when your kids teach you

On the way home from work/school today.

Hadley: I see tha moon mommy. Mira! Mira! (Look! Look! in spanish) Up der in the sky!

Me: Wait I can't see it. Trying to drive right now. Is it pretty?

Hadley: Maybe you see in a minute mommy. You have to be patient!

Tears of joy for sure! Love my girl!

Santa sent a helper!

Meet Howie. Last weekend, Hadley and I went to see Santa at the Pink Palace. When asked what she wanted for Christmas, Had said she wanted a Choo Choo train! She was also told that she has to have good behavior for Santa to bring the choo choo on Christmas morning. So Howie came to us last night from the North Pole. He is Santa's helper. Every night Howie reports back to Santa whether Hadley had good behavior that day or not.

 Yes, Hadley named the elf Howie. No, neither Matt or I had any influence on the name she picked out. I simply asked what she thought we should call the elf. Because without a name, he has no magical powers and without magical powers he can't fly to the North Pole at night and tell Santa that Hadley has been a good girl. She quickly replied, "Howie". And I said okay.  So Howie perches himself on different shelves around the house to monitor our behaviour. You also can not touch Howie or he will loose his magical powers!

Daddy and daughter made bird feeders out of cheerios and pipe cleaners and hung them in the trees. You know because birds get hungry in the winter time when there isn't very much food to eat. :) Hope everyone has enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday! I know we have thoroughly enjoyed our time off!

 

An adorable Nemo and a fall photo shoot

2 trips to Michaels, an oversize tshirt, puff paint, glue gun, felt, pipe cleaners, 4 hours and many bad words later...

Voila!!! One little toddler who was ecstatic about being Nemo! And one tired working mom who waited until the last minute and  who lost sleep over whether or not Nemo would be dry enough to wear.

Bet you didn't know Nemo had the attitude of a teenager.

The rest of the pictures were randomers I thought were blog worthy. Just been enjoying Fall!

September

So I realized September has come and gone and I didn't blog once. Oopps. I figured I should post asap. I shouldn't even wait until this evening after work. :) Or I'm just really not in the mood to work.

We went with Matt this weekend to Nashville. His girls team played Hendersonville Sat. and Franklin on Sunday. The game Saturday wasn't until 6 so we had the day to do whatever. We had planned on shopping but Opry Mills doesn't reopen until 2012. :( And the outlets 30 mins from the hotel making it a solid hour from the soccer fields. Not enough time to shop. So we went to Nicole and Marks new apartment! Nicole and Mark got married in July and I had yet to see their new place in Midtown Nashville. I guess it's midtown. The liquor store said midtown and liquor stores definitely matter. We hung out and watched football until we had to go to Matt's game.

Matt's team beat Hendersonville 2-1! Had was a trip. I can honestly say she was the entertainment for the evening. Being her usual self, she stood on the top bleachers yelling, "hey" and waving to every living soul that walked by. :) She would walk her baby in her baby stroller up and down the walkway of the bleachers talking to people including the other team's parents and fans. She ate some parent's bag of popcorn even though I bought her a bag. After the game and after never have taken a nap, she did soccer moves on the field. Left handedly throwing the ball and then chasing it, then kicking it and kicking it hard with both her left and right foot. Had turned it on. Let me tell ya. So much so that the UT Martin coach asked me how old she was. Umm yea.

Sunday we had to go back to Nicoles because Matt forgot his phone. :) And then we went to his game against Franklin. I have to leave the part about us being lost and not getting to the game until 15 minutes until game time. YIKES. It's a very sensative subject so we just don't go there. Franklin is ranked numero uno if I'm not mistaken and their 1 of only 2 losses last season was to Germantown. Needless to say they were out to prove themselves. But they didn't!! Franklin only beat Germantown by 2. Score ended up being 3 to 1, while Franklin predicted a 10 to nothing game!! Yeah go Lady Red Devils!

And then we drove home. Hadley slept almost the whole way home. And now it's Monday. The end.

Still not ready to work. So...

I have to brag on Hadley for a minute. She has been peepeeing in the potty at school and at home for the last week. She even went to the potty in our hotel room and at rest stops. I was a little anxious about how she would react to the dirtiness of rest stop restrooms and the girl rolled on flawlessly. I put paper on the seats and held her up a bit and she peepeed! And she yelled it out in the public restrooms until everyone started laughing. I think we are on a roll!

