the lucky ones

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Asher and Hadley!

Aren't they the cutest??

Drew and I are so lucky to be blessed with them!

{although I think I cashed in all of my luck of the Irish to get these pics}

Hope you all enjoyed some green goodies yesterday!

pretty little burp cloth

Wow, the blog has really been neglected this week.  It's just been one of those weeks, you know?  I've been meaning to post these cuties for awhile now, so today is as good as any!  Since Hadley has become a more reliable napper and night sleeper I've been able to get back in the craft room and make some fun stuff.  I still like making shirts, but decided to branch out and try my hand at making some cute burp cloths.  Every baby needs a few pretty burpers, right?  :-)

for my new niece...

Yep, that's tulle.  Love!

and a new baby cousin...

{definitely wish I'd done this embroidery with black thread so it would pop more.  Ah well, live and learn}

This one is my favorite so far.  Hadley needs one now!  Love the aqua and pink!!

Don't think Hadley's been completely neglected.  I made her a few too.  ha!

I still have a couple dozen designed and waiting to be made - hoping to get to them sooner or later!

his glasses

I know I've shown Asher in "his glasses" on here before, but these are too funny not to share.  I asked what he was doing and he said "watching tv, mom."  {duh - lol}

Thanks Uncle Chris and Aunt Lisa - we love these glasses even more than Asher does!  ha!

{phone dump friday}

Another week, another phone dump!  Can I just say how much I love Instagram?  So fun!  If you want to follow along with my pics throughout the week you can find me under "ecwilk53".  Please leave a comment with your username - I'd love to follow your feed as well!

Haddie and I tried a few new positions in the Baby K'Tan this week.  She is getting too big for the newborn sling position {sad!} so this is much more comfortable.

We also tried facing front, but her neck strength isn't quite there yet so we will have to revisit this way next month.  She's a major busybody, though, and loved facing out to see what was happening.  This will be a must-do when her little head isn't quite so heavy and she can hold it up for more than just a couple minutes.

I've been doing some fun projects in the craft room and picked up pretty fabric as a treat the other day!

Hadley's eyesight is getting much stronger - she can see the ribbon mobile above the rocking chair and gets distracted by it all the time.  {I love that she loves it!}

A, H, and I went to play with some new friends on Monday.  They are a big brother 6 months younger than Asher...

and a little brother 10 days older than Hadley.  Perfect!

{T and H have the same natural mohawk going right now.  It looks way better on him.  Any idea what I can do to my sweet girl's hair??  I hate to cut it all off and start fresh, but the long on top, bald in the back is NOT cute.  ha!  Bless her heart}

My table brought breakfast to MOPS this week and I signed up for fruit.  Pretty, no?  :-)

It's been so cold and windy here lately that we've been doing a lot of indoor play.  Asher requested bathtub paints and I thought that was a swell idea.  After he was done painting he took an extra long bath to clean up.  When he got out he looked at his hands and said,

oh no!  I'm all sprinkly!  

haha - love him.

Happy Friday, friends!

from three to four: adding hadley

A few weeks ago I posted about how Asher has been adjusting to Hadley joining our family. I wanted to update on him a little and also share how this BIG adjustment has been affecting me.
Asher has kind of reached a standstill in loving Hadley. Or maybe it's gotten a little worse. :-(
Occasionally the 3 of us will be out and a stranger will ask Asher "oh, is this your baby sister?" and he'll just stare at the floor or look at me. No answer. No excitement or pride to speak of. The same thing happens at home if I ask him about her - no answer, no interest. He shows zero desire to hold her, hug or kiss her.

On the other hand, today I picked him up from his class before I got Hadley from the nursery {we were at church} and he probably asked me 10 times "where's Hadley?" "where's the baby?". He seemed really concerned that she wasn't with me - yay!

There have still only been a couple times when he's been outright jealous and mean to her. We've talked through that and for the most part he's content to ignore her. Not my favorite, but it has to get better eventually, right??

So, how has going from 1 child to 2 been for me?

To sum it up in one phrase: Balancing Act

I can't tell you how many times a day I'm asking myself who to serve first.

Who can wait a few more minutes?

Do I feed the baby now and leave Asher in his room {even though he's awake}?

Do I make Asher's lunch and postpone Hadley's nap {even though she's exhausted already}?

When it was just Asher the choice was easy - whatever he needed I did. It was nap time? We came home and he'd nap. With Hadley life isn't so simple. It might be her nap time, but it's also Asher's gym class. She needs rest and Asher needs to run around with his friends - who gets what they need? I am constantly deciding who's needs trump the other at any given moment.

In the past 4 months we've started to develop a pretty good rhythm around here. Everyone is learning to be patient and I'm learning that if the baby cries a little it won't hurt her {and can't be helped}. I am so very grateful that Hadley is an easy going baby. If she was high strung or colicky I'm not sure where we'd be right now. Probably in a padded room somewhere. :-)

I love, love having Hadley. With Asher I was very concerned about following all of the "baby rules" I'd read in the books and it stole a lot of my joy. With Hadley I know that everything will work out in time. She eats well, sleeps well, and will get her naps regulated eventually. Nothing I do or don't do is going to ruin her, so I'm trying to be flexible and simply enjoy having her here! I know this time around just how fast the baby stage flies by and I intend to cherish it.

Would it be easier if Asher wanted to interact with her? I guess I can't know for sure, but my hunch is yes. So many times it feels like I'm parenting 2 separate families, rather than my 2 children from the same family - if that makes sense.

All in all, going from one child to two is challenging in most of the ways that I expected. It isn't easy, but is getting easier and that's encouraging. I love these two so much - I can't imagine not having them both!

{although I might need longer arms for these self-portraits...}

hadley's four month stats

Hadley had her 4 month well-baby visit last week.  Sweet girl was happy to chat with mommy while waiting for our appointment.

The doctor said {as they all have since the day H was born} that she is very laid back and tolerant of exams.  That's my girl!

Of course she needed a few immunizations and didn't like that much.  Neither of us did.  The only difference was that I knew they were coming and stopped for a shot of my own on the way to the pediatrician's office.  :-)

Hadley had a really rough afternoon of crying, then a couple of days of being out of sorts after her shots.  This happened at the 2 month visit as well.  Stink.

The stats:

weight - 12 lbs, 1.2 oz {11%}
height - 24.5" {55%}
head circumference - 15 {3%}

Bless her tiny little head.

She didn't gain nearly as much weight as I was expecting.  The doctor mentioned that Hadley has slowed her growth curve a little and is getting long and lean, but it's nothing to worry about.  She is still gaining enough weight and is an extremely healthy girl overall!

The pediatrician mentioned a few times how well Hadley weathered having RSV last month.  Since H never had to be hospitalized or receive breathing treatments the doc said that indicates Hadley has a great immune system and is at low risk for asthma.  Go H!  :-)