a morning with friends

We're really lucky.  Some of our great friends from Virginia have family in Raleigh, so every few months we get to see them!  They were in town for Thanksgiving last week and came over to visit for a morning.  

When we told Asher that Miss O was coming to play he looked really sad and said "She no live here."  Bless his heart - he knows his friends and really misses them.  That about broke this mama's heart!  He and this little lady first met when they were nothing more than babies laying on the floor, so they've truly grown up together {well, for 2 years at least :-) }.  When Drew clarified that she is coming to visit even though they don't live here he got SO excited.  As soon as the doorbell rang he had it open and was hugging his friend.

Despite their love for each other Asher is still a boy and had to insist O's photo exuberance was more than he wanted to match.  ha!

Love them!

Come see us again soon friends!

wordless wednesday {they love rock 'n roll}

My kids have a natural inclination towards the faux hawk like no one I've ever seen before.  Asher initiated the look as a newborn...

and kept it up in fine form after his first haircut.

{by the way - be still my heart at his cuteness.  I swoon - still!}

Hadley wants to be just like her big brother - or Joan Jett - and has got an adorable lil hawk of her own.

I don't think we'll emphasize it with a haircut in a few months, though.  :-)

hadley fern {one month}

Hadley, you are ONE month old!  Happy day love!

We have a lot to celebrate today.  You are growing so quickly, it's hard to keep up.  Last Thursday you celebrated your very first Thanksgiving.

Now we're busy getting ready for your first Christmas!  In fact, you helped me do some Christmas shopping while big brother was at school last week.  You did great!  Even when you had to eat in the car - which was no one's favorite - you were patient.  :-)

You are such a wonderful addition to our family.  Asher has really started to notice you this week.  He gave you a few hugs, held you for the first time on Thanksgiving day, and offers you a paci whenever you cry {you gratefully accept his help here :-) }.  Asher doesn't use your name much, preferring instead to still call you "that baby" or "baby in belly."  I'm pretty sure this means he gets that YOU are who we've been talking about for the past 9 months!

Hadley, you're still an awesome eater, but have become more of a snacker recently wanting to munch briefly every 1.5 hours.  We're working on stretching that out so you get lots of fattening hindmilk and not just the skim stuff.

You are also a great sleeper.  Since the moment you were born you hated to have your arms pinned while you slept so I have just been swaddling your bottom half.  This past week, however, I noticed during the day that your arms were flailing more while you slept and waking you up, so I decided to try the full swaddle.

You. love. it.

Seriously, it's your new favorite.

We use a super duper swaddle blanket I bought for Asher {which he never used because he truly did hate to be swaddled from Day 1 on} called the Miracle Blanket.  You can't escape and don't really try.

We also use this Swaddle Pod.  It works great too, but is pretty tiny so you'll be too big for it soon.  When in it you are literally snug as a bug in a rug - my comfy bugaboo.

Daddy and I both swear we've seen you smile specifically at us, but no photo proof yet.  :-)

Haddy-boo, your eyes have turned much more blue the past few days.  There is still some brown in there, so we're not sure what color you'll land on just yet.  Mommy and Asher have blue eyes, but Daddy has brown, so it could go either way!

At one month, Hadley you:

• are exclusively breastfeeding and eating every 2-3 hours during the day
• are sleeping most times in between feedings
• are sleeping from 11:30-3, then 4-6/7 most nights {we just recently started putting you down earlier and so far, so good.  11:30 is a million times better than 1am for Mommy!}
• love your pacifier and swaddle
• are starting to make some eye contact 
• weigh about 9.2 pounds
• wear size Newborn clothes
• wear size Newborn diapers {but are moving to size 1 as soon as these are gone}
• love to get baths
• only cry when really hungry - you're a very chill baby!

Hadley Fern, it's been a full month since you entered this world.  We love, love having you here!  You're such a miracle to our family and we can't wait to celebrate all through December with you!

biking before the baby

About a week before Hadley was born Asher had a visit from his grandparents.  I blogged about it at the time, but forgot to post some of the cute photos I got of them together.  :-)

They did a lot of bike practice together.

Don't you just love Asher's outfit that day?  Those pants are a wee bit small.  I should be too embarrassed to post these - haha!

I am SO terribly behind in posts.  There has been a lot going on around here!  I love having the blog as a way to record our children's lives and if I get too far behind the adorable details will get fuzzy in my memory.  Here's hoping for some time to catch up soon!  This seems unlikely, but a girl can hope.  ha!

happy thanksgiving

I am so very thankful for these two little turkeys. {Although Hadley is having way too many "baby's firsts" in a row around here!}

 

I'm also grateful that Asher agreed to hold her with absolutely no hesitation and no bribe needed. He's falling in love with her - I can tell. :-)

Happy thankfulness day, friends. Enjoy your blessings.

wordless wednesday {thankful}

hadley fern {3 weeks}

Miss Hadley, you are 3 weeks old!

Is it just me or is 3 weeks awfully close to a month old?  That's so hard to believe!  I feel like we are slowly getting settled into our new normal here.  Daddy is back at work and Mommy is doing her best to wrangle both you and your brother.  It goes well most of the time. :-)

You are such a wonderful baby!  You're very calm and content to go with the flow.  That's a great temparment for a little sister to have since there are some times I just can't get to you immediately.