New School

Many thoughtful people who know how much I disliked Hadley's last school have been asking about her new one! For those of you who don't know, Hadley is at the Foreign Language Immersion Childcare Center, aka FLICC. She has been there about 6 weeks and loves it! And I love it :) They speak Spanish all day every day. Some teachers can speak English really well and some can't speak English at all and then the few inbetween. The administration is very organized and scheduled which has always been my preference. Good administration makes for a very well organized classroom which has always been Hads preference. I can check the class schedule and know exactly what they are doing at any given point during the day. The teachers are all super friendly and very good at instructing little active toddlers.  Most importantly, they have so much more fun here. Hadley always comes home with art projects. When I pick her up in the afternoons, the teachers are right in the middle of whatever is going on whether they are just playing or reading or playing with play doe. Doesn't matter what activity the teachers are interacting which is the biggest improvement from the last school. The structure of the school is what I love best but Hadley learning Spanish is a close second. I love that she is in a multicultural environment that's also really helping develop her vocab in English as well. When she first started I would ask Had to count to 3 in Spanish and she would simply repeat and say "count to 3 in Spanish". But now she has caught onto the two language thing. Now if you ask her she starts with quatro and ends with siete.  Hadley can also say a few conversation sentences. We were riding in the car one morning on our way to school and she said (to herself), " Como estas, Mona? Bien. "

Claudia (left), Hadley, and Mona

The school's pet rabbits Flopsy and Mopsy. It is a very important part of our day that Flopsy and Mopsy nibble on her finger.

Just for fun. This is of the outside looking at the front of the school. It's located in Harbor Town which is the first neighborhood to the right once you cross the bridge to Mud Island. It's in the way back towards the harbor.

Not sure why these turned after I uploaded. I'll figure it out later. I thought they were super cute. As a treat, we went out to the Collierville Sprinkler Park instead of the Peabody Sprinkler Park.  Fancy treat I know. Its a big deal when you get to go to the newer bigger park. :)

Back in Action!

Not kidding, this pic of us is from one of the Grizzles playoff games! I promise from this point forward to be a better blogger. Anyway, way back when, Matt, Kacey,  my mom, brother Collin and I went to one of the games. My awesome mother spent a fortune on tickets for the fam to sit in the nosebleed section. Despite the threat of altitude sickness, we had a blast!! Its was a great game and a really fun atmosphere.

Because daddy mows the lawn without his shirt.

Hadley has had a very serving and loving mentality lately. She makes sure everyone has exactly what they need. Over the 4th (of July), some of the family was having their desserts outside waiting for fireworks. Hadley served each a slice of pie and poured them a glass of water. So stinking sweet!

Hiking and picnicking at the fish hatchery in Mountain Home, Arkansas.

Happy 32nd daddy! For the record, I made that Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Peach Pie from scratch. Turns out I am domesticated.

This goes to show you how well the potty training has gone. Hadley has been pretty pumped about sitting on the potty, so I thought we would roll with it and see what happens. We went to Target and picked out panties, a new potty, and treats for when she performs. She loves to sit on the pot and not do a thing and then wipe and flush and ask for treats as though she has accomplished a huge task. We no longer have any skittles even if she did decide to actually potty because she has eaten them all. We'll get there one day.

Hadley's 2nd Birthday!

Where has the time gone. Two years ago, I was a clueless new mom with a brand new baby. On Wednesday, Matt and I were chasing that same little one only in toddler form around the zoo making animal noises. I had to bring in Kacey and Connelly as reinforcements to make sure Had didn't become one with the lions. The child can run and she can run fast. At 2 Had's a typical toddler. She is extremely impatient but understanding. She will definitely test the limits. Grandsparents are the best because "no" is nonexistent. She isn't a fan of vegetables but that's what Bolthouse Farms great tasting veggie smoothies are for. :) Love parenting.  Had keeps to herself and doesn't mind spending time by herself. She loves nothing more than to chill at the house with her toys and mom and dad. Or play outside alone. She likes to play outside alone because then Matt can't tell her not to play in his tomato garden, kick the flowers, or pull up the herbs. Right now she prefers Meredith over Madeline because Meredith giveth and Madeline taketh away. But poor Madeline just wants a friend to love on and play with and that is all very strange to Hadley. Had just isn't into hugging or cuddling or snuggling or.....and she just doesn't seem to be a team player right now. You see Had likes to set her own rules and go at her own pace.  It's hard to do that in the company of others. The other 99% of the time Had's the sweetest thing in the world and could do no wrong. She can tell you "i wuv you" in response to you saying you love her and she says "goodness" when you sneeze. Her eyes light up and her mouth opens when she sees something that makes her happy. Currently it is big trucks, tractors and buses. Don't ask me. Hadley has a strong bond to her dad even though she tells people his truck is pink. She only wants Matt to put her to bed and he is the first person she asks about in the morning. Monday-Thursday she says "daddy at work". Friday, "daddy at work" and then I come in with "guess what?  It's Friday wooo!" and we do the Friday dance. On Saturdays if he isn't the one to get her out of bed, she runs to our room to make sure he isn't at work. Matt tells me I don't put her to bed right so when I try and fail he has to take over. :) Love parenting. It didn't take her long to figure out that mom's a sucker and dad doesn't put up with anything. It's sad that she is growing up so fast but she is fun and full of personality. She makes a bad day good and a good day better for sure! I can't imagine life without our Hadley.

