you to the moon and back, Hadley Mae. We are so proud of who you are becoming, and can't wait to see what the next hours, days, weeks, months, and years hold.