Last Tuesday we went for your 2 week doctor's visit and learned that you gained over a pound since we left the hospital - wow!!

Your stats as of November 13th {2 weeks and 3 days old}:

weight:  7 pounds, 9 ounces {25%}
length:  20" {32%}
head circumference:  13.5" {18%}

Even the pediatrician commented on how calm you were during the exam.  My sweet, chill girl.

You are also a great eater.  I was able to breastfeed Asher for 12 months and I hope to do the same or more for you.  So far, so good!  You eat every 2-3 hours during the day and often have a 4-5 hour stretch between feedings from 1-5am.

You're still in the sleepy newborn {daytime} stage, but you're also in the wide awake night owl stage.  Basically that means you eat then sleep all day, but once 10pm rolls around you are WIDE awake until 1am or so.  This is the hardest time for me because by them I'm exhausted and oh-so-ready for bed myself.  Here's hoping you transition to an earlier bedtime in the next few weeks!  When you do sleep it's in your crib.  I seriously considered having you in our room, but this is working out best for us.

Poor Hadley, you had your first cold this week.  In fact, you're still struggling with it.  I had hoped that the breastmilk would protect you from the germs that Asher brings home from preschool, but so such luck.  Your tiny nose has been completely stuffed up and that's made both eating and sleeping hard.  We got in some extra snuggles, a cool humidifier, and lots of sneezes and you're doing much better.  Propped up on the Boppy was your favorite way to relax when my arms weren't available.  :-)

Big brother gave you a hug yesterday!  He is still a little nervous around you and usually chooses not to hold you just yet.  We're working on him.  :-)  He is very sweet about helping me with you, though.  Asher loves to get you a pacifier, grabs diapers for me, and pats your arm when you cry.  He also has lots of good ideas of what to do with you when he'd like attention.  Often I'm instructed to be "all done baby."  ha!

Hadley Fern, you are such a joy to all of us.  We're excited to celebrate your first Thanksgiving in 2 days!  I know what I'm thankful for this year.  xoxo.

brotherly love

It's no secret that Asher is a reluctant big brother.  He isn't mean to Hadley or acting out, he just prefers to ignore her.  Except when it comes to her pacifier - he feels very strongly that she should only use the green one.  Not blue, not pink, not purple.  Green.  This kid - oy vey - he's a character.

As much as I love him taking an interest in Hadley, I'm pretty sure it was his help in getting and giving her paci that led to Baby's First cold over the weekend.  She was so congested and kept gasping for breath.  Scared this mama to death!  Asher was months old before he got so much as a sniffle - poor second child with a big brother in preschool!   Needless to say, she and I did a lot of snuggling the past few days and nights.

I'm planning to write a longer post on our adjustment from 1 to 2, but we need more time to see how it plays out...

Our big moment in sibling love came last night when Asher {finally} gave her a hug!  He adamantly refuses to hold her, so a hug was a big step.

He had to think about it for awhile first...

Then did a trial run with the pillow.

Once that was nailed down he went in for the real deal

over

and over.  :-)

For her part, Hadley took his affections in stride.  But then, there's not much she doesn't take in stride.

After a few hugs they went their separate ways once more.  Hey, you have to start somewhere!

{phone dump friday}

Happy Birthday, Mom!  

Asher and I are making his Grammy a special happy cake today.  He wishes there was a birthday everyday at our house - ha!

In other Friday news, this is my first day at home, totally alone, with both kids.  Wow, wow.  For the past 2 weeks I've either had full time help or Drew worked from home which meant he was available to help in the morning, at lunch, and in case of emergency {of which there were a couple :-) }.  But now, not so much.

We can do it!

{We can do it...we can do it...we can do it...}

I practiced a little last night while Drew was still working by giving both kids a bath at the same time.  Hadley is so easy in the bath I knew we could do it.  By Asher's bedtime things start to fall apart so we did baths before dinner and it worked out great!

I also made dinner which was a little tougher because Hadley did not want to be put down.  She snuggled into the Baby K'Tan and we were good to go.  :-)

Wednesday was our first trip to Target!  This is a bit tricky with 2 kids - we're still working on where everyone sits.  The good news is - we made it!

This little lady is turning 3 weeks old tomorrow.  She's celebrating by wearing her new ladybug jammies that Uncle Chris and Aunt Lisa sent her.  So sweet.

I could just stare at this little face all. day. long.

Hadley had her 2 week Dr visit on Tuesday and got a great report!  She's up to 7 pounds, 9 ounces already - wow!  Mama's milk is doing a good job.  :-)

We had a couple warm days this week {see the shorts} so A and I hit the park while Hadley was snoozing.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week already.  We need to get into high gear getting ready for Asher's birthday and Christmas!  Happy Friday, friends!

first bath

Hadley's belly button is all healed now, so she had her first tub bath on Monday.  Is there anything cuter than a newborn in the tub?  Love it!

She is such a chill baby - no crying before, during, or after her bath.

There are times when Hadley looks more like Asher and I definitely think this is one of them.

H's first bath...

Asher's first bath...

{The still photos weren't great, but this video is adorable and shows how similar they look!}