Today was her birthday party. We had a playground and picnic themed party since one of her favs is to go down the "yide". We are having trouble with our S. It was 90 degrees on Wednesday and 58 this morning at her party with winds out of the north blowing 90 miles an hour. Although most grown ups were shivering and mildly miserable, Had most importantly had a blast. She played, ate the icing off 4 cupcakes, opened presents, then crashed when we got home. Successful! So thank you to those that survived the winds, held down the food, and chased after blown away presents...and Hadley.

Pictures to come. Failure of a mom #456- forget to charge your camera for your child's birthday party. God put Kate Lareau in my life for many reasons.

Almost 2 and Easter 2011

This and That and a 22 month old!!

Aunt Kacey and Hadley helped me make cupcakes one night. Needless to say Hadley agreed with the "only fill cupcake pans half full of batter so there's more to eat from the bowl" concept.



We painted our bathroom and you know who was such a big help. Good thing she liked the tape and not the paint.

I still laugh EVERYTIME I see this picture.  We were packing for vacation and Had wore my sunglasses for a while either on her face or on top of her head. Hand gestures/gang signes are a bonus! Love it!

This picture and the remaining pictures are from Branson, MO. The Lareau's graciously invited us to tag along. We swam, hiked, skipped rocks, played outside, ate delicious food, toured and shopped. It was nice to be away from Memphis and in the company of Kate, Chris, Meredith, Madeline, Keddie and Papa. Thank you Chris and Kate!

Friday Nights

Hadley repeat after me... (while I'm on the phone with Kacey)

Me: I
Hadley: IIAAHH
Me: Spend
Hadley: Spaaiiend
Me: the night
Hadley: night
Me: with
Hadley: wit
Me: aunt Kaceyyyy!!!
Hadley: Kaheeee!!!
Me: YESSSSS

God bless sunshine!

Just so everyone knows.....this is our garage, not our house.

Although the snowfall the year has beautifully coated sidewalks and rooftops, the relentlessly cold temperatures have put me in a winter depression. The Lord above heard the sincerity in the request that my nose not fall off on my walk to work. He went big time this weekend. It was 67 degrees yesterday. WOO HOO! We spent some much needed time under that big beautiful ball of vitamin D. We took Had to the zoo and let her run loose for a few hours. Have I expressed how nice it was to be outside.

The ducks are worth mentioning because they are one of the few animals Hadley can recognize and tell you the correct sound they make. Sometimes, though, the ducks ROAR! like a tiger. :)

The Hippos here remind me of myself and Matt since the beginning of January. Sitting around not doing a thing worth mentioning. Just read, eat, and watch tv. Eating is really the only reason to leave the couch when it's so dang cold.

The End! Thank you, dear sunny Saturday. I just don't think I would have made it to February without you.

Christmas 2010

Pictures with santa only happened if mom and dad sat with Hadley and she still held on to us for dear life! Maybe next year. Below is one of the greatest gifts Had got this year. It's a pop up tree house big enough for her to run around in.

Did I say treehouse? I meant teepee.

The picture is a little dark. I wish it wasn't because the Christmas tutu and tights were a sight to see. Hadley's Christmas eve outfit was an adorable green, red, and white tutu with matching tights and a t-shirt with a christmas tree. Needless to say, it was par for the course for her party outfits.  As the night went on, we lost the tutu and gained purple princess heels. I'm willing to bet Had would have slept in the heels if given the opportunity.

Ahh, the tricycle. Another Christmas favorite. Poor Kinleigh almost got a left hook to the eye for trying to take her turn.

Toys! Toys! Wrapping paper and more toys!

Not really sure what's going on here. I just had to post a picture of the elf shoes. The things we do to our poor kids.
All in all, we had a fabulous Christmas! We were lucky enough to be able to see both sides of the fam on Christmas day. A little exhausting but none the less delightful! Hope everyone had a merry Christmas and  happy new year!